Product Coordinator

Product Coordinator

We are on a mission to bring learning to life! We are Learning Resources, and learning is where we play. Voted one of the Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces every year for the last six years, we're a 150-person strong, family-owned company who make award-winning educational toys, including top sellers Pretend & Play Calculator Cash Register, Farmer's Market Color Sorting Set and Toy of the Year winners Botley the Coding Robot and Coding Critters. We share that dedication to learning across our family of companies. Learning Resources team members work closely with the curriculum experts at hand2mind, as well as Educational Insights, makers of hit viral products including Kanoodle, GeoSafari Jr., and Playfoam. We even help pets learn and grow through our pet brands Brightkins and Hunger for Words. We pride ourselves on being committed to our employee's personal and professional development, a thriving culture and a diverse, creative atmosphere. Along with our culture and competitive benefits package, we offer a variety of opportunities for training and development. We are looking for professionals who are truly just kids at heart! Come join our award-winning team today!

Team & Position Description

We are looking for a Product Coordinator to join our Custom Solutions team! This is an exciting opportunity to support the development and delivery of customized products for our strategic customers across multiple sales channels including Mass Retail, Ecommerce, Education, Specialty, and International. As a key member of the Custom Solutions team, you will work closely with the Product Managers to coordinate custom product development and collaborate with cross-functional partners to help ensure timely and accurate execution of import projects. You will play a crucial role in helping the team deliver high-quality, customer-specific solutions and support sales revenue goals.

What You'll Do Day to Day

• Product Development: Individually and as part of the Custom Solutions team, design and deliver innovative custom products that align with customer needs while meeting sales margin requirements. Be responsible for new product item set-up for custom products in Microsoft D365.
• Project Coordination: Support the creation and tracking of project timelines using tools such as Monday.com and Microsoft Office. Assist the Custom Solutions Product Managers and Sales Managers in coordinating the execution of custom projects from start to finish. Schedule and document cross-functional meetings, capture action items and follow up with stakeholders.
• Competitive Analysis: Coordinate store visits to perform market analysis. Collect data about manufacturers, price points, trends, and off-shelf fixtures to identify areas of opportunity. Organize data and share with sales managers and other stakeholders.
• Customer Requirements and Systems: Help maintain documentation related to customer requirements (import routing guides and item specifications) and learn retailer internal systems such as Partners Online (Target) and Retail Link (Walmart). Support process documentation by creating customer-specific RFQs and cover letters.
• Custom Product Catalog: In Monday.com, maintain and update the custom product list to ensure the information is accurate and current.

What We're Looking For (Key Performance Objectives)

• Successfully support the lifecycle of 1-2 import projects within the first 12 months, ensuring all milestones are met and products ship on time. Maintain constant communication across stakeholders.
• Create project timeline calendars in Monday.com for 2 key customers within 6 months. Ensure the calendars include sufficient pre-sale planning periods and milestones to achieve on-time execution of all deadlines.
• Within the first 6 months, create the Custom Solutions process template for 2-3 customers in Monday.com. Establish customer-specific cover letters and RFQ forms.
• Continually maintain and update the custom product catalog. Use the catalog to reduce development lead time and improve scalability for future projects. Add new products within 5 business days of product kick-off.
• Identify and propose at least 1 process improvement or documentation enhancement per quarter to help streamline custom project execution. Implement at least 1 suggestion during the first 6 months, in collaboration with Product Manager or Senior Manager.

Requirements/Ideal Attributes

• Bachelor's degree
• 1-2 years of experience, project management experience preferred
• Strong computer skills using Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), including the ability to create basic reports, documents, presentations and spreadsheets
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Strong ability to adapt to change and meet required deadlines in a fast-paced environment while focused on details and accuracy
• Strong organizational skills and ability to prioritize projects and responsibilities.
• Proactive problem solver, capable of utilizing business sense and creativity to develop new ideas and solutions.

We are a drug-free workplace and an EEO employer.

Please note: This role will be filled by our internal recruitment team, so no assistance is needed from any outside staffing agency at this time.

Compensation Range: $55,000 $65,000 annual salary Actual compensation may vary due to other factors such as: years of experience, skill set and location. Total compensation includes profit sharing bonus potential, 401k matching, and a variety of other benefits.