Product Manager

The Product Manager for Cable Products is responsible for facilitating the identification, development and lifecycle management of innovative, industry leading cable products and related product categories for Monoprice.

The Product Manager lives and breathes her/his product categories and is a thought leader in those markets – with a deep understanding of technology trends as well as their customers, competitors, suppliers, substitutes and new entrants. The Product Manager must act both strategically and tactically to achieve the goals set for those product lines.

The role requires strong team collaboration skills as well as a strong self-starter/ entrepreneurial work ethic. The PM will work closely with Program Management, Purchasing, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, and Tech support Teams to ensure communication, product offering and company goals. This role also requires strong working knowledge in key technologies including, but not limited to Thunderbolt, USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, Ethernet, and Fiber Optics.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities include the following.

• Work closely with Management and Finance to establish and achieve revenue and margin targets by assigned product, category and customer segments
• Manage product lifecycles from NPI through EOL
• Portfolio manage to ensure categories are represented as holistic offerings, identifying and filling gaps with NPI
• Manage to and eliminate aging inventory ensuring product is sold through and profitability is maintained to the highest degree possible
• Continually ensure we have our finger on the pulse of new ideas, supplier offerings and trends in the market to ensure we launch product revisions, updates and NPI in timelines comparable to or faster than our competitors
• Establish, and continually review and revise pricing to ensure sales velocity and revenue and margin targets
• Continually assess ecommerce and retail environments to ensure quality and pricing are competitive.
• Work cooperatively with purchasing, program management and sourcing to manage supplier relationships; ensure on-time program delivery with products that fulfill the Product Requirements Document (PRD).
• Provide unique selling points for products that support competitive and differentiated marketing programs and strong sales.
• Prepare budgets and break-even analyses for all new development projects. Understand finance, read P&Ls and be comfortable with numbers.
• Collaborate with Monoprice Design Team and Factory Teams to modify Products and Packaging as needed.

Other Duties and Responsibilities

• Continually assess the Monoprice website for accuracy, and make suggestions for improvements.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Sales to generate new promotions and channels for distribution.
• Research technology and market trends to determine areas of opportunity and take a proactive approach with suggestions and insight to management on new endeavors and ideas.
• Involvement in production ramp-up to assure challenges encountered in the development process are identified as risks for initial production quality assurance efforts.
• Define product specifications; provide detailed guidance on release requirements, action items and deliverables as they pertain to product specifications and quality assurance.
• Have working knowledge of the supplier network to the level of specific capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses.
• Continually perform research and have a holistic perspective on how to succeed as a business within their markets.
• Take ownership of products and categories to ensure our customers – both end users and internal partners receive the experiences we would want if we were them.
• Find and research technology and market trends to determine areas of opportunity and take a proactive approach with suggestions and insight to management on new endeavors and ideas.
• Translate product concepts and spec packs into product prototypes and subsequently organize sample reviews with key stakeholders to gain buy in.
• Request, test and dispose of samples as required by the organization and maintain professional and safe workspace.
• Other duties may be assigned to accomplish company or department objectives.

Education & Experience

• Minimum 3 – 7 years of experience in product development or Product Management in the consumer products industry.
• Solid experience in relevant product development. Sourcing experience will be a plus.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing or equivalent relevant work experience.
• MBA preferred.