Assistant Product Manager

Position Summary

We are seeking an Assistant Product Manager to assist the Product Management team in driving profitable growth for the General Valve, Malleable Fittings, Variable Flow, Connected Solutions and NABIC product portfolios through the effective management of proposed new products, and existing products to support the strategic and operational objectives of the business. This will involve the creation, implementation and monitoring of product strategies and plans in order to achieve sales and profit targets.

The main duties of the Assistant Product Manager are to support product management in 3 key areas of the business, namely, New Product Introduction using the Crane NPD process, management of existing product ranges and value engineering opportunities for existing products.

New Product Introduction

The Assistant Product Manager will be, or shall become, totally familiar with the NPD Process and will be expected to:

• Coordinate cross functional teams to drive forward multiple NPD projects.

• Organise and support cost, resource, risks, issues, quality, scope etc.

• Manage new products through the Product Change Request process.

• Maintain and execute action plans and drive cadence reviews to track ongoing performance and ensure project deadlines are achieved.

• Track progress through relevant systems/applications and regularly communicate and provide project updates to ensure visibility of project performance, budgets, schedules, and risk.

• Work closely and develop relationships with all departments to drive and assist with all aspects of New Product development.

• Work collaboratively with departments to collect data and create draft data sheets and IOMs.

• Produce project plans and launch plans liaising with the Marketing Communications department for each project and ensure that all Technical, Sales, and support literature is in place to launch the product successfully.

• Leverage Technical Query (FAQ) data as part of NPD ideation input.

• Help assist with the preparation of Capital Expenditure Requests.

• Assist the Product Manager with the Business Model definition for a new product launch.

Product Management

The Assistant Product Manager will support with the existing product range strategies and plans to deliver planned market share/volume/margin expectations and will be expected to:

• Monitor and analyse product range performance against sales and SP% targets to identify variances and propose corrective actions and help implement those.

• Research and analysis of sales, market trends and competitors using intelligence to identify differentiation opportunities and amend plans accordingly to increase competitiveness and market share.

• Assist with the development, analysis and reporting of VOC activities and data collection as requested.

• Understand market drivers, unique selling points (USP’s), positioning and differentiation for new and existing products.

• Conduct win/loss analysis to identify threats and opportunities to feed into the Sales and Product strategy.

• Own the Product Change Request (PCR) and Special Product Enquiry (SPE) processes for existing product modifications, ensuring product structure, manufacturing routings, costs and prices are accurate in ERP.

• Develop and implement pricing strategy and tactics to maximize GP%.

• Develop, communicate and manage a long term product roadmap and product lifecycles.

• Use market reports and financial analysis to update market trends and growth rates to support annual Strategic and Operating plans.

• Propose and support the implementation of product strategies to grow market share and/or margin to meet business objectives.

• Working with the Product Management team to maintain price lists and price updates for all customers/distributors.

• Updating all products, part codes and pricing information to enable smooth order processing and project quotations.

• Support pricing analysis for business reviews and reports.

Other

• Assist and liaise with Internal Sales and Supply Chain to manage project orders and SIOP.

• To assist in the preparation of annual Strategic and Operating Plans.

• To provide training and education of personnel in all details of the relevant product range, including national and international travel.

• Drive own improvements and special projects delivering tangible results in a timely manner.

Qualifications/experience:

• Ideally educated to degree level in a technical and/or business management subject, however relevant experience is highly valued.

• Good Excel and data analysis skills.

• 1-2 years Product Management experience.

• A sound commercial awareness, particularly as regards prices and margins.

• Experience within the water or HVAC industry, ideally with a manufacturing business, would be an advantage.

• Project management skills and experience.

• Experience of presenting to audiences.

Personal Characteristics:

• Uses initiative to fulfil role requirements and proactively address improvement opportunities.

• Positive approach to team working with excellent interpersonal skills that engage all stakeholders.

• Positive, proactive and pragmatic approach to problem solving.

• Resilient with a positive, ‘can-do’ attitude.

• An inquisitive mind with an interest in data.

• Excellent communication skills.

• Good attention to detail.

• A passion for learning and self-development.

• Innovative and proactive to promote the required changes to the business.

ABOUT US

Crane Building Services and Utilities (BS&U) is part of the Fluid Handling Division of Crane Co. founded in 1855, which is a global, multi-industry, New York Stock Exchange quoted company. We design, manufacture, package and market engineered flow control solutions for the HVAC and Utility sectors, with strong sales into key growth export markets.

The name Crane speaks of who we are, what we stand for and how our customers perceive us: A company with history and tradition, but also a company that is innovative, quality minded and one which acts with integrity and still holds to the resolution of its founder.

Crane Co. was founded on 4th July 1855 by Richard Teller Crane who made the following resolution:

"I am resolved to conduct my business in the strictest honesty and fairness; to avoid all deception and trickery; to deal fairly with both customers and competitors; to be liberal and just towards employees; and to put my whole mind upon the business."

The essence of this resolution is the business policy of Crane Co. today.

We believe that embracing inclusion and diversity is key to our success and as such we are seeking applications from candidates who will contribute their different backgrounds, cultures and experiences to our business.

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