Senior Product Manager- Next-Generation Thermal Platforms

Be a part of our mission! As a world leader in creating comfortable, sustainable, and efficient climate solutions for buildings, homes and transportation, it's our responsibility to put the planet first. For us at Trane Technologies, and through our businesses including Trane® and Thermo King,  sustainability is not just how we do business—it is our business.  Do you dare to look at the world's challenges and see impactful possibilities?  Do you want to contribute to making a better future?  If the answer is yes, we invite you to consider joining us in boldly challenging what's possible for a sustainable world.

Learn about our benefits designed for you to thrive at work and at home. 

We boldly go.

Where is the work:

Monday to Thursday, work onsite with your colleagues. Fridays, choose your work location, balancing what your work requires.

 

 

The Sr. Product Manager- Next-Generation Thermal Platforms will serve to serve as the business and commercial leader for a flagship, clean-sheet product development initiative. Operating at the epicenter of our rapidly expanding data center business, you will spearhead the platform lifecycle from early market ideation and Voice of Customer (VOC) discovery through complete industrialization and global commercial launch.

In this role, you will be the commercial owner working in close, strategic partnership with Design Engineering, Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (AME), Quality, and Field Operations. If you thrive on transforming complex, unstructured customer demands into high-impact Market Requirements Documents (MRDs) and leading multi-million-dollar programs to market, this is your opportunity to shape the future of mission-critical climate solutions.

Position Location - Grand Rapids, MI (relocation assistance is available)

Key Responsibilities:

Market Insight, VOC, Crisp MRD Ownership

• Partner directly with hyperscale data center operators, colocation providers, consulting engineers, and enterprise facility directors to uncover emerging operational challenges, architectural shifts, and unmet thermal management needs.     
• Synthesize complex, ambiguous, and rapidly evolving customer inputs into crisp, prioritized, and value-driven Market Requirements Documents (MRDs) that clearly articulate target specifications, feature trade-offs, and commercial payback models.
• Own the multi-year platform vision and release cadences, ensuring short-term commercial execution aligns with long-term technological and sustainability trajectories.

Commercial Leadership in New Product Development (NPD)

• Serve as the dedicated commercial and business lead for the next-generation platform, partnering hand-in-hand with the Engineering Program Lead through stage-gate governance from concept through production readiness. ·     
• Act as the voice of business and customer value during program development, guiding trade-off analyses between time-to-market, product cost, unit performance, and customer feature sets. · 
• Own program financials, development budget tracking, margin targets, capital expenditure justifications, and projected return on investment (ROI).

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Design, AME & Field Service

• Champion customer-centric design parameters—including Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), commissioning speed, and Design for Service (DFS)—during formal design milestones, partnering with Design Engineering and AME as they execute physical Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA).
• Collaborate with Systems Engineering and Lab Teams to define customer-facing validation requirements and ensure unit test protocols reflect real-world mission-critical operating profiles.
• ·Actively participate in plant integration, pilot build reviews, and Managing Daily Improvement (MDI) cadences at the Grand Rapids facility to resolve commercial roadblocks during line setup and production ramp.

Commercialization, GTM & Lifecycle Strategy:

• Partner with Marketing, Regional Sales Leaders, and Mission Critical Account Teams to build value-proposition messaging, competitive battlecards, and sales enablement toolkits. ·       
•  Develop value-based pricing strategies and market-tier architectures using internal pricing models to maximize profitability and market capture.·   
•  Plan and host high-visibility customer factory visits and witness demonstrations, building trust and technical credibility with critical enterprise accounts.· 
• Ensure accurate and compelling customer-facing product literature, including technical selection catalogs, product specifications, and application guides.

 

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, marketing, or a related field preferred.
• Minimum of 2+ years of professional experience across product management, engineering, technical marketing, or operational leadership within an industrial, B2B, or equipment manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated experience in a role requiring direct customer engagement, sales engineering support, or strategic account consulting.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven track record of translating ambiguous customer feedback into structured, actionable market requirements and executive-level business cases.
• Professional familiarity with large-scale industrial thermal systems—such as chillers, compressors, heat exchangers, or coils/fans—and their underlying thermodynamic and mechanical principles.
• Knowledge of the data center industry ecosystem, including hyperscale/colocation procurement cycles, mission-critical facility operations, and cooling infrastructure trends.
• Proven experience navigating formal stage-gate NPD frameworks within an engineered-to-order (ETO) or configured-to-order (CTO) manufacturing environment.
• Exposure to Lean principles, Six Sigma methodologies, Value Analysis/Value Engineering (VA/VE), or Design for Six Sigma (DFSS).Experience in the Data Center Industry understanding buying behavior, innovation impacts to cooling infrastructure and general knowledge of Data Center market & major customers.
• Masters in engineering, MBA or equivalent advanced Professional Degree

Key Competencies

• Passion for listening to customers, understanding their operational constraints, and turning those insights into market-leading hardware solutions.
• Proven ability to build trusted, collaborative relationships with engineering, operations, and field service leaders without needing hierarchical authority.
• Communication: Demonstrates clear, concise written and verbal communication.
• Ability to filter noise, prioritize features that move the commercial needle, and make data-driven trade-offs in high-stakes environments.
• Skilled in margin analysis, value pricing, and financial modeling to safeguard long-term platform profitability.

Annual Base Salary Range or Hourly Base Pay Range:

$146,521.66 - $204,609.99

Compensation Type:

Salary

Incentive Eligible:

Yes

Sales Commission Eligible:

No

Disclaimer: We strive to provide competitive compensation for this position, tailored to a variety of factors. The actual compensation will depend on elements such as seniority, merit, geographic location, education, experience,  travel requirements, and union designation.   Our compensation range is generally based on the national average for the country.  Additionally, benefits may vary depending on the region, business alignment, union involvement, and employee status.

Thrive at work and at home:

• Benefits kick in on DAY ONE for you and your family, including health insurance and holistic wellness programs that include generous incentives – WE DARE TO CARE!
• Family building benefits include fertility coverage and adoption/surrogacy assistance.
• Paid time off includes  up to 15 vacation days, paid holidays, sick leave, and additional options to support volunteer and parental leave. 
• 401K match up, educational and training opportunities through company programs along with tuition assistance and student debt support.    

Disclaimer:  Benefit offerings may vary by site as well as Collective Bargaining Agreements and local/state regulations

Safety Sensitive Role:

No

The company designates certain roles as Safety Sensitive. Safety Sensitive roles may require that you pass additional drug screening.

We offer competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits and programs. We are an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, pregnancy, age, marital status, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any legally protected status.