Product Manager

Company Description

WireCo® is the strength behind the world’s evolution, through deep legacy and forward thinking. We create premium ropes that inspire innovation without limits. WireCo® is headquartered in Prairie Village, Kansas with manufacturing plants, distribution facilities and research and development centers worldwide.

WireCo® offers a competitive salary, incentive programs, growth opportunities, and excellent benefits offerings for employees and their families. Benefits include paid time off, paid holidays, medical, dental and vision insurance, 401(k) retirement plan with generous company match, 100% company-paid life insurance, and 100% company-paid disability insurance.

For more information, check out our website at www.wireco.com and the following videos:

• https://youtu.be/zzplYW7PMFg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CJwd_yXZAY

Job Description

The Product Manager (PM) is a critical role for the organization in WireCo’s journey to “be the preferred supplier to our core customers”. This position will promote commercial excellence by connecting the needs of the customer with the business strategy to advance the WireCo products through product life cycle management.

As a Product Manager, you will have many and varied responsibilities to manage. While demands may vary by the market and by the day, the greatest success comes when you can spend the bulk of your time owning the life cycle management of existing product portfolios. As a Product Manager, you will be a member of one of the industry teams.

The Product Manager must exhibit the behaviors of the WireCo Business System (WBS):

• Teamwork - welcomes an environment of inclusiveness and healthy debate that reflects our team’s strength
• Accountable – celebrates our successes, learn from failures, avoid excuses, and own the outcomes of our efforts
• Self-Aware – demonstrates an understanding of our strengths and needs, considering how our actions impact others
• Noble Intent – acts in the interests of others, approaching our work with integrity to ensure the best outcome
• Determined – takes initiative, share ideas and find solutions to win and achieve our goals
• Transparent – promotes open and honest communication and constructive feedback for clarity and truth
• Curious – seeks knowledge and outside input to test our way of thinking, challenging the status quo

Duties & Responsibilities

Scope Measures (Specific targets to be set during goal setting process.)

• Meet end market annual goals/budgets
• Strategically drive portfolio to meet targets
• Timely delivery in-stage gate processes as defined by the WBS innovation pillar
• Become key member in the SIOP process, providing demand for forecasting
• Product Vitality Index

Sales and Strategy 

• Work closely with Business Development Managers to develop technical roadmap for new products that support common end market strategies
• Gather relevant information and feedback to support new R&D projects from Commercial, Operations, Marketing, Engineering teams and customers
• Life cycle management of existing product portfolio to ensure competitive timing of phasing out obsolete products and introducing new products into the portfolio
• Develop competition profiles to understand current competitive landscape
• Develop prototype testing protocols, and travel to field trial customer locations to review new product trials as part of R&D cycle
• Engage with all WireCo locations and operations on ground level to understand manufacturing capabilities and support development of required processes and machinery required to build new products
• Investigate and bring new technologies to commercial/engineering that will enhance existing product technologies and provide differentiating products that align with end market strategies
• Speak to economic value proposition of applicable products and educate on how to effectively communicate to solve customer pain points
• Attend trade shows relevant to either end market or pertinent technology developments to enhance knowledge of new product development as needed
• Travel with Business Development Managers and Territory Managers to customer meetings to discuss technical requirements or present new product launches as needed

People

• Interact with supply chain material vendors to ensure proper materials sourced for new product development
• Work closely with Business Development Managers to prepare client presentations and information for them to educate the appropriate client
• Spend approximately 70