Location: Hannover, Germany
Job Purpose
This role is responsible for managing the Soundbar category.
The job holder manages the different products throughout their lifecycle and holds end-to-end accountability for timely delivering products that meet the needs of our target audiences, building winning go-to-market plans and leading the collaboration with the different functions (R&D, Marketing, Sales, Supply, Finance, Purchasing, Consumer Insights). Essentially, the PM is like the General Manager of his / her business, looking at the full picture and creating 360 plans (Technical, Commercial, Marketing) to deliver sustainable growth.
Primary Job Responsibilities
1. Develop in-depth understanding of end-user needs, use cases and market dynamics
2. Articulate clearly the target customers we’re designing for, the value proposition and our right to win with them
3. Drive necessary regional or global consumer research to build product definition and strategy alignment with Product Marketing
4. Manage product/ portfolio (lifecycle) and roadmap management incl. turnover planning, portfolio efficiency analysis and identification of tactical activities (product refresh / minor tweaks, create a concept for commercial initiatives to be executed during the big promo events…)
5. Define the total product experience to deliver the best value proposition, including product design, packaging experience, pre / post purchase activation
6. Collaborate with R&D and Design to find the best compromise between the customer’s product experience, time to market, product cost and resource needs
7. Create the product story that will feed the Marketing strategy
8. Manage the commercial part of the different projects (market landscape analysis to identify the opportunities, define price / promo strategy, align volume forecast with regional teams)
9. Monthly forecasting and demand planning in partnership with the Supply team
10. Assess acoustic product performance during development as well as competitor products
11. Highest level of customer support (share knowledge with the customer support team to maximize their ability to answer most questions, and help answer remaining expert questions)
12. Support the sales organization with product training & advice at exhibitions and product events
Additional Job Responsibilities
13. Track online reviews to check quality of current products in market
14. Identify and work with strategy external partners (technologies, manufacturers, suppliers) in a dynamic market environment
15. Stay in touch with relevant key opinion leaders, industry insiders and influencers
16. Constantly monitor the competitive offer and analyze their performance
17. Manage external relationships with: Suppliers to co-design new products Suppliers who manufacture current products Industrial Design agencies to develop product look & feel Sound virtualization software provider Streaming platforms to secure compatibility with our products
18. Manage internal relationships with: R&D Marketing Supply Chain Global & Regional Sales Consumer Insights
Your profile:
19. Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering, Acoustic Engineering, or related field
20. Strong technical, analytical, project management, and stakeholder communication skills.
21. Excellent communicator
22. Strong team player, balancing various stakeholders
23. Fluent in English, German is a plus
24. Willingness to travel for projects (approx. 10% of the time)
25. End-consumer focus
26. Good understanding of how the Trade works (. distributors, retailers) to build winning propositions for them
27. International & cultural experience and/or sensitivity
28. 10+ years of experience in Product Management / Development, preferably in Consumer Electronics.
29. Experience and in-depth understanding & passion for Consumer Electronics / soundbars / headphone end-user market & trends