Group Product and Development Manager

Introduction

Reports to: The Commercial Manager

Location: Travel between all factory sites, customer locations, and the showroom

Package:
Paying R100K + Benefits

This person plays a pivotal role in shaping the product vision and strategy, guiding the entire product development lifecycle from ideation to market introduction. The Manager is responsible for conducting in-depth market research to identify trends and opportunities, driving innovation to create products that exceed customer expectations and adhere to company standards.

In this influential position, the manager will coordinate the marketing team, setting strategic priorities and directing initiatives to ensure successful product launches and impactful promotions. They will develop comprehensive training materials and generate engaging content for social media and marketing tools, enhancing brand visibility and customer engagement.

Additionally, the Manager will oversee pricing structures and master data management, ensuring a cohesive and distinct product offering across multiple factories. By promoting collaboration with suppliers and internal teams, the Group Product Manager ensures that our product range remains competitive and aligned with market demands.

Duties & Responsibilities

Product Development & Innovation

• Lead the development of new products, ensuring technical and aesthetic specifications are met.
• Conduct market research to identify trends, customer needs, and market gaps to inform product development strategies.
• Work closely with Designers, Production managers, and Suppliers to create innovative, cost-effective, and high-quality products.
• Ensure product specifications meet industry standards and align with the company's quality and design expectations.

Range Management Design and Trends

• Analyse trends to meet local preferences and identify new design solutions that encompass all room elements, including floors, walls, features, and sanitaryware.
• Guide manufacturers' designers and in-house designers on the latest trends and successful design development.
• Mentor customers on range building, rationalization, styles, and designs to create effective product ranges.
• Provide guidance to colleagues at sister companies on product selection, range rationalization, and display layout.
• Mentor new suppliers' designers on product design.

Factory Alignment

• Conduct comparative analyses to ensure that products from different factories possess distinctive features and benefits, avoiding overlap in styles.
• Develop strategic product development plans tailored to each factory.
• Identify style trends for the South African market in two divisions.
• Oversee range revamps and the introduction of new products based on set targets.
• Continue to rationalize product ranges and discontinue underperforming items as needed.

Sales Performance

• Conduct periodic reviews of new product sales, analysing performance against targets.
• Develop actionable plans to address gaps in product offerings and adjust strategies to meet sales goals.
• Monitor competitor activities and market trends to proactively adapt product offerings in collaboration with the Commercial team.

Project Management

• Oversee the product development process, ensuring timelines and quality standards are met.
• Manage cross-functional coordination among internal teams (factory development, production, marketing, and sales) and external partners, including glaze manufacturers and direct customer engagement.
• Track the progress of product development projects, troubleshoot issues, and ensure timely market delivery.

Pricing Strategy

• Manage and develop the pricing matrix for products across different factories in collaboration with the Commercial team, aligning pricing structures with market demand, commercial objectives, and factory profitability.
• Monitor and adjust pricing strategies based on market trends and competitor activities.
• Suggest special offers and deals to encourage stock movement and improve sales.
• Assist the master data coordinator in monitoring the integrity and consistency of pricing information across all platforms.

Marketing & Product Launch

• Play an active role in the marketing team by initiating product launch strategies and prioritizing tasks to promote new products.
• Lead the creation of marketing materials, including brochures, training content, and digital assets for social media and other platforms.
• Ensure marketing efforts align with the brand's vision and enhance product visibility in the market.
• Collaborate with sales and marketing teams to develop promotional strategies that increase product awareness and sales.
• Supervise trade marketing initiatives to maintain high standards in showrooms and effectively manage samples for agents.

Training & Content Creation

• Develop comprehensive training materials for internal teams and customers to ensure a thorough understanding of product features, benefits, and installation processes.
• Create engaging content for social media, brochures, and other marketing tools to effectively promote products.
• Provide product training to sales teams, equipping them with knowledge about new product features and advantages.

SOP Systems

• Establish workflow and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all steps in the development and launch processes to optimize product development and marketing. Workflows outline the sequence of tasks, while SOPs provide detailed instructions for executing each task consistently.
• Manage the database, initiate the creation of new bases, and implement automation to improve workflow and data sharing between product development and production.
• Streamline the development and launch of new products at both factory and sales/marketing support levels.
• Provide ongoing training on the development workflow.
• Encourage the factory to supply product specification information to agents and customers more efficiently, ensuring communication formats meet company standards.

Continuous Improvement

• Monitor product performance in the market and gather feedback to guide future updates.
• Lead initiatives for continuous product improvement based on market demands and customer feedback.
• Position the company as an industry leader by continuously innovating and setting trends in style and design to ensure our products remain at the forefront of the market.

Desired Experience & Qualification

• Min of 7 - 8 years in a Product Dev Manager role.
• Homeware/Sanitaryware/Tile/Fabric design and development background.
• Flair for design and product development.
• Must come from some sort of fashionable/trend/what the market wants type of industry.