Associate Product Manager

$80,000 - $90,000/Yr

Lee Hecht Harrison - Lake Bluff, IL

Full-time - Entry Level

Lake Bluff, IL

Administrative and Support Services

About the position

The Associate Product Manager role at a consumer products company is a hybrid position focused on product marketing. This role involves cross-functional collaboration with various departments to influence all aspects of product marketing, requiring a strong understanding of product lines and market opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Acquire strong knowledge of designated product lines including benefits and selling propositions.
• Gather, assess, and outline competitive data such as product offerings, specifications, pricing, distribution, and promotional activity.
• Locate market opportunities through customer assessment needs, competitive positioning, studying, and monitoring market trends.
• Determine requirements and direct specs for existing and new products.
• Lead SKU rationalization.
• Participate in product testing to validate features and check product quality measurements.
• Create metrics with the product management team to analyze product success and identify features needed.
• Outline opportunities for product improvements to boost sales and/or improve profitability.
• Communicate with internal teams to answer product-related questions quickly.
• Extract and deliver product data to support senior management team requests.
• Contribute to the packaging artwork and instruction manual development.
• Work with other members of marketing to develop and implement product launch plans.
• Assemble product presentations, samples, mock-ups, competitive comparisons, and other materials for sales support.
• Serve as the product expert supporting customer service and sales as a resource for product-related inquiries.
• Own the product details and specs to ensure accuracy in the product information management (PIM) and marketing center.
• Help manage and maintain the product hierarchy/taxonomy for organization of product catalogs and online marketing center.
• Assist in the development of category standards and attributes for consistent content across digital and print endpoints.
• Deliver product marketing projects on schedule and to high quality standards.
• Track and report status of projects using the company’s project management tools.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, product design, engineering, or business administration.
• 2+ years of product marketing experience in a consumer-packaged goods setting.
• Experience working with consumer products sold at retail outlets.
• Moderate experience with Excel pivot tables and V or X lookups.
• Proficient in MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and Word).

Nice-to-haves

• Analytical, creative problem-solver.
• Highly organized.
• Strong time management skills; able to manage multiple activities at once.
• Flexible, embracing change.
• Proactive, takes initiative, seeks answers or solutions.

Benefits

• Base salary of $80,000 to $90,000 per year, plus bonus and full benefits.