Product Manager

Product Manager - Civil Engineering

Department: Technical

£52,000 -£55,000k salary plus car

Our client is an established and highly regarded business operating within the Civil Engineering and Construction sector, with a strong reputation for delivering innovative, high-quality products and technical solutions to the industry.

As part of their continued growth and product development strategy, they are looking to appoint an experienced Product Manager to take ownership of key product ranges, working closely with customers, technical teams, R&D, sales and marketing.

This is an excellent opportunity for a commercially minded Product Manager with a background in civil engineering, construction, infrastructure or related technical products to play a key role in shaping product strategy, driving new product development and supporting continued business growth.

Purpose of Role

To define and articulate what success looks like for the company’s range of products and services, and to rally the team to turn that vision into reality.

The role will involve a large amount of collaboration and coordination with both internal teams and external stakeholders. It will initially focus on product ranges.

Key Responsibilities

Market

• Conduct market research and network, consult and liaise directly with industry stakeholders to collate market insight:
• Understand industry customs and working practices.
• Discuss how customers and users perceive their needs.
• Identify customer and user pain points.
• Review the suitability and benefits of the product ranges.
• Support company-wide SWOT and PESTLE analyses.
• Act as the customer advocate (Voice of Customer) within the organisation.
• Undertake range and market-specific commercial analyses.
• Identify opportunities for improving the business and product portfolio:
• Expedite development and communicate more clearly, using engineering skills where appropriate to conceptualise and propose solutions.
• Initiate the registration process for any potential intellectual property.
• Prioritise actions for the business.

Commercial Management

• Create models to support the commercial team in developing pricing cascades for different routes to market.

New Product Development

• Develop comprehensive design briefs for the R&D team to use as the basis for development programmes.
• In conjunction with the management team, prioritise R&D based on business requirements.
• Track new product development and improvements.
• Ensure new products meet customer expectations.
• Organise and coordinate field trials between customer-facing teams, R&D and external stakeholders.
• Keep the wider business up to date with product development stages, trials and launch timescales.
• Following appropriate consultation, sign off new designs.
• Arrange and ensure launch dates, considering:
• R&D timelines.
• Marketing collateral development time.
• Sales and marketing cycles, including magazine features and trade show calendars.
• Initial production quantities and lead times for shipping.
• Demand sensitivity in relation to early or late launch.

Product Information

• Champion the company’s product information management.
• Ensure data is appropriate, correct and comprehensive.
• Lead on CCPI.
• Act as the gatekeeper of accurate product information, ensuring data cannot be misinterpreted.

Marketing Communications Support

• Identify and prioritise FABs for each product range, providing support to Marketing when:
• Translating them into launch documentation.
• Develop specification clauses for each product range.
• Support Marketing when:
• Building training materials.
• Briefing appropriate agencies.
• Creating product launch collateral.
• Proof-read and review marketing materials.
• Identify, highlight and explain how to fill gaps in or improve product information and messaging.

Sales Support

• Support and work alongside Sales to present to customers as and when required.
• As the product authority, deliver training to internal and external audiences.
• Undertake occasional complaint investigation site visits.

Quality

• Support the Technical team in defining the requisite level for product quality.
• To ensure familiarity with the products themselves, remain an active part of the quality inspection process.
• Be part of the complaint review process.
• Support with site visits and complaint resolution.

Personal Conduct

• Act as a role model and lead by example.
• Engage in the use of all company communication formats, such as SharePoint.
• All employees are expected to actively support and adhere to the organisation’s core values and cultural principles.

Key Performance Indicators

• Product range profitability.
• Growth in sales.
• Project delivery against deadlines.
• Adherence to company policies.

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