Product Manager - Kitchen Cabinets - American Woodmark

American Woodmark is one of the nation's largest cabinet manufacturers. By partnering with major home centers, builders, and dealers, we spark the imagination of homeowners and designer and bring their vision to life. Across our service and distribution centers, our corporate office and manufacturing facilities, you'll always find the same commitment to customer satisfaction, integrity, teamwork, and excellence.
We are on a journey to encourage an inclusive Woodmark, and are taking meaningful actions to promote diverse representation across every part of the business. Together, every team member contributes to making American Woodmark a place where people can express who they are through what they do.





POSITION PURPOSE:
Assist in the development and management of the Core product offering. This position is responsible for tracking, analyzing and reporting on internal and competitive product and style trends and will use this information along with other relevant data to recommend product opportunities. The Product Manager will lead cross-functional project teams, support the development, launch of new Core products, and perform other tasks as assigned.

IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and ability required.



Experience
* Minimum of 5 years' experience in one or more of the following; marketing, product management, product design, product engineering, quality assurance, manufacturing or equivalent experience;
* P-L experience is a plus;
* Experience with wood fabricating, wood technology or wood finishing processes a plus;
* Kitchen design and / or kitchen installation experience a plus;
* Thorough knowledge of kitchen cabinet industry is a plus;
Skills
* Enterprise-level thinking with a strong understanding of production systems;
* Out of the box thinking and creative problem solving skills; ability to work independently with little direction
* Strong project management skills required;
* Excellent personal computer skills -- Microsoft products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project and Access)
* Ability to build effective business relationships with customers and internal clients, as well as the ability to work discreetly with proprietary and confidential information.
* Excellent organizational, oral and written communications skills, with an emphasis on formal presentations, priority setting and self-directed work habits is essential
Education
* A bachelor's degree in; marketing, engineering, architecture, design or similar discipline is preferred;





ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
* Stay thoroughly abreast of competitive and industry trends, customer needs and other relevant data;
* Develop and evolve processes to track, analyze, communicate product needs and specifications;
* Identify new product opportunities by leveraging key inputs such as company strategy - objectives, consumer research, channel / customer requirements, while balancing with internal capabilities / production platform.
* Drive all new products and product improvements through the Product Development process;
* Analyze and distill a broad range of information to build a compelling business case for a new product;
* Work with Product Engineering to ensure that all new products are designed to meet customer expectations;
* Ensure timely and effective communication with all departments involved with new product launches;
* Actively manages and drives the financial performance of the assigned category;
* Drive product line innovation initiatives aimed at reducing complexity and increasing profitability and customer satisfaction
* Lead strategically important cross functional teams as assigned;
* Assist in the presentation of new products at sales launch meetings and customer meetings as required; and
* Review and approve the technical accuracy of advertising and promotional copy, including but not limited to consumer catalogs, specifications books and price books prior to printing.
* Supervisory Responsibilities:
* This job typically supervises the Product Specialist. Matrix environment requires significant cross-functional leadership.



SCOPE - EXPECTATIONS:
* Language Skills:
* Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common business and technical journals and diagrams. Ability to listen and communicate effectively with customers/clients and employees in an effort to respond to common inquires or complaints. Ability to develop presentations to be delivered to groups and management.