Sr./Brand & Product Manager for a for a growing CPG/Consumer Product Goods wholesale/distributor/eCommerce company - Vertical Careers, Inc.

Brand & Product Manager

Job Description:

The Senior Brand/Product Manager will be required to manage multiple projects from concept start to production while collaborating with Designers, Engineers, Marketing teams, Planners, and others throughout the product development life cycle. The team is to be a cohesive team of talented and knowledgeable individuals seeking a team member with equally strong project management and technical skills. Here is an opportunity to work with some of finest and most passionate individuals within the toy industry!

Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

• Strong analytical, decision making, multi-tasking, and communication skills
• Ability to work independently (self-motivated) and complete projects within required timeframes and on a daily basis problem solving and issue resolution
• Highly capable of writing/evaluating product, packaging, and communications briefs
• Able to make tough, informed decisions quickly to keep projects on track
• Manage multiple projects and brands while maintaining costs and scheduling targets
• Work closely with overseas development, tooling, and manufacturing partners to ensure successful project completion
• Review concept sketches and provide technical and costing support for products in the preliminary design phase
• Work with external development sources to engineer the toy
• Manage and move each item through all steps of our process, from initial spec to launch stage project schedules, product costs and testing in addition managing the products Lifecycle in Base Camp, MMB and other project tracking tools
• Coordinating with contracted Manufacturers in Asia, Sales & Marketing teams and Operations team to ensure on-time delivery of products
• Assesses market conditions and competitive landscape to determine needs for new products and features
• Serve and internal and external product ambassador to update all key departments on new developments and coordinate with those departments to execute
• Communicate with all departments in product development cycle
• Responsible for coordinating the design development of a product from concept through completion
• Responsible for all samples shipment/tracking from concept to final production
• Outgoing personality
• Intermediate to expert level skills in Microsoft Access, Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook
• Understand what is going on in toy/gaming Category – information / insights / competitors
• Able to lead and inspire cross functional teams to deliver strong results

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• 5-10 years' consumer product brand management / product & project development experience in a new product-oriented industry, strong knowledge of working within toy (plush discipline preferred), entertainment, or other pop culture industry
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects / brands and prioritize work without missing critical deadlines and possess excellent problem-solving skills
• Ability to both adapt to and manage changing priorities independently in a fast paced environment
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively within a team environment
• Hands-on problem solver
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with superior attention to detail
• Experience working with Chinese based manufacturers; knowledgeable in manufacturing process such as plush and plastics
• The position may require travel of 1-2 times per year to Asia
• Excellent communications skills with strong written, verbal and presentation skills · Analytical
• Intermediate to advanced knowledge of MS Office
• Proven ability to do whatever it takes to get the job done while taking initiative and pushing projects forward under tight deadlines
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing or related Discipline or equivalent experience
• Ability to effectively represent brand internally and externally
• Motivated by challenges and possesses a robust sense of curiosity
• Passionate about driving brand growth by better meeting consumer needs