Product Manager

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Assessment

• Identification of (modification to) competitor strategies that are relevant to the assigned product portfolio.
• Identification of technology trends and regulatory impacts that are relevant to the assigned product portfolio.
• Identification of changes in customer needs impacting portfolio attractiveness and adjust the portfolio accordingly.
• Support to apply UX methods to identify user needs including unmet needs and to validate hypothesis to shape the desirable solution concept and to enrich with new insights.

Midterm and Budget planning

• Proposal of specific action for achieving the strategic goals agreed by Head of Product Management /Head of Business Unit/Business Cluster Management. in the context of midterm planning.
• Support through strategic definition of goals, strategic analyses, and data for midterm planning (financial planning, roadmap, priorities).

Product Development Process

• Align & interface with stakeholders (e.g., Marketing Product Managers, Sales Team, etc) and involve the market with responsibility for the customer requirements with target applications, value propositions and the market part of the business case. Focus on existing portfolio extensions.
• Interact as permanent member of the Project Team for joint project and product market success (e.g., by using UX methods to ensure the design is user-centered and testable) and has high influence for setting priorities. Create transparency on business case in case of project changes (e.g. timeline, features) and reduce risks through early usability testing with users.
• Know the relevant company development process and support the project team accordingly.

Product Launch Process

• Responsible for the entire product launch process and content such as digital product data, sales information, value proposition, pre-launch activities as well as training materials and feedback.
• Execution of Product Launches.

Product Lifecycle

• Proactively monitor the business performance of the portfolio and ensure the right product positioning and pricing in each market. Analyze reasons for potential misunderstandings/ drawbacks. Propose and support implementation for countermeasures or strategies for acquiring new customers / explore new business opportunities.
• Derivation of ideas for product extensions/product adaptations (based on customer research, including possible UX methods), as well as their development, business scenario, and apply for decision on implementation.
• Perform KPI-based portfolio management and interface with further processes / stakeholders for demand planning activities, slow moving inventories reduction measures and manufacturing cost reduction measures.
• Identify portfolio variants with low sales performance and proactively initiate alignment with stakeholders for phaseout decision or for portfolio sales push campaigns.
• Further development of product training for Sales and customers.
• Create and deliver Input for potential marketing campaigns as well as marketing activities.
• Continuous improvement and updates of product data for the company website and for digital databases.

Product Phaseout

• Preparation of phaseout (including as-is, impact, risk-benefit, and application context analysis) and support for Head of Business Unit or respective Group Leader during the final phaseout decision. Development of phaseout concept and replacement strategy.
• Ensuring and execution of concluding end of-service communication.

Requirements:

• Minimum 5 years or more of product management experience, including management of product portfolio
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or any other related technical field
• Strong analytic, strategic thinking, effective communication and presentation skills
• Relevant experience in customer facing roles and cross-functional collaboration
• Good understanding of automation systems, including sensors, controller and software platforms relevant to industrial automation would be an advantage