Apparel Product Development Manager Jobs in Michigan

Location: Novi, MI - Onsite 5 days

Job Summary:

The Product Development Manager is responsible for leading the technical function of new business development, focusing on interpreting market trends and VOC, new product introduction, existing product penetration at new and current customers, championing new product development initiatives and liaising with technical teams at new and existing customers. This role must drive revenue growth through new product introductions and market penetration.  This role will help establish and maintain a solid position as our customers' preferred solution-provider in the design, development, and production of thermal and acoustic products, while focusing on growth in core applications and generating new opportunities in the transportation industry. 

Duties and Responsibilities:

Develop and sustain technical expertise on materials and associated products, and related applications to provide product recommendations. Maintain comprehensive knowledge and understanding of all Company products and their applications, manufacturing processes and applicable safety & health concerns. In addition, maintain working knowledge of competitive product information. 

   Act as the technical lead for opportunities related to new applications or new products.  Interpret technical specifications and product requirements and translate into comprehensive technical-commercial proposals.

   Define the go-to market strategy and value proposition for new products focusing on product introduction presentations, technical data, and application guides while identifying and ranking target customers.

   Champion, drive, and participate in the development of next generation products from ideation through industrialization balancing technical performance with commercial attractiveness.  

   Analyze product portfolio margins, penetration of the product portfolio across all customers, prepare market studies or in-depth analyses for new products and new applications.

   Participate in the technical development of new products, incremental improvements, and the research and implementation of new & advanced manufacturing processes to produce new products.

   Assist with new product launches and marketing campaigns.

   Provide technical support to the applications and sales groups for technical-commercial activities required to maintain and grow business on assigned accounts, including development/validation of proposed solutions, assistance at customer presentations, participation in technical reviews, interpretation/co-development of customer Statement of Requirements, submission of detailed technical proposals and reports, and other activities required by the sales and engineering staff.

   Establish a business development direction and vision with global sales and engineering with the business segment's long-term objectives.  Collaborate to establish regional revenue, product diversification, product development, technical support, and other strategic goals.

   Integrate a direct presence with key customers (current and prospective) to build intimate customer relationships with the diverse and demanding strategic components of driving this business.  

   Interact with Operations functions globally to coordinate any activities necessary for superior customer satisfaction, industrialization of new product/application concepts, successful production launch of new business awards, and overall alignment of Sales, Product Development and Operations strategies.  

   Establish sales/marketing and application engineering priorities; assess their respective opportunities with appropriate research to contribute to the development of domestic and international planning and strategy.  

   Adapt Total Quality techniques to management and problem solving in responsible areas.  Support facility and corporate wide Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma initiatives.

Required Experience, Education, Skills, and Abilities for Consideration as a Candidate:

   7+ years of transportation product engineering in applications, product development, or testing and simulation with direct customer contact.   
   Industry experience should include expertise in the development of engineered transportation products to major OEMs, transplants, Tier One, and Tier Two level suppliers on global platforms. 
   Demonstrated record of success in developing and implementing new products and strategies.
   Ability to utilize a variety of software applications (MS Office, Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
   Experience in thermal and acoustics utilizing metals, fibers, polymers, and molding & stamping processes.
   Experience in EV battery thermal protection and insulation materials and applications

Competencies:

• Business acumen
• Knowledge of thermal and acoustical physics and products
• Timely decision making
• Integrity and follow-through
• Data driven and driven by results
• Entrepreneurial
• Accountable and self-driven
• Creative problem solving
• Effective communication & presentation skills
• Value propositions