Head of Category & Product Development - Bikes
Posted by Pacific Cycle - Schwinn, Mongoose, Kid Trax on 04/20/2021
Job Basics
Industry Sector: Bike, Fishing, Fitness, Hunting/Shooting, Lifestyle, Outdoor, Snow, WaterSports
Job Categories: Design & Development - Product, Management - Product -Brand, Management - Team
Company Type: HardGoods/Equipment
State: WI
City: Madison
Country: United States
Required Experience: 10+ years
Job Type: Full Time
Salary:
Required to Relocate: Yes
Required to Travel: Yes
Employee May Telecommute: No
Job Seeker Must Live Within: 50+ miles
Job Description & Requirements
Here at Dorel Sports, we help people make the most of their bike ride by creating some of the most original, easy to enjoy, and best performing bicycle products. We make bikes for everybody – as cycling develops and grows worldwide, we’re looking for more great people to join us. If you’re looking to enjoy working in a culture of innovation with a team of like-minded people, then we may have something for you here.
Join our team as a Head of Category & Product Development - Bikes. Because where else can you play with toys all day?
The Head of Category and Product Development will own the business growth strategy, category P&L oversight, and omni-channel product assortment strategy for bicycles while continuously assessing marketplace, consumer trends, and product portfolio to drive the growth of the category while staying ahead of the competition. We are looking for a dynamic individual to lead a high-performing team of product developers in a high-pace environment. Clear and effective leadership is top priority. Our ideal candidate is an experienced and versatile business leader, has a proven track record of high performance, thinks big and operates at depth in parallel, and has prospered in high-growth business environments.
This may not cover everything, but here are your major areas of focus in the first year:
- Visionary and Leadership: own the long-term strategy and vision for growth and profit including new product innovation, product life cycle management, operating plans and driving execution
- Product Portfolio Optimization: develop and execute overall product assortment strategy to maximize revenue and margin
- Responsible for consumer-centric (Voice of the Customer) input to portfolio management (e.g., holistic experience delivered to consumer across all channels – 4Ps: Product/Price/Place/Promotion) that monetizes opportunity through creation of early business case development and driving end-to-end sales and margin delivery to P&L for assigned business
- Act as a Product Assortment Leader across on the Retail/Digital/Ecommerce/Omnichannel: bring key trends impacting the business to the forefront and leverage an understanding of consumers, shoppers, and retail customers to drive forward key business strategies
- Be the Voice of the Customer (VOC): ensure the VOC is heard throughout the development process and is clearly defined and represented in everything we do
- Cross-functional Leadership: work cross-functionally within the organization to ensure flawless execution and long-term strategy; serve as a category expert resource to internal stakeholders to aid with the planning and execution of their product Go-to-Market deliverables
- Lead talent and organizational development: develop, motivate, and retain talented individuals, leveraging a leadership style that engages and inspires; motivate the team to optimize the achievement of Pacific Cycle strategic objectives and team member’s individual goals
Key Competencies
Strategic Thinking | Visioning | Global Mindset | Results Orientation | Relationship Building | Change Agility
Education & Experience Requirements
- Minimum of 10 years related experience in a consumer driven outdoor product with an analytically driven voice of the customer
- Demonstrated ability developing and leading a best-in-class Voice of the Customer strategy and organization that turns insights into business results
- Firsthand knowledge of consumer research techniques and information acquisition and can translate the data into actionable product plans
- Excellent organization and people skills due to extensive interaction with many divisions
- Must be skilled at examining and leading change regarding internal processes and systems to continuously enhance the ability to bring the right products to market
- Able to demonstrate effective leadership within own department and across broad parts of the organization where there may be little or no formal authority
- Omni-channel orientation and well-versed in direct-to-consumer/eCommerce
- Entrepreneurial, balances strategic thinking with execution; adept in developing and implementing short-, medium-, and long-term business strategies that have yielded significant results
- Deep understanding of the current retail and consumer landscape, capable of connecting with today’s consumer
- Translates vision into credible and motivating category strategies and then develops and refines strategies into actionable management plans
- Proactive communicator with a keen sense of how to deeply connect with people and build trust; has high credibility, integrity, adaptability and is able to quickly establish rapport and build productive relationships across the organization
- Strong financial literacy, ability to analyze data quickly and identify risks/opportunities; adapts and learns new technologies, processes, and strategies
- Proven people leader that has shown success in aligning and developing teams and improving performance in matrixed organizations
- Passion for the bicycle industry and kids' toys!
- Knowledge of technical, mechanical and electrical is helpful in assessing of proposed engineering solutions meet customer needs
