Product Manager II (Minneapolis, MN, US, 02021)

Mission of the Role

***This position is based in our SICK, Bloomington MN campus.  The person will work in office Monday through Friday. This position does allow for a flexible schedule.

This position has primary responsibility for the successful management of assigned product lines globally to provide profitable return for SICK. Successful management includes increasing profitability of existing products and developing new products to meet global market requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the entire product line life cycle from strategic development, to tactical activities, to end-of-life planning, and migration strategies.
• Conduct market and industry research to understand applications, market trends, and market requirements; analyze the market to define market conditions, market potential, competitive environment, and influences.
• Take a commanding lead role in engaging customers to understand their business strategy, environment, and processes; utilize standard methodologies to capture customer requirements and identify pain and hidden needs, and generate a compelling value proposition.
• Capture and translate current industry standards and regulations to relevant product requirements for responsible product lines.
• Provide competitive analysis for responsible product lines globally, including comparison of technical attributes, features, performance, and commercial elements.
• Translate market and customer requirements into new product solutions to better serve customer needs; document customer and market requirements, and work with engineering department to develop new products and/or solutions to satisfy the customer needs.
• Document and present business cases to justify new product developments based on the market analysis, market/customer requirements, market positioning, customer value proposition, revenue potential, profitability analysis, and product launch plans.
• Develop market introduction strategies for new products to achieve the planned business success globally, including sales tools, training, sales activities, marketing plans, target markets and customers, and strategic industry team engagement.
• Utilize company-defined processes to plan and track new product market introduction activities and stage-gates.
• Generate business development strategies with global sales subsidiaries to successfully launch, sell, and support responsible product lines; visit sales subsidiaries to deliver product training, visit customers, and develop strategies.
• Identify target customer groups and specific customers, within key markets and collaborate with sales on business development activity.
• Define and communicate global pricing strategies for assigned product lines.
• Develop mid-term product development strategy and roadmap; collaborate with corporate headquarters to ensure alignment with the corporate product development strategy and roadmap.
• Mentor and coach product management counterparts to refine their skills and become high performing Product Managers.
• Form cross-functional teams with effective guidance, action plans, and accountability to achieve desired results.
• Navigate the organization to drive results locally and globally across all necessary functions.
• Participate actively in Industry Associations.
• Support in customer training effort when necessary
• Carry out other duties and responsibilities as may be assigned or required.

Key Qualifications

• Experience: 6-10 years of experience in product management, preferably with an orientation toward industrial automation. Proven record of accomplishment in managing product launches.
• Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (for example, ME, EE, IE) preferred or equivalent experience. Advanced degree a plus.

Position-specific Qualifications:

• Written and verbal communication skills to effectively interface with individuals both inside and outside the organization from a technical perspective regarding SICK products.
• Ability to interface effectively with individuals at all levels within the division.
• Ability to make complex decisions in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to approach ambiguity with creativity.
• Action oriented, with the ability to drive for results.
• Strong understanding of the business and processes to improve efficiency.
• Ability to organize and prioritize effectively.
• Ability to work in a general office environment.

• Computer/Technological: Professional competence with Microsoft Office products.
• Language: Professional written and spoken fluency in English required.
• Schedule: Monday to Friday, full time; be on-call on some weekends (if required).
• General Working Conditions: This role is based at our SICK campus in Bloomington MN.
• Travel:  Be able to travel 25-50% of the time, including internationally; must have a valid passport.
• Work Status: Legally permitted to work in the country you are applying and willing to undergo an employment background check. (*This position is not eligible for sponsorship now or in the future.)

Compensation

The base salary is one part of our Total Rewards package and is determined within a range.  The starting base salary range for this position is listed below; the actual starting salary will be based on a variety of factors including experience, skill set, education, performance, licenses/certifications, business needs and other job-related factors, as permitted by law.

• Starting Base Annual Salary Range:  $101,820 - $154,000
• Bonus Eligibility: This role is eligible for an annual bonus based on a combination of company and individual performance.