Associate Product Manager, Hardlines

Hand2mind is a family-owned company that creates engaging educational materials for children. The Associate Product Manager will oversee the development of educational products and toys, managing a product portfolio from concept to market launch while collaborating with cross-functional teams and overseas manufacturers.

Responsibilities

• Manage 5-12 new products through the product life cycle, from ideation to market launch, ensuring products align with our educational mission and meet quality standards
• Products will include items available to all customers as well as custom items for specific customers
• Take responsibility for project management tasks, including tracking key milestone dates, to ensure efficient project execution
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including editorial, industrial design, creative, sales, custom solutions, and marketing, to bring innovative educational products to market on time and within budget
• Work with vendors to quote products, negotiate prices, and determine delivery schedules to meet product launch goals
• Support market research efforts by gathering data, customer feedback, and conducting competitor analysis to identify opportunities, trends, and insights that inform product strategy
• Identify competitors, analyze their strengths and weaknesses, and assess market trends
• Organize, participate, and lead product testing for new concepts
• Participate in data maintenance projects utilizing Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) and product related spreadsheets
• Work closely with Sales and Marketing on key sample requests for customer meetings, photoshoots, video shoots, trade shows, etc

Skills

• Bachelor's Degree required
• 1-3 years of consumer product development experience or 3-5 years working with children (i.e. PreK-5 education, speech language pathology, etc.)
• Excellent organization, presentation, and communication skills (both written and verbal)
• Creative mindset with entrepreneurial spirit who thinks outside the box
• Able to meet multiple, challenging deadlines and work within budgets
• Comfortable with analyzing basic financial data for assigned categories and to make recommendations that support overall brand/product goals
• Excellent at solving problems creatively and/or knowing when to seek help
• Proficient in Microsoft Office
• Able to effectively communicate with key stakeholders including colleagues, executive team, vendors, and customers

Benefits

• Profit sharing bonus potential
• 401k matching
• A variety of other benefits

Company Overview