Customer Segment Product Manager

Career Area:

Marketing

Job Description:

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do - but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here - we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

The CTCT division (a joint venture between Trimble and Caterpillar) exists to create the industry standard grade control platform, enabling the development of positioning and control products for earthmoving, paving and compaction machines in the construction, mining and landfill industries, using technologies such as GNSS, optical total stations, lasers and sonics. The products are used in a range of applications where the operator of the machine benefits from having accurate horizontal and vertical guidance and the office benefits from rich data collected on the machine.

The Customer Segment Product Manager is primarily responsible for establishing the strategy for a given customer segment. This serves as the "North Star" for our product teams, providing the necessary guidance and focus to align their individual product-level strategies with broader business goals. To achieve this, you will cultivate a deep understanding of unique customer needs by spending time, alongside parent partners and our Customer Research team, with end-users and distribution channels. Working with those parent partners and our Customer Research team, you will translate these insights into a cohesive segment strategy. A critical component of this role is the establishment and management of a Segment Cohort-a highly engaged group of representative users who provide the continuous feedback loop necessary for validated innovation.

As the designated Subject Matter Expert (SME) for your segment, you will act as a strategic advisor to product development teams, ensuring their roadmaps and execution remain grounded in segment-specific realities. You will also partner closely with our Competitive Intelligence Manager to deeply understand and mitigate competitive pressures, while simultaneously serving as a bridge between parent groups and internal teams to synchronize knowledge and strategy. Ultimately, your success is defined by our collective ability to win within your specific segment, ensuring our products are not just functional, but essential to the customers who use them.

What You Will Do:

Customer Segment Expertise

• Parents and CTCT have a shared understanding of the unique characteristics, and thus the unique value proposition, of that segment
• Parents and CTCT are able to make decisions on "% Focus" for that segment based on opportunity and strategic alignment
• CTCT Product Teams have a strategic framework to guide roadmaps that will be successful in the targeted segment
• CTCT Product Teams have a segment SME they can engage when building their roadmaps
• Parents have an idealized Segment-specific GTM strategy that they can choose to leverage
• Continuous customer engagement, as well as current industry trends, competitive and market insights, inform segment strategies

Engaged and Representative Customer Access

• We have a customer segment cohort for the org to work with in all phases of learning
• We have a good understanding of what internal field experience we have in targeted segments
• The customer cohort includes diversity that is representative of the larger segment (regions, machine types, applications, etc.)
• Access to customers is not a deterrent for getting field feedback
• Customer partners in the cohort remain engaged because interactions are at an appropriate frequency
• Customer partners in the cohort remain engaged because they feel it is a mutually beneficial relationship

Deliver Stakeholder Needs

• Communicate the segment vision and strategy to stakeholders, both internally and externally (tell the "Segment Story")
• Product, GTM, analytics and New Technology strategies for the specific customer segments
• Guide the adoption of OKR alignment and use of a dashboard to track and measure success
• Keep stakeholders in the loop
• Deliver outcomes to the expected level of quality
• Help stakeholders articulate the problems that need to be solved

Serve the Organization

• Act as a servant leader and effect change through influence and inspiration
• Collaborate with Parents, Product Managers, Customer Research, Verification and Validation, Design and Technical Leads, to build consensus and resolve blockers
• Perform additional tasks as required from time to time.
• Constantly work to improve and develop both communication, leadership, and people skills

What Skills You Will Have:

Customer Focus:

• Facilitates strategies that lead to the 'right' products and services that resolve customer segment needs.
• Fosters strong customer relationships via delivery on commitments, open communication, and on-going feedback/improvement.
• Advises others on creating customer focused environments in various scenarios.
• Anticipates customer needs, focusing efforts to proactively meet needs and exceed customer expectations.
• Communicates and models the criticality of customer focus as an organizational strategy.

Creativity:

• Maintains balance between innovation and pragmatism.
• Challenges accepted ways of operating.
• Monitors innovations in field and explores usefulness in own function.
• Encourages, solicits, and rewards imaginative ideas.
• Supports experimentation and accepts occasional setbacks or failures.
• Finds new ways to approach problems.

Effective Communications:

• Reviews others' writing or presentations and provides feedback and coaching.
• Adapts documents and presentations for the intended audience.
• Demonstrates both empathy and assertiveness when communicating a need or defending a position.
• Communicates well downward, upward, and outward.
• Employs appropriate methods of persuasion when soliciting agreement.
• Maintains focus on the topic at hand.

Influencing:

• Develops basic persuasive arguments.
• Discusses organizational culture around providing input on decisions.
• Uses active listening skills and probing techniques to surface opportunities to influence.
• Identifies who the decision makers are and how they receive information.
• Regularly presents ideas or suggestions to associates in persuasive terms.

Relationship Management:

• Communicates to parents regarding expectations of all parties.
• Communicates internally and externally clear summaries and strategies for customer segments.
• Conducts periodic reviews of work effort, progress, issues, and successes.
• Maintains productive, long-term relationships with parents.

Strategic Thinking:

• Advises on the segment's idealized go-to-market strategy.
• Raises awareness of potential strategic alliances and partnerships.
• Explains elements of the strategy to others and encourages questions.
• Monitors marketplace trends, opportunities, and vulnerabilities; reports findings.
• Makes sound recommendations when faced with complex and contradictory alternatives.

Top Candidates Will Have:

• Extensive experience as a product manager, working with teams to bring valuable products to market
• Proven success establishing segment-level strategies that inform product-level strategies
• The ability to bring diverse stakeholders together in support of a common vision
• A deep understanding of the grade control and construction technology industry
• Impeccable organizational skills, that facilitate clarity for those around you
• Strong communications skills, demonstrating the ability to tailor messages for each level of an org hierarchy
• Familiarity with AI and a curiosity in how it can be thoughtfully leveraged
• A growth mindset, confident in their expertise but open to having their mind changed through competing views
• Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering or related field

Additional Information:

• The locations for this position are Mossville, IL; Dayton, OH; and Westminster, CO.
• Domestic relocation assistance is available for this position.
• Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.
• This position may require up to 25% travel.

#LI

Summary Pay Range:

$147,760.00 - $221,640.00

Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.

Benefits:

Subject to plan eligibility, terms, and guidelines. This is a summary list of benefits.

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits*

• Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*

• 401(k) savings plans*

• Health Savings Account (HSA)*

• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*

• Health Lifestyle Programs*

• Employee Assistance Program*

• Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*

• Career Development*

• Incentive bonus*

• Disability benefits

• Life Insurance

• Parental leave

• Adoption benefits

• Tuition Reimbursement

• These benefits also apply to part-time employees

This position requires working onsite five days a week.

Relocation is available for this position.

Visa Sponsorship is not available for this position.

Posting Dates:

Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities. Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply.

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