Product Manager

Job Title: Product Manager

Office Location: Morristown, TN

Reports to: General Manager & Director, Vapor Precision

Overview

The Product Manager is responsible for defining, managing, and executing the product strategy and lifecycle for custom-engineered, design-to-order products within an industrial manufacturing environment. This role serves as the bridge between customers, sales, engineering, operations, sourcing, and leadership to ensure products meet market needs, profitability objectives, and operational capabilities.

The Product Manager drives product roadmap development, business case analysis, product standardization initiatives, pricing strategy, and new product introductions while supporting highly customized customer solutions. The successful candidate combines strong technical aptitude, commercial acumen, and cross-functional leadership to deliver profitable growth and exceptional customer experiences.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

Product Strategy & Portfolio Management:

• Develop and execute product strategies aligned with company growth objectives.
• Manage the product portfolio throughout the product lifecycle, including product development, enhancement, rationalization, and end-of-life decisions.
• Identify market opportunities, customer trends, competitive threats, and emerging technologies.
• Define and maintain product roadmaps for both standard and custom-engineered product offerings.
• Establish product positioning and value propositions to support sales efforts.

Customer & Market Engagement:

• Act as the voice of the customer throughout the organization.
• Gather customer requirements and translate them into product specifications and business requirements.
• Participate in customer meetings, plant visits, and technical reviews.
• Analyze market conditions, customer feedback, and competitive intelligence to identify growth opportunities.
• Support strategic customer initiatives and major project pursuits.

Design-to-Order Product Leadership

• Collaborate with Engineering on custom product designs and customer-specific solutions.
• Evaluate customer requirements against existing product capabilities and manufacturing constraints.
• Balance customer customization requests with standardization, quality, and profitability objectives.
• Lead product decisions during quotation, proposal, and project execution stages.
• Ensure manufacturability, scalability, and cost-effectiveness of engineered solutions.

New Product Development & Innovation

• Lead cross-functional product development initiatives from concept through commercialization.
• Develop business cases, financial models, and return-on-investment analyses.
• Define product requirements, specifications, and performance targets.
• Coordinate product launches and change management activities.
• Monitor new product performance and implement continuous improvement initiatives.

Commercial & Financial Management:

• Own product profitability, revenue growth, and margin performance.
• Develop pricing strategies in collaboration with Sales and Finance.
• Monitor market pricing trends and competitive positioning.
• Evaluate product cost structures and identify margin improvement opportunities.
• Support annual strategic planning and forecasting processes.

Cross-Functional Leadership:

• Partner closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Supply Chain, Procurement, Quality, and Sales teams.
• Lead cross-functional teams without direct reporting authority.
• Facilitate decision-making across multiple stakeholders.
• Drive alignment between market demands and operational capabilities.
• Support operational excellence and continuous improvement initiatives.

Product Performance & Analytics

• Establish and monitor key product performance indicators.
• Analyze sales trends, order patterns, profitability, and product utilization.
• Develop executive-level reports and recommendations.
• Utilize data-driven decision-making to optimize portfolio performance.

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Business, or related field required.
• MBA or advanced degree preferred.

Experience:

• 5+ years of experience in Product Management, Product Development, Engineering, Project Management, or Commercial Leadership within industrial manufacturing.
• Experience supporting Design-to-Order (DTO), Engineer-to-Order (ETO), Configure-to-Order (CTO), or custom manufacturing environments preferred.
• Experience working with engineering, manufacturing, and customer-facing teams.
• Demonstrated success managing products throughout the lifecycle.
• Knowledge of industrial equipment, engineered products, capital equipment, process systems, or manufacturing solutions preferred.

Technical Knowledge:

• Product lifecycle management (PLM)
• New Product Introduction (NPI)
• Engineering change management
• Design-to-Order and Engineer-to-Order processes
• Product costing and pricing strategies
• Manufacturing processes and operations
• Supply chain and sourcing fundamentals
• ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Infor, etc.)
• CAD and engineering documentation concepts
• Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement methodologies