Product Manager

Summary/Objective

This position is responsible for managing the product strategy for North America with regards to pricing, product life cycle, including end of life process, competitor analysis and market research, and support of new product development in support of the overall business growth. The Product Manager works cross-functionally in North America and the Netherlands with engineering, sales, marketing, operations, and leadership to help deliver high-impact, market-driven solutions.

Essential Functions

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Pricing Strategy
  • Develop pricing strategies aligned with market positioning, competitive landscape, and margin targets
  • Conduct pricing analysis and margin/profitability assessments
  • Maintain pricing structures across channels and ensure consistency
  • Assist with the discounting frameworks and pricing governance
  • Support pricing requirements for NPD and EOL items and coordinate After Market components in partnership with After Market and Service teams
• Go-To-Market & Product Marketing
  • Develop and execute go-to-market (GTM) strategies for new and existing products for NA
  • Define product positioning, messaging, and value propositions
  • Partner with marketing, sales, and engineering to create launch materials, campaigns, and sales tools
  • Monitor product launch performance and adjust strategies as needed
  • Develop and manage the process for communication of product changes to all necessary parties internally and externally
  • Work with the service, quality and engineering teams to monitor and communicate product updates (ECRs), new service sets and support quality VOC.
  • Manage prototype inventory for Sales and Demonstration processes
• Product Lifecycle, Warranty & Portfolio Management
  • Manage products across their full lifecycle (launch, growth, maturity, decline)
  • Monitor product performance (sales, margin, adoption, customer feedback)
  • Support decisions on product enhancements, rationalization, or discontinuation
  • Oversee warranty trends, competitive warranty offerings and improvement actions from field
  • Optimize portfolio mix to align with strategic and financial goals
• New Product Development (NPD)
  • Assist the Netherlands (NL) team with the development of business cases for new product initiatives, including market opportunity, financial justification, and strategic fit specific to the North American market
  • Define NA product specifications in collaboration with engineering and key stakeholders as needed by the NL team
  • Build and maintain product forecasts for the US and Canadian Markets (volume, revenue, margin)
  • Participates in cross-functional teams through stage-gate or equivalent NPD processes
  • Ensure alignment between product development, customer needs, and company strategy
• Market & Customer Insights
  • Gather and analyze voice of customer (VOC) through field engagement, customer interviews, and feedback loops
  • Conduct market research, competitive analysis, and industry trend monitoring
  • Identify unmet needs and translate insights into product requirements and opportunities
  • Support sales teams with customer-facing insights and positioning
  • Participates in marketing, sales, community and goodwill events, including, trade shows, Rescue Experience, schools, and others programs
• Product Specifications & Comparison
  • Maintain accurate and detailed product specifications and technical documentation
  • Develop competitive product comparisons and positioning tools
  • Ensure consistency and accuracy across all product-related content (catalogs, website, sales materials)
  • Support internal teams and customers with technical product knowledge
• All other duties as assigned

Competencies

• Ethical Conduct – Acts with honor in all business dealings.
• Strong communication skills – Communicates with all levels of organizations appropriately. Knows when written or verbal dialog is most efficient and effective.
• Technical Capacity - Understanding and proficiency in all phases of own work and essential related jobs. Exhibits proficiency with software and other necessary business equipment. Takes a hands on approach to working in role and with team members.
• Customer Service skills - Manages difficult or emotional customer situations; Responds quickly, appropriately, and accurately to requests from internal and external customers. Remains calm and respectful when dealing with customers (internal & external). Follows up appropriately
• Organizational skills - Prioritizes and plans work activities; Uses time efficiently; Plans for additional resources; Sets goals and objectives; Organizes or schedules other people and their tasks; Develops realistic action plans
• Active listening skills – Gives full attention to what other people are saying, takes time to understand the points being made, asks questions as appropriate, and does not interrupt at inappropriate times.
• Social & Cultural Perceptiveness – Is aware of others' reactions and has empathy towards why people may react in certain ways.
• Critical Thinking – Uses logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Attention to Detail – Demonstrates accuracy in all matters. Is timely, precise, and efficient with commercial communication and documentation.
• Collaboration & Teambuilding - Knows that by working together we make better products. Takes the time to listen to one another and our clients. Does their utmost for a common goal. Contributes to building a positive team spirit.
• Business Acumen- Understands the potential business implications of decisions being made.

Required Education and Experience

• B.A or B.S. degree in Business, Engineering, Marketing, or related field
• A minimum of 2 years of product experience and a demonstrated track record of accomplishments, preferably in a manufacturing setting.
• Knowledge and experience in ERP systems
• Experience with Database software, Order Processing systems, and Project Management software a plus
• Experience with 80/20 methodologies a plus

Work Environment

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines. Works with company products and performs product demonstrations from time-to-time.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

This would require the ability to lift files, open filing cabinets and bending or standing as necessary. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. The employee may be required to lift and move items up to 50 pounds, stand for long periods of time while participating in marketing events and demonstrations. Light booth construction will require lifting and bending.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position, and hours of work and days are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Some flexibility in hours is allowed, but the employee must be available during the “core” work hours of 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This position is expected to work occasional evenings and weekends in support of sales and marketing events.

Travel

This position requires up to 5% travel. Some of the travel may be on the weekends.

AAP/EEO Statement

Holmatro Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Company Description

Holmatro hydraulic equipment and system solutions are used worldwide in rescue operations and special tactics operations. These types of applications require reliable and safe equipment under all circumstances. To guarantee that Holmatro users can carry out their specialist work in an optimal fashion, we aim to be the best-in-class market leader by deploying pioneering technology.

Holmatro Group, founded in 1967 in the Netherlands, is a leading private company that provides hydraulic equipment and services. More than 380 employees work at the Holmatro Group, which has established its division offices in the Netherlands, the United States and China. From our head office in the Netherlands, we serve all our customers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Oceania, East and Southeast Asia, and South America. Our customers in North and Central America are served by our office in the US. From our China office, we are ready to assist our customers on Mainland China and in Hong Kong and Macao.