A. Daigger
Product Manager
A. Daigger, Vernon Hills, Illinois, United States, 60061
About Learning Resources:
We are on a mission to bring learning to life! We are Learning Resources®, and learning is where we play. Voted one of the Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces every year for the last four years, we're a 150-person strong, family-owned company who make award-winning educational toys, including top sellers Pretend & Play® Calculator Cash Register, Farmer's Market Color Sorting Set and Toy of the Year winners Botley® the Coding Robot and Coding Critters®.
We share that dedication to learning across our family of companies. Learning Resources team members work closely with the curriculum experts at hand2mind, as well as Educational Insights, makers of hit viral products including Kanoodle®, GeoSafari® Jr., and Playfoam®. We even help pets learn and grow through our pet brands Brightkins® and Hunger for Words™.
We pride ourselves on being committed to our employee's personal and professional development, a thriving culture and a diverse, creative atmosphere. Along with our competitive benefits package, we offer opportunities for training and development by top university professors as well as in-demand, motivating external speakers. We are looking for professionals who are truly just kids at heart! Come join our award-winning team today!
Team & Position Description:
We are currently seeking a dynamic Product Manager to join our Product Development team. We're a collaborative and creative team that makes innovative products for children, teachers, parents and even pets! In this role you will oversee the development of a diverse portfolio of amazing products, taking them from initial ideation all the way through to launch. If you're an organized, resourceful, creative person who thrives in a team environment and enjoys developing interesting products, this is a great opportunity to bring your talents to an amazing company. Bonus if you enjoy the idea of playing with toys as part of your job!
What you'll do day to day:Fully manage projects from initial competitive research to concept ideation and through to product launch.Manage and directly communicate all aspects of product design as the liaison between industrial design team and overseas vendors.Manage products in multiple product categories, requiring broad product knowledge as well as the acquiring of additional category-specific knowledge as needed.Work with Brand Marketing team to develop accurate and differentiated positioning statements for all managed products.Analyze market and sales data to stay current on product and category performance, conduct ongoing product research, create competitive profiles, and identify strategic growth areas.Lead strategic brainstorms with cross-functional teams on assigned areas of new product researchLiaise with Creative team to establish goals and scope of graphic design materials; manage checkpoints in design process to ensure projects stay on schedule.Troubleshoot problems, manage product schedules on staggered timelines, and coordinate multiple activities simultaneously.Provide internal product training to Sales and Marketing in advance of tradeshows and key sales meetings.What we're looking for (Key Performance Objectives):
Conduct thorough research on the latest trends in the toy industry to inspire and develop innovative product ideas. This involves engaging in trend research 2-3 times per year.In tandem with the Industrial Design team, prepare detailed RFQs for 10-15 new product quotesDevelop a working knowledge of key Product Development tracking and data tools within the first 6 months.Deliver all assigned products on time from vendor, generally within 12 months from project start date.Take on an individual research project into a new development area and report actionable findings to the team, to be completed as part of first year development cycleRequirements/Ideal Attributes:
Bachelor's Degree required3-5 years of consumer product development experienceExcellent organization, presentation and communication skills (both written and verbal)Creative mindset with entrepreneurial spirit who thinks outside the boxComfortable with analyzing basic financial data for assigned categories and to make recommendations that support overall brand/product goalsSelf-motivated, able to work with a minimum of supervision and prioritize multiple tasks in a proactive manner.Opportunistic; ability to dive in and learn new product and market areas as opportunities emergeProficient in Microsoft OfficeExperience with Adobe Creative suite preferred, not required
We are a drug-free workplace and an EEO employer.
Please note : This role will be filled by our internal recruitment team, so no assistance is needed from any outside staffing agency at this time.
#LI-hybrid
We are on a mission to bring learning to life! We are Learning Resources®, and learning is where we play. Voted one of the Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces every year for the last four years, we're a 150-person strong, family-owned company who make award-winning educational toys, including top sellers Pretend & Play® Calculator Cash Register, Farmer's Market Color Sorting Set and Toy of the Year winners Botley® the Coding Robot and Coding Critters®.
We share that dedication to learning across our family of companies. Learning Resources team members work closely with the curriculum experts at hand2mind, as well as Educational Insights, makers of hit viral products including Kanoodle®, GeoSafari® Jr., and Playfoam®. We even help pets learn and grow through our pet brands Brightkins® and Hunger for Words™.
We pride ourselves on being committed to our employee's personal and professional development, a thriving culture and a diverse, creative atmosphere. Along with our competitive benefits package, we offer opportunities for training and development by top university professors as well as in-demand, motivating external speakers. We are looking for professionals who are truly just kids at heart! Come join our award-winning team today!
Team & Position Description:
We are currently seeking a dynamic Product Manager to join our Product Development team. We're a collaborative and creative team that makes innovative products for children, teachers, parents and even pets! In this role you will oversee the development of a diverse portfolio of amazing products, taking them from initial ideation all the way through to launch. If you're an organized, resourceful, creative person who thrives in a team environment and enjoys developing interesting products, this is a great opportunity to bring your talents to an amazing company. Bonus if you enjoy the idea of playing with toys as part of your job!
What you'll do day to day:Fully manage projects from initial competitive research to concept ideation and through to product launch.Manage and directly communicate all aspects of product design as the liaison between industrial design team and overseas vendors.Manage products in multiple product categories, requiring broad product knowledge as well as the acquiring of additional category-specific knowledge as needed.Work with Brand Marketing team to develop accurate and differentiated positioning statements for all managed products.Analyze market and sales data to stay current on product and category performance, conduct ongoing product research, create competitive profiles, and identify strategic growth areas.Lead strategic brainstorms with cross-functional teams on assigned areas of new product researchLiaise with Creative team to establish goals and scope of graphic design materials; manage checkpoints in design process to ensure projects stay on schedule.Troubleshoot problems, manage product schedules on staggered timelines, and coordinate multiple activities simultaneously.Provide internal product training to Sales and Marketing in advance of tradeshows and key sales meetings.What we're looking for (Key Performance Objectives):
Conduct thorough research on the latest trends in the toy industry to inspire and develop innovative product ideas. This involves engaging in trend research 2-3 times per year.In tandem with the Industrial Design team, prepare detailed RFQs for 10-15 new product quotesDevelop a working knowledge of key Product Development tracking and data tools within the first 6 months.Deliver all assigned products on time from vendor, generally within 12 months from project start date.Take on an individual research project into a new development area and report actionable findings to the team, to be completed as part of first year development cycleRequirements/Ideal Attributes:
Bachelor's Degree required3-5 years of consumer product development experienceExcellent organization, presentation and communication skills (both written and verbal)Creative mindset with entrepreneurial spirit who thinks outside the boxComfortable with analyzing basic financial data for assigned categories and to make recommendations that support overall brand/product goalsSelf-motivated, able to work with a minimum of supervision and prioritize multiple tasks in a proactive manner.Opportunistic; ability to dive in and learn new product and market areas as opportunities emergeProficient in Microsoft OfficeExperience with Adobe Creative suite preferred, not required
We are a drug-free workplace and an EEO employer.
Please note : This role will be filled by our internal recruitment team, so no assistance is needed from any outside staffing agency at this time.
#LI-hybrid