Product Manager

Role: Product Manager– Normanton  

Salary: £34K per annum

WorkingHours: Monday – Friday 9am-5pm  

Benefits:

• 23 Days holiday + bank holidays
• Pension 
• Private Health care
• Life Cover
• Income Protection
• Onsite parking

Elevation Recruitment Group - Marketing Division are excited to be working with a national distributor with a sustainability ethos and  a great employee culture.

The Product Manager will be required to travel to other Group locations to work alongside colleagues and for external meetings as appropriate (including internationally). This is a hybrid role and is office based 3 days per week after probation.

General overview:

The product manager will be responsible for ensuring the company has a well-constructed, competitive range of products for the different sales channels. Commercial success is critical to the role. The role will be in constant contact with the supplier base. The role will be responsible for the product within the organisation and ensure the product is managed successfully across several different disciplines. Finally, the product manager will provide a link between different departments and their relationship with suppliers. They will need to manage that relationship to the benefit whilst ensuring the supplier is engaged in the opportunities within the Group.

Responsibilities:

• Negotiate with suppliers to achieve best business package including agreeing terms for rebates, MDF, annual & quarterly targets
• Support the Category Manager to build category plans for key suppliers/key categories that support aspirations for revenue and profit growth.
• Understand the category, competitors, suppliers & market dynamics.
• To develop and communicate knowledge of the UK and Irish market and trends in order to define the vendors & sku range for the category.
• Alongside the Purchasing team, develop unique private label product ranges from suppliers in the UK, Europe and the Rest of the World
• Manage their product range to ensure our client has the right products to service its different sales channels. This includes the constant removal and launching of new lines
• Identification & development of long-term suppliers for existing and new products in accordance with the business strategy & range control plans
• Source, evaluate and select new products to present to the Category Manager for pre-approval, include all key commercials & reasoning
• Ensure due diligence is performed on all new suppliers in accordance with Responsible Procurement policy and coordinating with the Compliance Manager on new products
• Manage the full process of bringing new products to market including internal communication with the relevant departments, key areas being inventory, operations and marketing. Plus, the production of external publications e.g. the annual catalogue
• Manage all supplier ‘housekeeping ‘including product set up, pricing, stock issues, rebates, price protection, and customer queries.
• Report on supplier performance and manage communication with suppliers on issues and improvement plans where required.
• Deliver on the company’s sustainable procurement objectives, and introduce products and solutions to further the company’s CSR objectives.
• Understand and monitor product and supplier compliance in line with company terms and conditions and keep up to date with differences between EU and UK product certification.
• Support and advise Product Marketing teams to deliver on the product marketing programme; this includes pitching for funding and negotiating contractual support
• Assist Purchasing in completing competitive customer tender bids through sourcing products and negotiating vendor support.
• Support Group Inventory with problematic suppliers and negotiate solutions to poor performance
• Build strong relationships and rapport with key personnel, interfacing at different levels with key supplier contacts.
• Prioritise activity that presents the greatest influence, both real and potential. 

Core Competencies

• Attention to detail
• Strong negotiating and supplier management skills
• Experience buying products from manufacturers and major international brands
• Experience developing strong supplier relationships
• Ability to construct product ranges to meet multiple different customer base requirements
• Ability to project plan the introduction of new products and moving products between suppliers
• Strong numeracy skills, the ability to manipulate and present data
• Ability to successfully deliver multiple projects simultaneously