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Passion. Creativity. Integrity. Teamwork. Ambition. Innovation. These are the qualities that have made Wilson Sporting Goods Co. the number one sports equipment brand in the world. And these are the qualities that our global team embodies every day as we pursue one shared bold mission: to ignite the true potential in every athlete.
We know that great people are what makes our brand great. We know that teams who bring a variety of skill sets, experiences and perspectives to challenge the status quo and create game-changing product means we are doing right by the athletes and coaches we serve. And that’s why we work with each member of our team to help them dream, discover, grow and realize their own full potential.
Evolving the sports world and being the best partner for players is no small task. We are continually looking to add hard-working, ambitious, team-first individuals who desire to make a difference —and who love to help others win. Join us.
The Product Line Manager, Performance Racquets is at the heart of developing every piece of Wilson equipment as the leader of our product creation process. The Product Line Manager will understand the competitive landscape and be capable of translating consumer needs into a cohesive, compelling, and profitable product assortment that inspires athletes and enthusiasts. This position is responsible for all product creation aspects from initial idea phase to commercialization for the product on a global basis. This role will lead day to day range planning details with an innovation mindset, working directly with Innovation, Graphics/Design team, Sourcing, Consumer Marketing, Commercial Management, Sales and our key global markets.
In this role you will:
• Responsible for the development of consumer insights and the product brief for Wilson LABS. Specifically, responsible for generating the consumer insights regarding the problems we are trying to solve for our athletes and utilizing those insights and observations to help develop product personas.
• Driving consumer insights knowledge during the design process. Continual validation of product concept, design, and solution with consumers and customers.
• Cross-functional collaboration with Commercial and Marketing counterparts to arrive at product mix details – pricing, positioning, promotion, etc.
• Obtain a technical understanding of the product’s key properties, performance/playability drivers, and the commercialization aspects of bringing a range to market.
• Establish and maintain a three-year global product roadmap and planning documentation for seasonal product revisions, product life cycle and launches.
• Responsible for a 3 year global product concept map (on top of the 3 year global product roadmap) in close collaboration with Innovation.
• Provide approval for key collateral such as product specifications, catalogs, samples, packaging, promotions, and merchandising collateral.
• Building Minimum Credible Assortments (MCA) with the consumer in mind and target retail price positioning as part of our Idea to Consumer (I2C) process.
• Develop a seasonal range plan that delivers against the category objectives of gross sales, product margin, SKU count and market share.
• Ensure that the creative direction and brand DNA is consistently reflected in the product and positioned appropriately with robust go-to-market brand strategies.
• Develop and present range briefs and documentation to design through seasonal line development and proto review to marketing hand off.
• Maintain internal product development management tools providing accurate information to development, sourcing and capacity planning.
• Identify category growth opportunities and new market product potential.
• Ensure the concept to market process is managed effectively within the category day to day to support key timeline / decision points during development.
• Deliver effective and inspirational product presentations to our markets, the sales organization as well as with key customers around the world.
• Understand and drive actions supporting the financial expectations of the category: Net sales, margins, product cost, range positioning, SKU rationalization.
• Collaboration with the Tour Team and professional athletes in developing consumer insights.
This role requires a bachelors degree plus 6+ years experience in product management/development of hard goods for a high end brand (sports industry is a plus)
Plus the following skills
• In-depth knowledge of product design, development, and commercialization process.
• Demonstrated design thinking expertise.
• A demonstrated command of consumer insight generation methodologies.
• Familiarity with Racquet Sports (Tennis/Squash/Racquetball/Platform/Badminton, either as a player or in a professional capacity) is strongly preferred
• Experience working with a global brand and global product development.
• In depth knowledge of the retail landscape for Racquet Sports.
What We’ll Provide
Located in the vibrant, sports-centric city of Chicago, Wilson Sporting Goods Co. global headquarters sits along the lakefront with first-class access to a burgeoning creative, innovative, energetic and active professional community. We offer an open, collaborative, high tech work environment with best in class amenities and perks, including:
• Medical, dental and vision
• Pre-tax transit discounts
• 401(k) with company match
• Life insurance
• Paid maternity/paternity leave
• Professional development opportunities
• Volunteering programs
• Team building outings
• Discounts on Wilson and Amer Sports products
• Smart casual dress (yes, jeans every day!)
• On-site health club
• Summer hours
• Company-sponsored sports leagues/teams
• Fun, active company outings around major sports events
Wilson Sporting Goods Co. is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected characteristics