Associate Technical Product Specialist I- College Grad Program (Downers Grove)

POSITION SUMMARY
Reporting into the Assistant Vice President of Product Management, this position is primarily responsible for managing the product activities within specified product categories to accelerate product success.
ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Core duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
Product Responsibility

1. Responsible for product series and their respective products within assigned Hirose product categories.
2. Responsible for posting all Key Performance Indicator (KPI) metrics and achieving KPI targets.
3. Execute strategies that maximize product return on investment (ROI) and accelerate time-to-revenue on newly released products (NPI's)
4. Provide annual and five-year revenue outlook for assigned product series
5. Manage assigned products throughout their Product Life Cycle (PLC), making timely recommendations based primarily on market, competitor, and pricing analysis
6. Create and deliver customized product presentations that highlight Hirose's competitive advantage and value propositions, both externally and internally
7. Collaborate with adjacent teams in the US (Segment, Marcom, Sales, Distribution), Japan (Product Marketing, Sales Promotion, Segment), and on occasion with global teams as well
8. Comply with established Hirose policies, pricing guidelines and best practices.

9. Regular interaction with HRS Senior Management, Engineering and Quality personnel across all key locations to assess current performance and reputation of HRS, identifying areas of opportunity or improvement.
Product Development

1. Obtain voice-of-customer feedback from target customers. Travel to customer site is required in most cases.
2. Collaborate with Hirose USA Sales teams, Segment team, and Hirose Japan teams to qualify both Americas and global-derived product ideas
3. Utilize the stage-gate process to help bring qualified product ideas to market
4. Help influence the assigned product series technical roadmap

Leadership and Teamwork

1. Continual demonstrates Hirose's philosophy of "connecting wisdom" and "always taking the lead, pursuing the cutting edge, achieving differentiation, and being the first to obtain consumer's approval".
2. Build close relationships with Hirose Japan personnel; assist with periodic customer visits by Japanese engineers and other Hirose personnel.
3. Create a collaborative team environment within the HRS support groups.

Administration

1. Complete tasks per ISO9001-2008 requirements, when applicable.
2. Prepare and submit sales activity reports on a timely basis including the rolling 12-month sales forecast for domestic and international, Manager's report, Regional Program Updates(RPU's), Distributor Quarterly Business Reports (QBR's), Private Show updates and information pertaining to the development of Hirose's CRM data base.
3. Complete all required reports, presentations in a timely fashion.

SUPERVISION
None.
SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

1. BS/A degree in Business or Technical field required.
2. 0-3 years sales, product marketing, or product management experience is preferred (but not required)
3. Must possess technical knowledge or aptitude to be able to fully comprehend the customer's connector and connector solution requirements and take corresponding action to enable Hirose's success.
4. Excellent analytical and problem- solving skills.
5. Excellent project management skills.
6. Organizational skills must be above average. Ability to manage multiple assignments while meeting deadlines and quality standards.
7. Possess excellent communication skills (oral and written) in order to work with both external and internal customers. Able to clearly and concisely communicate across different cultures.
8. Excellent presentation skills including creating PowerPoint presentations.
9. Ability to resolve issues and escalate in a timely fashion and to the customer's needs.
10. Computer literate and proficient in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
11. Self-motivated & positive attitude with great energy.
12. Must be able to travel up to 25% of the time. Travel includes visits to North and South American customers, Hirose USA business reviews (if remote), and Hirose Japan when needed
13. Must be authorized to work for the US without visa sponsorship now or in the future

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS
Must be able to negotiate the territory assigned either by driving or using available transportation on an on-going basis, which may require long distance traveling.
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. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to sit, stand, walk, use hands to finger, handle or feel, reach with hands and arms, climb or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. The employee will also need to travel to customer sites, tradeshows, and company events. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 40 pounds.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
When not conducting business outside the office, the employee is expected to adhere to normal business hours at report of duty at the HRSUSA assigned office.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to outside weather conditions.
The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
Hirose Electric USA, Inc. may need to revise or change the essential and supplemental responsibilities of the position as the need arises. This job description does not constitute a written or implied contract of employment.