Product & Innovation Manager

Job Title:Product & Innovation Manager

Department: Marketing

Location: Portland, Hybrid

Summary: The Product & Innovation Manager will identify, develop, and implement innovative strategies and initiatives that generate sustainable value and impact. Through the use of their analytical, creative, and collaborative skills, this individual will research, design, and test new products and services that deliver on Herb Pharm’s commitment to the highest quality and efficacious products. In addition, through insights from scientific and consumer research, this individual will further optimize the existing portfolio consistent with Herb Pharm guiding principles and commitment to traditional herbalism. This position requires an individual who is self-motivated, analytical, collaborative, and creative

Essential Duties & Responsibilities: Include the following, other duties may be assigned:

• Monitors and analyzes product, process, and category trends within the herbal, wellness, and mushroom supplement industries to identify valuable insights and opportunities.
• Captures market, consumer and customer needs through research, analytics, and primary research, working cohesively with the sales department and customers/partners directly.
• Formalizes ideas and service concepts into compelling, profitable, and differentiated strategies (scope, benefits/values for the customer/consumer, competitive benchmark, targeted pricing, go-to-market strategy, etc.).
• Sets up project teams across departments, coordinating and animating a network of stakeholders contributing to the product development with a focus on delivery at costs, quality, and time.
• Designs product innovation launch and support plans by working closely with the multi-departmental product innovation team.
• Identifies, analyzes, and develops plans to overcome technical, commercial, and operational challenges, highlighting required technical evolutions and process transformation needed.
• Ensures the successful introduction of new products by supporting the sales department, coordinating with operational teams on production, and utilizing accounting functions to determine product profitability.
• Helps identify new, marketable products and innovations and identifies gaps by identifying meaningful differentiation.
• Develops and supports product roadmaps, identifies and analyzes the trade-off decisions and their impact on multiple products in a product group.
• Identifies relevant components of a competitive analysis and organizes in-person customer research with user groups to gain end-to-end real-world understanding of customer needs to inform and influence the product group and its product roadmaps.
• Attends trade shows, industry meetings, and seminars, building relationships within the industry, gathering information on changing market trends and competitive environments, and educating potential consumers about our products and brand.

Our generous benefits package includes a complete range of quality health benefits:

• Comprehensive group medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents
• Coverage includes a variety of alternative healthcare options
• Prescription drug coverage with a mail-order program
• Generous employee purchase discounts on our herbal products
• Employee assistance program
• Green Commuter Initiative to encourage carpooling, walking, and biking to work
• Life, accident, and disability insurance
• Paid vacation and personal time off
• Short-term disability plan401(k) retirement plan with generous company matching and profit-sharing features

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, communications, or related field; or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience. MBA preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in two or more of the following: project management, market research, product management, business analysis, program management, or product marketing
• 7-10 years of experience in product strategy and/or experience management
• Prior experience working in the natural products industry, with herbal focus preferred but not required.

Technical Requirements

• Proficient in Microsoft Suite
• Proficient in project management systems and consumer insight platforms

Qualifications & Requirements:

• Able to successfully manage multiple projects with competing priorities effectively.
• Demonstrated experience working cross-functionally.
• Ability to structure complex information, plan, prioritize, delegate tasks, and focus on deliverables.
• Excellent leadership and communication skills. Ability to drive geographically distributed teammates with various backgrounds and levels of seniority.
• Trustworthy, reliable, takes ownership, and is proactive in learning and delivering excellence.
• Must be able to maintain confidentiality of proprietary and sensitive documents and information.
• Excellent research, troubleshooting, interpersonal and organizational skills.
• Ability to exercise judgment and work in a fast-paced environment.
• Assist with efficient team operation and continuous process improvement, by participating actively in all team and departmental meetings.
• Proven experience in translating business strategies into product innovation and features, utilizing consumer insight data and financial analysis to best align with the goals of the company and product portfolio.
• Passionate about technology and innovations and driven by technical and commercial disruptive challenges.

Interpersonal Skills: Ability to quickly organize and communicate thoughts, and to understand communications from others. Ability to maintain composure, listen, and respond appropriately. Ability to work effectively in a team setting and drive results.

Reasoning Ability: Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to analyze product and process data to find solutions to product development, production, and launch challenges. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form. Excellent negotiation and problem-solving abilities, result-focused with ability to work under strong pressure.

Language Skills: Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business information. Ability to articulate and present ideas and solutions to internal teams and stakeholders. Strong attention to detail with solid knowledge of grammar and punctuation and ability to proofread accurately and consistently.