Product Management - Director, NPD

Director of Product Management

J&N Electric, an Arrowhead Engineered Products Company

J&N Electric , an Arrowhead Engineered Products company, supplies starters, alternators and rotating electrical components for automotive, heavy duty, agriculture, marine and powersports markets.

The Director of Product Management owns what J&N sells and how well it is represented and performs in the market, leading the Product Management, Cataloging, Product Data and Quality teams.

This leader turns vehicle, market and customer intelligence into a profitable product roadmap, brings new parts to market with complete and accurate fitment and content, and ensures every product meets fit, form, function and reliability expectations.

The role shares accountability for business line results and leads 80/20 efforts for the product portfolio.

Key Outcomes

• Attain or exceed annual revenue, gross margin and new product sales targets.
• Grow application and competitive coverage while improving fitment accuracy and ACES/PIES data quality.
• Shorten the time from product approval to orderable, discoverable, channel-ready parts.
• Reduce warranty and return rates through faster root cause and corrective action.
• Improve inventory turns and reduce obsolescence through disciplined lifecycle management.

Product Strategy and Lifecycle

• Own category strategies and a prioritized product roadmap using VIO, OE research, interchange, competitive coverage, sales and margin data.
• Lead the stage-gate new product process from business case through sourcing, validation, launch and post-launch review.
• Define target cost, quality and positioning with Sourcing and Engineering; recommend pricing and assortment actions.
• Apply 80/20 segmentation, simplification and zero-up to protect strategic coverage while simplifying the portfolio.

Catalog, Data and Content

• Own application, fitment, OE and competitor interchange data; set ACES/PIES standards and structured approaches for non-vehide applications.
• Ensure timely, accurate catalog submissions and data feeds to distributor, retail, eCommerce and marketplace channels.
• Govern product master data across ERP, PIM and customer systems with clear ownership, change control and audits.
• Use workflow automation and AI tools to improve the speed and accuracy of data enrichment and validation.

Product Quality

• Set fit, form, function, durability and validation requirements with Engineering, Sourcing and suppliers before product approval.
• Lead the business-side review of warranty daims, returns and field failures; separate product defects from data and application issues.
• Drive root cause and corrective action to closure, and feed lessons back into specifications, suppliers and content.

Leadership and Cadence

• Lead, coach and develop a multidisciplinary team; set clear roles, priorities, expectations and succession plans.
• Foster a culture of high performance, accountability, continuous improvement and fun.
• Run a regular cadence for roadmaps, launch gates, catalog accuracy, data backlog and quality; identify and drive KPIs and TTIs.
• Deliver concise monthly business and product reviews to the Business Line Leader and senior leadership.
• Drive collaboration across Sales, eCommerce, Sourcing, Engineering, Operations and Arrowhead.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 8+ years of automotive aftermarket experience in product management, catalog or product data, including at least 3 years leading teams.
• Strong working knowledge of ACES, PIES, OE and competitor interchange, and vehicle applications.
• Proven ability to build roadmaps, prioritize with financial and market data, and lead cross-functional launches.
• Advanced Excel skills; experience with ERP and PIM/catalog platforms.
• Strong written and verbal communication, sound commercial judgment and the ability to lead through influence.
• Experience with rotating electrical products (starters, alternators and components).
• Working knowledge of VCdb, PCdb, PAdb and Qdb.
• Experience with warranty analysis, supplier corrective action and 80/20 portfolio management.

Travel Requirements

• Up to 25% travel is required, including travel within North America and occasional travel to the United States for business meetings, training, supplier visits, customer engagements, and industry events.

Compensation: Competitive base salary of $150,000 - $180,000, plus incentive compensation, based on experience, qualifications, and relevant industry expertise.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear and may be required to sit for prolonged periods.

The employee frequently is required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms.

Work is primarily performed in an office environment, with periodic travel to customers, suppliers, trade events and Arrowhead locations.