Director of Product Marketing (Germantown)

Role: Director of Product Strategy & Marketing (engineered horticultural lighting)

Type: Full-time, Onsite

Location: Germantown, Maryland

Our client is an engineering-led LED horticultural lighting company selling business-to-business into large commercial growers and multi-state operators.

They are seeking a Director, Product Strategy & Marketing with an engineering or technical degree and 10 or more years of product management or product strategy experience on hardware products sold business-to-business. Hands-on product definition is essential: shaping form, function, and specification rather than rebadging a manufacturer's product.

This role owns product strategy, sitting between sales and marketing on one side and engineering and product development on the other. It joins the senior leadership team and reports to the CEO and COO. This is not an outbound marketing or communications role, as that function already exists.

Must-Have Requirements

• Must have a bachelor's degree in engineering or a rigorous scientific discipline.
• Must have product management or product strategy experience on hardware products.
• Must have personally defined hardware products, shaping form, function and specification.
• Must have a business-to-business orientation, selling to large commercial buyers.
• Must have 10 or more years of experience in product marketing and business strategy for technology-based hardware products in a business-to-business environment.
• Must have experience with cannabis growers or commercial agriculture.
• Must be able to work effectively in a small team and an early-stage environment.
• Must be available to work onsite at the Maryland headquarters.

Key Responsibilities

Product Strategy

• Analyze the market, customers, and competitors to shape the product roadmap.
• Assess customer and market challenges and unmet needs.
• Identify competitor strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to win.
• Translate customer needs into input for R&D and engineering.
• Develop a product portfolio strategy and multi-year product roadmap.

Technical Marketing & Market Credibility

• Feed marketing with technical content, including case studies and comparative and competitive analysis.
• Prepare the technical strategy for product launches.
• Write white papers that convey technology and product benefits and build company credibility.
• Act as the technical face of outbound marketing through conference talks, panels and published papers.
• Spend regular time in the field with key customers and at industry events.

Product Lifecycle Management

• Manage each product line across the full lifecycle, from concept and development through launch, growth and retirement.

Company Strategy

• Help build the company's strategic plan and multi-year product roadmap, including how to win in each key segment.
• Collaborate with the senior leadership team to refine and advance the overall strategy.

Experience & Skill Requirements

Essential

• A bachelor's degree in engineering or a rigorous scientific discipline.
• Product management or product strategy experience on hardware products.
• Experience personally defining hardware products, including form, function, and specification.
• 10 or more years in product marketing and business strategy for technology-based hardware products sold business-to-business.
• Experience with cannabis growers or commercial agriculture.
• A track record of product strategies that delivered market share growth and strong financial performance.
• Strong ability to communicate product value clearly and persuasively to customers, partners and internal stakeholders.
• The ability to define long-term strategy while driving near-term execution and measurable progress.

Desirable

• Lighting products experience, particularly lighting sold into cannabis.
• Experience in horticultural or agricultural technology beyond the cannabis market.
• An MBA in marketing or another relevant discipline.
• Experience presenting at conferences and on industry panels, and publishing technical papers.
• Prior experience in a startup or early-stage company.

What They Offer

• A seat on the senior leadership team, reporting to the CEO and COO.
• Base salary, performance-based bonus, equity participation, and healthcare benefits.
• Ownership of the product strategy function at a patented hardware company with an established commercial customer base.
• A collaborative, engineering-led culture that values curiosity, creativity and performance.
• Relocation support where necessary.

Location & Travel: This role is based onsite at the Maryland headquarters in Germantown, with regular travel to key customers and industry events. Relocation support is available.

Compensation: In compliance with the Maryland Wage Range Transparency Act, the expected salary range for this role is $160,000 to $200,000 annually, plus a performance-based bonus and equity participation. Healthcare benefits are provided.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Emerald Lane Recruitment is committed to advancing equity and inclusion across the global cannabis industry. We proudly support our clients in building teams that reflect the full diversity of the communities they serve. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic, in accordance with applicable human rights legislation.