Product Manager – Hockey Skate Category

Who We Are: 

Since 1906, New Balance has empowered people through sport and craftsmanship to create positive change in communities around the world. We innovate fearlessly, guided by our core values and driven by the belief that conventions were meant to be challenged. We foster a culture in which every associate feels welcomed and respected, where leaders and creatives are inspired to shape the world of tomorrow by taking bold action today.

The Product Manager, Hockey Skates is responsible for driving the success of our skate product line by maintaining thorough market understanding, including the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities in product and brand perception for our brand as well as our competitors. The PM plays the key connecting role between product creation, marketing, and sales, ensuring our skate products and experiences meet the demands of our athlete customers while supporting the brand’s commercial objectives and retail excellence.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Product Development

• Create detailed product briefs and maintain line plans for skate product launches.

Project Management

• Coordinate with skate R&D to ensure development sampling, timelines, and targets are met for each product briefly.

Strategic Guidance

• Provide strategic direction to evolve line architecture, support business growth, and define product life cycles.
• Recommend new product strategies and identify carryover opportunities.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with design, development, sales, and marketing teams to create top-tier products and manage the product line through its entire life cycle.

Market Intelligence

• Prepare market insights and reports to support all stages of global product development.

Sales Strategy

• Collaborate with sales directors to develop product sales strategies and achieve market share goals.

Pricing Strategy

• Contribute to pricing by leveraging market research, cost analysis, and demand forecasting

Go-to-Market Alignment

• Ensure alignment with the go-to-market plan through partnerships with design, development, marketing, and sales teams.
• Present product to key stakeholders at major milestones such as internal gate reviews, key account meetings, and general sales launches.

Digital Content/Marketing

• Work with marketing to maintain accurate product information online and ensure messaging reflects product features.
• Collaborate on technical content such as videos, illustrations, and performance copy for catalogues, digital platforms, and retail tools.

Operational Requirements

• Complete operational requirements and documentation for all product SKUs.
• Manage item creation in the product management system and for marketing materials.
• Role requires frequent domestic and occasional international travel for retail visits, athlete insights, line reviews, events, and product launches.

Customer Experience

• Attend retail demo and fit events to gather insights and identify opportunities to enhance the in‑store experience.

Sales Tools Development

• Drive the development and improvement of tools such as the online custom skate configurator and advanced foot‑scanning tools.

Team Contribution

• Support overall team objectives and contribute to achieving shared goals.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum of 3 years in product management, product engineering, project management, retail, merchandising, development, or design.
• Proficiency in analyzing and translating trends and market data to guide category and product positioning.
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills for data‑driven business cases.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.
• Exceptional writing and presentation skills.
• Strong interpersonal and communication abilities.
• Positive, proactive, and collaborative mindset.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Ability to influence and lead stakeholders effectively.
• Knowledge of and passion for ice hockey is preferred.
• Ability to travel for meetings, events, and product-related activities

ASSOCIATE BENEFITS: Our products are only as good as the people we hire, so we make sure to hire the best and treat them accordingly. Warrior offers a robust and low-cost benefits package, which includes:

• Medical, Dental, & Vision
• Life Insurance
• 401k with 100% match on the first 5% of contributions
• Paid parental leave
• $100 monthly tuition loan repayment assistance
• Fitness reimbursement
• 4 weeks of paid time off
• 12 paid holidays
• Volunteer time off
• New Balance/Warrior/Brine employee discount

OTHER PERKS:

• Cultural emphasis on associate growth and development.
• We love to promote from within when possible. Most of our associates have been promoted to new positions or have grown their positions several times with Warrior.
• Comprehensive performance appraisal program that promotes a positive approach to providing feedback and facilitating professional development, as well as an annual compensation review.
• High impact, collaborative environment, in which every person in every position directly influences our success.

Gestionnaire de Produit, Patins de Hockey

Le Gestionnaire de Produit, Patins de Hockey est responsable de la réussite de notre gamme de patins en maintenant une compréhension approfondie du marché, incluant les forces, faiblesses et opportunités liées à la perception de nos produits et de notre marque, ainsi que celles de nos concurrents. Ce rôle joue un lien essentiel entre la création de produit, le marketing et les ventes, afin de garantir que nos produits et expériences répondent aux besoins de nos athlètes tout en soutenant les objectifs commerciaux et l’excellence au détail de la marque.

Responsabilités principales:

Développement de produit

• Rédiger des briefs produits détaillés et maintenir les plans de gamme pour les lancements de patins.

Gestion de projet

• Coordonner avec l’équipe R&D patins afin d’assurer que les échantillons, les échéanciers et les objectifs de développement sont respectés pour chaque brief.

Orientation stratégique

• Fournir des orientations stratégiques pour faire évoluer l’architecture de la gamme, soutenir la croissance de l’entreprise et définir les cycles de vie des produits.

• Recommander des stratégies pour les nouveaux produits et identifier les opportunités de reconduction.

Collaboration interfonctionnelle

• Travailler étroitement avec les équipes de design, développement, ventes et marketing pour créer des produits de premier ordre et gérer la gamme tout au long de son cycle de vie.

Intelligence de marché

• Préparer des analyses de marché et des rapports pour soutenir toutes les étapes du développement global de produits.

Stratégie de vente

• Collaborer avec les directeurs des ventes pour élaborer des stratégies commerciales et atteindre les objectifs de part de marché.

Stratégie de prix

• Contribuer à l’établissement des prix en utilisant les données de marché, l’analyse des coûts et les prévisions de la demande.

Alignement Go-to-Market

• Assurer l’alignement avec le plan go‑to‑market grâce à des partenariats avec les équipes design, développement, marketing et ventes.

• Présenter les produits aux parties prenantes lors de jalons importants tels que les revues internes, les rencontres avec les comptes clés et les lancements commerciaux.

Contenu numérique / Marketing

• Collaborer avec le marketing pour maintenir des informations produits précises et à jour en ligne, et garantir que le message reflète les caractéristiques des produits.

• Participer à la création de contenus techniques (vidéos, illustrations, descriptions techniques) pour les catalogues, plateformes numériques et outils de vente au détail.

Exigences opérationnelles

• Compléter les exigences opérationnelles et la documentation pour tous les SKU.

• Gérer la création d’articles dans le système de gestion de produit et pour les supports marketing.

• Le rôle exige des déplacements fréquents au niveau national et occasionnellement à l’international pour des visites de magasins, des rencontres avec des athlètes, des revues de gamme, des événements et des lancements.

Expérience client

• Participer à des événements de démonstration et d’essayage afin de recueillir des commentaires et d’identifier des opportunités pour améliorer l’expérience en magasin.

Développement d’outils de vente

• Diriger le développement et l’amélioration d’outils tels que le configurateur de patins sur mesure en ligne et les outils avancés de numérisation des pieds.

Contribution à l’équipe

• Soutenir les objectifs globaux de l’équipe et contribuer à l’atteinte des résultats partagés.

Qualifications:

• Diplôme universitaire ou combinaison équivalente d’éducation et d’expérience.

• Minimum de 3 ans d’expérience en gestion de produit, ingénierie produit, gestion de projet, vente au détail, marchandisage, développement ou design.

• Capacité à analyser et traduire les tendances et données de marché afin d’orienter le positionnement des catégories et produits.

• Solides compétences analytiques et quantitatives pour soutenir la prise de décision basée sur les données.

• Maîtrise de la suite Microsoft Office.

• Excellentes compétences en rédaction et en présentation.

• Excellentes aptitudes interpersonnelles et communicationnelles.

• Attitude positive, proactive et collaborative.

• Capacité à gérer plusieurs projets simultanément.

• Capacité à influencer et mobiliser efficacement les parties prenantes.

• Connaissance et passion pour le hockey sur glace (atout).

• Capacité à voyager pour des réunions, événements et activités liées aux produits.

  

Shelby Township, MI - Warrior Headquarters Only Pay Range: $61,900.00 - $79,400.00 - $96,900.00 Annual (actual base pay varying based upon, but not limited to, relevant experience, time in role, internal equity, geographic location, and more.)

Regular Associate Benefits 

Our products are only as good as the people we hire, so we make sure to hire the best and treat them accordingly. New Balance offers a comprehensive traditional benefits package including three options for medical insurance as well as dental, vision, life insurance and 401K. We also proudly offer a slate of more nontraditional perks – opportunities like online learning and development courses, tuition reimbursement, $100 monthly student loan support and various mentorship programs – that encourage our associates to grow personally as they develop professionally. You’ll also enjoy a yearly $1,000 lifestyle reimbursement, 4 weeks of vacations, 12 holidays and generous parental leave, because work-life balance is more than just a buzzword – it’s part of our culture.

Temporary associates are provided three options for medical insurance as well as dental and vision insurance and an associate discount.

Part time associates are provided 401k, short term disability, a yearly $300 lifestyle reimbursement and an associate discount.

Flexible Work Schedule

For decades we have fostered a unique culture founded on our values with a particular focus on in-person teamwork and collaboration. Our North American hybrid model encourages rich in-person experiences, showcasing our commitment to teamwork and connection, while maintaining flexibility for associates. New Balance Associates currently work in office three days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). Our offices are fully open, and amenities are available across our North American office locations. To continue our focus on hybrid work we have introduced “Work from Anywhere” (WFA) for four weeks per calendar year. This model will help us enhance our culture while continuing to maintain elements of flexibility.

Equal Opportunity Employer

New Balance provides equal opportunities for all current and prospective associates to ensure that employment, training, compensation, transfer, promotion and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment are provided without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, handicap, genetic information and/or status as an Armed Forces service medal veteran, recently separated veteran, qualified disabled veteran or other protected veteran, or any other protected status.