Job Description

Job Summary:  

The Software and Controls Product Manager is responsible for managing the software interfaces to our materials testing systems. They are to ensure the products meet market needs now and in the future by understanding key customer insights, trends, and needs.  The goal is to maximize customer satisfaction while achieving the product goals for innovation, growth, profitability, quality, and market share, consistent with business objectives and strategies.

Major Areas of Accountability

Conduct market research, competitor analysis, and gather customer insights to identify market needs and opportunities. Benchmark best-in-class competition and emerging technologies

Define and communicate the software and controls product vision, strategy, and roadmap aligned with the overall product portfolio.

Create business cases to define key product benefits and value propositions

Create and maintain product plans and implement them according to product roadmaps and identified aftermarket strategies over the entire life cycle.

Act as the bridge between market needs and Engineering, ensuring that products developed meet customer demands and drive business value.

Instrumental in setting product vision and partnering with Engineering to prioritize features, detailing user stories and analyzing data to validate product goals.

Collaborate with engineering to implement UI/UX best practices and design principles.

Conduct usability testing and gather feedback to iteratively improve the user experience.

Work closely with engineering to ensure seamless integration between hardware and software components, addressing compatibility issues and optimizing performance

Understand value-added components of the systems and maintain pricing for software and controls accordingly

Work closely with technical support and customer service teams to address customer issues, improve product quality, and enhance user satisfaction.

Develop and conduct sales readiness training and sales tools to prepare the channel to support new product introduction and meet launch objectives. 

Collaborate with sales on creating sales strategy for key pursuits. 

Support lead generation activities and programs.

Partner with Marketing Communications on all customer facing product communication.

Provide perspective on key market trends to support annual and long-range planning activity.  

Continuously evaluate the competitive landscape to define features/benefits and unique competitive advantages in the area of software and controls