The purpose of the Product manager is to look after all aspects of the product ranges sold and manufactured by Lubrizol Fluid Engineering within Europe. This can be split into three areas Product, marketing and marketing communications and Sales support activities for the European region Product Support
Product Support
- Develop product positioning, value proposition and messaging to differentiate the product line from competitors.
- Management of assigned product line(s), including:
- Ensure volume forecasts are consistent with market trends.
- Provide market management (product, pricing, promotion).
- Price/volume decision making, monitor product margins.
- Develop and manage an efficient pricing structure that ensures business targets are met.
- Develop tools to allow the product portfolio to be optimised.
- Be responsible for competitor analysis and comparative performance claims.
- Co‑ordinate the route to market approaches to fulfil customer needs.
- Work closely with account teams to ensure customer needs are met.
- Support the annual STRAP process with product line volume input.
- Work closely with technology to ensure claims and approvals are maintained in the region.
- Manage the product lifecycle of the product line in the region from ideation to product launch, ensuring on‑time delivery and profitability.
- Collaborate with Operations, Procurement and Supply Chain to manage asset and operational decisions in support of the product line.
- Support the R&D team in the development of new products or improvement of existing ones.
- Work closely with technical deployment to ensure technical needs are understood.
- Share best practice with other regions.
Marketing Communications & Marketing
- Collaborate with the Marketing group to develop market communications, internal communications, and all promotional programmes for the region.
- Develop, communicate, and implement the regional product line strategy.
- Collaborate with the Strategic Marketing Manager to develop a deep understanding of customer needs, market trends, and competitive landscape to guide product development and positioning.
- Champion marketing concepts and techniques to correctly position Lubrizol’s strategy and resources.
- Support implementation of marketing plans to generate awareness and demand for the products.
- Development of market‑specific marketing materials.
Sales Support
- Collaborate with the regional sales team to drive activity necessary to execute growth targets and achieve the annual sales plan.
- Attend customer meetings in support of the account manager.
- Provide product line support to Lubrizol sales and segment at key accounts with customer visits, presentations, training and commercial support for technical projects.
- Understand customer and competitor’s value propositions, strengths and weaknesses and identify threats; convert market changes into opportunities for growth.
- Provide timely technical services to sales and customers by working with the Technology Deployment team.
- Assist sales team on contract management with valuable competitive product, pricing and margin analysis.
Qualifications
- Proven experience in product management expertise in an industrial environment.
- Strong communication and presentation skills.
- Ability to manage multiple stakeholders and build strong relationships.
- Familiarity with performance metrics and KPIs.
- Willingness to travel within Europe (20%) as required.