Associate Product Line Manager

Molex; Lisle (IL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Molex is seeking an Associate Product Line Manager for the Optical Connectivity team, based onsite at either Eden Prairie, MN or Lisle, IL. You will drive the product roadmaps, manage lifecycle stages, and collaborate across engineering, manufacturing, and sales to deliver fiber optic interconnect solutions for data centers.

You will analyze market trends, define pricing strategies, and develop technical documentation while coordinating cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in engineering, business, or related discipline.
• Experience contributing to product lifecycle management activities (NPI tracking, spec docs, readiness support).
• Experience forecasting inputs, pricing data, and financial reporting.
• Experience coordinating across cross-functional teams (engineering, sales, operations, manufacturing).
• Market and technical acumen with competitive analysis and market research.
• Willingness to travel approximately 10–20% of the time.

Responsibilities

• Monitor hyperscale and cloud data center trends to shape the roadmap.
• Collaborate with customers and engineering to capture detailed requirements for fiber optic interconnects.
• Manage product lifecycle from concept through launch, including prototype testing and production readiness.
• Define pricing strategies and maintain pricing in the system.
• Prepare and maintain product specifications, application notes, and competitive materials.
• Coordinate with engineering, operations, and program management for on-time delivery.
• Engage with hyperscale customers on requirements and integration considerations.
• Analyze product performance data and field feedback for improvements.
• Develop promotional content for product developments to raise customer awareness.
• Deliver product overview trainings to global sales, end customers, and distributors.
• Travel as needed to meet with customers and gain insights.

Skills

Cross-functional coordination

Market & technical acumen

Travel readiness

Forecasting & pricing awareness

Data-driven decision making

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in engineering, business, or related discipline

Job description

We are seeking an Associate Product Line Manager to join our Optical Connectivity team focused on driving profitable growth in the data center market. In this role, you will work on cutting-edge fiber optic connectivity products that enable the world’s largest cloud providers to achieve higher speeds, lower latency, and greater network reliability.

As an APLM, you will partner with the Product Line Manager, engineering, manufacturing, and sales to support key customers by defining product requirements, managing the development process, and executing successful deployments in the field. This is an opportunity to gain deep expertise in optical interconnect technology while contributing to products that power the global internet.

In this role, you will be responsible for controlling the P&L, understanding the market space, supporting the development of the product roadmap, and completing training and marketing initiatives.

Location

This is an onsite role based at either our Eden Prairie, MN or Lisle, IL sites.

VISA sponsorship is NOT available for this role.

What You Will Do

• Market & Technology Research – Monitor hyperscale and cloud data center trends, optical networking standards, and competitor offerings to shape our product roadmap and direction.
• Requirements Definition – Collaborate with customers, engineering, and manufacturing teams to capture detailed product requirements for fiber optic interconnects, ancillary products, and cabling systems.
• Roadmap Execution – Assist in managing the product lifecycle from concept through launch, including prototype evaluation, testing, and production readiness.
• Pricing Strategy – Work alongside Product Manager to define and create strategic pricing strategies. Will be responsible for ensuring pricing is maintained in the system.
• Technical Documentation – Prepare and maintain product specifications, application notes, and competitive comparison materials.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Coordinate with engineering, operations, and program management teams to ensure timely product delivery and quality.
• Customer Engagement – Support technical discussions with hyperscale customers, addressing application requirements and integration considerations.
• Performance Tracking – Analyze product performance data and field feedback to identify improvements or next-generation features.
• Product Marketing – Develop an actionable strategy for creating promotional content focused on product developments to ensure customer awareness.
• Product Training – Collaborate with Molex Sales & Marketing to deliver product overview trainings to global sales, end customers, and distribution partners.
• Travel – Travel as needed to meet with customers to gain a better understanding of technical challenges and collaboratively work towards a solution set which exceeds customers expectations.

Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)

• Bachelor's degree or higher in engineering, business, or a related discipline
• Experience contributing to product and lifecycle management activities, such as NPI tracking, specification documentation, and product readiness support
• Experience supporting business and financial activities, including forecasting inputs, pricing data, and financial reporting
• Experience coordinating across cross‑functional teams (engineering, sales, operations, manufacturing) to gather inputs, track assigned actions, and support execution
• Market and technical acumen, with experience supporting competitive analysis, market research, and data gathering to inform product decisions
• Willingness and ability to travel approximately 10-20% of the time in support of customers, product activities, and cross‑functional collaboration

What Will Put You Ahead

• Understanding of fiber optic applications and products
• Experience in a B2B environment
• Experience developing technical marketing collateral
• Familiarity with data center architectures and networking technologies

For this role, we anticipate paying $100,000 - $130,000 per year. This role is eligible for variable pay, issued as a monetary bonus or in another form.

At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.

Hiring Philosophy

All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here .

Who We Are

As a Koch company, Molex is a leading supplier of connectors and interconnect components, driving innovation in electronics and supporting industries from automotive to health care and consumer to data communications. The thousands of innovators who work for Molex have made us a global electronics leader. Our experienced people, groundbreaking products and leading-edge technologies help us deliver a wider array of solutions to more markets than ever before.

At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.

Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes - medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region. If you have questions on what benefits apply to you, please speak to your recruiter.

Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. Except where prohibited by state law, some offers of employment are conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. This employer uses E-Verify. Please click here for additional information. (For Illinois E‑Verify information click here , aquí , or tu ).