Director, Aerospace & Defense Product Management

ITT; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 161,000 - 258,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the manufacturing sector is seeking a seasoned Product Manager for its Connectors division. This key role involves overseeing product lines' growth and implementing strategies to optimize market penetration. The ideal candidate will possess over 5 years of relevant experience and a strong technical background in engineering or business management. Given the competitive salary range and attractive benefits, this opportunity promises to be rewarding for driven professionals in the field.

Benefits

Health insurance

401(k)

Paid time off

Growth and development opportunities

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive sales or business development experience in Connectors manufacturing.
• Established track record of successful leadership in a technical organization.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally (up to 25%).

Responsibilities

• Develop product management strategy and execute it.
• Research market conditions and analyze data for product opportunities.
• Manage product roadmaps and champion new products.

Skills

Leadership

Project Management

Market Analysis

Technical Knowledge

Interpersonal Skills

Education

BS/BA in Business Management, Engineering, or a technical field

MBA (desirable)

Job description

About ITT:

At ITT, we have a clear purpose as an organization – to provide our customers with cutting-edge solutions to help solve their most critical needs across key global end markets. Our continuous improvement mindset drives our commitment to evolving our capabilities as a multi-industrial technology, manufacturing and engineering leader. With a strong global footprint of more than 100 facilities, we are well positioned to solve critical challenges for our customers around the world. Our locations include manufacturing facilities and global service capabilities in 35 countries. Through these worldwide operations and building on our heritage of innovation, our approximately ~11,000 team members partner with our customers to deliver enduring solutions that make a lasting difference and help the world move forward. ITT is headquartered in Stamford, CT, with sales in approximately 125 countries. The company generated 2024 revenues of $3.6 billion.

• Motion Technologies: (Revenue of $1.4B; headcount of ~ 4,000; operates in 13 countries) manufactures brake components and specialized sealing solutions, shock absorbers and damping technologies primarily for the global automotive, truck and trailer, public bus and rail transportation markets.
• Industrial Process: (Revenue of $1.4B; headcount of ~3,400; operates in 30 countries) manufactures engineered fluid process equipment serving a diversified mix of customers in global industries such as chemical, energy, mining, and other industrial process markets and is a provider of plant optimization and efficiency solutions and aftermarket services and parts.
• Connect and Control Technologies: (Revenue of $0.8B; headcount of ~ 3,800; operates in 10 countries) manufactures harsh-environment connector solutions, critical energy absorption, flow control components, and composite materials for the aerospace and defense, general industrial, medical, and energy markets.

Position Summary

This role is responsible for the profitable growth of all product lines with North American design authority. Individual will develop and implement product and pricing strategies, provide technical product support, application assistance and product training to sales staff. The incumbent will manage pricing and product rationalization activities, champion new products and perform product portfolio analyses through the Value Based Management (VBM) process. In addition, the incumbent will be a liaison between Operations, Engineering, Sales, and Customer Service.

Essential Responsibilities

• Develops the Connectors, North America, Product Management Strategy and Execution.
• Research market conditions in local, regional, or national area to determine potential sales of product; Collects and analyzes data to evaluate existing and potential product market. Examines and analyzes statistical data to forecast future marketing trends.
• Manages portfolio and product roadmaps for assigned product group.
• Identify new product opportunities.
• Champions new products through the product development process, including opportunity prioritization, completion of activities and ensuring new product introductions occur per schedule.
• Develops key business contacts within the industry and maintains active communication with key customers, distributors, and agents.
• Leads the development of technology roadmaps for the company and partners with Engineering in converting these roadmaps into new concepts and products.
• Develop and execute strategies to drive growth, retention and profitability and optimize market penetration.
• Proactively seek, identify, and recommend potential teaming and acquisition targets, in conjunction with the leadership team.
• Remains cognizant of all pertinent competitive activities in North America, including technical developments and market share data and performs competitive and market attractiveness analysis
• Oversees proposal preparation, pricing establishment and quotation activities.
• Analyzes monthly and quarterly reports detailing the status of accounts and sales figures.
• Partners in advertising, trade shows, and sales promotion programs and other industry activities.
• Partners in the strategy and execution of product launches, including the development of Marketing Communications materials.

Key Performance Metrics:

• Product Portfolio Strategy
• Business Unit profitability (against plan)
• Cost tracker maintenance
• Product / Application portfolio diversification (against goal)
• New target account development (against goal)
• Marketing promotional growth (against goal)
• Sales / Marketing operational budget adherence

#LI-BS1

Position Requirements

Skills, Experience & Qualifications:

• BS/BA in Business Management, Engineering, or a technical field
  • 20+ years will be considered in lieu of degree.
• MBA desirable
• 5+ years of progressive sales or business development experience, preferably in the Connectors manufacturing industry
• Established track record of successful leadership of a technical organization.
• Experience in working with cross functional teams to develop pricing and proposals
• Experience with the business’ strategic planning process, preparation of departmental budgets and operating plans
• Must have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work with diverse and global employees, including the ability to motivate, energize, manage, and develop performance of other staff members
• Polished presentation and communication skills
• Demonstrated willingness to make decisions within delegated authority levels.
• Champions the process of change and promotes a culture of quick adaptation while fostering change management
• Strong project management skills with the ability to prioritize tasks, manage resources, and meet deadlines.
• Proactive approach to Planning, organization capabilities and problem resolution. Has strong organizational and leadership skills to enable him/her to drive performance and deliver results.
• The ability to travel periodically domestically and internationally (up to 25%)

This position requires use of information which is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). All applicants must be U.S. persons within the meaning of ITAR. ITAR defines a U.S. person as a U.S. Citizen, U.S. Permanent Resident (i.e. 'Green Card Holder'), Political Asylee, or Refugee.

Equal Pay Act Statement

We aim to pay our ‘ITT’ers’ fairly and competitively in the locations that they live and work. Pay-for-performance is a principle that we believe in, and employees are rewarded based not only on ‘what’ they accomplish, but also on ‘how’ they reflect ITT’s values. ITT offers a competitive salary and robust total rewards package, such as health insurance, 401(k), short and long-term disability, paid time off, growth and developmental opportunities, and other incentive compensation programs. Specific benefits are dependent upon whether or not the position is part of a collective-bargaining agreement. The salary offered to a candidate is based several factors such as candidate experience and qualifications, location, as well as market and business considerations.

Equal Pay Act Range

Annual Salary Range is from $161,100.00 to $257,500.00, plus benefits & incentive plan.