End-to-End Product Development Manager

Guitar Center; Westlake Village (CA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Gig leave

401K match

Job summary

Guitar Center in California seeks a Manager, Product Development to lead end-to-end product initiatives from concept through production, ensuring alignment with timelines, costs, and business goals.

You will partner with design/engineering and commercial teams to bring consumer-relevant products to market, applying design thinking, cross-functional collaboration, and strong project management to meet performance targets and customer needs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Design, Product Development, or related field.
• 5–7 years of progressive product development experience in consumer hard goods.
• Proven track record managing product lifecycles and launches that are consumer-centric.
• Strong project management skills with cross-functional coordination.
• Familiarity with design thinking, user testing, and technical product development processes.
• Experience working with sourcing and supply chain partners on cost, quality and manufacturability.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and problem-solving abilities.
• Business acumen to interpret product performance data and support decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Product Development Execution: Manage day-to-day product development activities from concept through mass production, ensuring products meet design intent, quality standards, and business requirements.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Merchandising and Planning teams to align on specifications, sourcing, cost, and delivery goals.
• Product Concept Development: Partner with the cross functional team to ideate and develop new product opportunities based on consumer and market insights.
• Consumer Insights: Support product validation by incorporating user testing feedback into design improvements and final product specifications.
• Project Management: Develop and maintain project timelines, track budgets, and coordinate deliverables to ensure on-time and on-cost product launches.
• Product Standards: Monitor performance targets and collaborate with testing/quality teams to validate durability, reliability, and experience benchmarks.
• Cost Management: Track product cost structures, support cost optimization efforts, and partner with sourcing on value engineering opportunities.
• Category Knowledge: Maintain up-to-date knowledge of product category trends, materials, and technical details to support development and cross-functional decision-making.
• Post-Purchase Support: Contribute to the creation of product documentation, troubleshooting guides, and FAQs to enhance customer experience.
• Culture & Collaboration: Model teamwork, problem-solving, and respectful communication, contributing to a positive and high-performance culture.

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Design thinking

Sourcing

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Design, Product Development, or related field

Job description

Guitar Center in California seeks a Manager, Product Development to lead end-to-end product initiatives from concept through production, ensuring alignment with timelines, costs, and business goals.

You will partner with design/engineering and commercial teams to bring consumer-relevant products to market, applying design thinking, cross-functional collaboration, and strong project management to meet performance targets and customer needs.