Product Manager - Industrial Lubricants

Idemitsu Lubricants America Corporation; Novi (MI); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Idemitsu Lubricants America Corporation is seeking a Product Manager to oversee the industrial product portfolio, drive commercialization of new products, and optimize formulations. The role collaborates with R&D, Marketing, Purchasing, and Sales to deliver profitable growth.

Strong leadership, cross-functional communication, and knowledge of hydraulic oils and industrial lubricants are essential; experience in field trials, technical data sheets, and training is preferred.

Qualifications

• The candidate must have a technical bachelor's degree and lubrication industry knowledge.
• 5+ years in industrial lubricant or related industry with product management or sales experience.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and communicate with executives.

Responsibilities

• Manage product lines from strategic planning to execution and profitability.
• Define market requirements and gather insights from customer field applications.
• Coordinate with R&D, Engineering, and Marketing to meet market needs.
• Lead the product commercialization process across functions to keep schedules.
• Provide technical guidance and training to customers and distributors.
• Develop marketing literature and product specification sheets.

Skills

MS Office

Salesforce CRM

Communication skills

Product management

Cross-functional leadership

Education

BS/BA in Mechanical/Chemical Engineering

Certified Lubricants Specialist (CLS)

Tools

Excel

Word

PowerPoint

Job description

Position Summary

The primary role of the Product Manager is to manage the assigned industrial product portfolio under the direction of the IUS Technical Manager. This includes managing the commercialization process for new product development, optimizing existing formulations, and maintaining an effective product lineup. The Product Manager is expected to gather market intelligence and monitor emerging technologies from various sources to support new product development activities.

Position Summary

The primary role of the Product Manager is to manage the assigned industrial product portfolio under the direction of the IUS Technical Manager. This includes managing the commercialization process for new product development, optimizing existing formulations, and maintaining an effective product lineup. The Product Manager is expected to gather market intelligence and monitor emerging technologies from various sources to support new product development activities. This role also provides technical support to the sales team, including coordinating field trials to demonstrate product performance, providing technical guidance, troubleshooting customer issues, conducting product training for customers and distributors, and developing technical data sheets, brochures, and product benchmarking materials. The Product Engineer is expected to collaborate directly or indirectly with Production, Marketing, Purchasing, Suppliers, Blenders, Quality, R&D teams, and, as needed, headquarters in Japan. The role requires effective cross‑functional communication, respect for organizational responsibilities, and appropriate use of established communication channels.

Essential Job Functions

• Manage assigned product lines from strategic planning through tactical execution. Support marketing strategy development by identifying new markets for existing products, developing new products to address market needs, and recommending strategies to improve profitability.
• Define market requirements and identify relevant technologies for current and future products by participating in industry consortiums, engaging suppliers and consulting firms, and gathering insights from customer field applications.
• Obtain internal approvals and support the expansion of assigned products into additional ILA sales markets.
• Coordinate support teams, including R&D, Development, Engineering, and Marketing Communications, to develop materials and formulations that meet market requirements.
• Lead the product commercialization process cross‑functionally with R&D, Quality, Sales, Procurement, Production Control, Regulatory, Japanese headquarters, suppliers, and other stakeholders to keep projects on schedule.
• Maintain professional customer relationships and support timely.
• Support sales team when quality issues are raised by customers and take appropriate actions to ensure the cases are resolved and the company image is preserved.
• Conduct product training for customers, Idemitsu associates, and industrial distributors.
• Support direct and distributors sales force in the product, application and technical aspects, helping to convince customers to choose Idemitsu products.
• Provide benchmark data analysis comparing Idemitsu‑branded products with competitor products.
• Support the development of product specification sheets and marketing literature.

Qualifications

Education

BS/BA. Technical bachelor’s degree (Mechanical/Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field) Certified Lubricants Specialist is a plus.

Experience

5+ years of industrial lubricant and or related industry experience. 5+ years proven product management, project management or sales experience.

Job Knowledge/Special Skills/Abilities

• Demonstrated proficiency in MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), CRM (Salesforce), and email (Outlook). Overall good PC skills. Able to conduct product/program presentations to executives and customers.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly and concisely with internal and external stakeholders. Ability to build and maintain productive stakeholder relationships and deliver effective presentations.
• Knowledge of mechanical equipment requirements and applications.
• Expert product knowledge of hydraulic oils, way oils, industrial gear oils, air/natural gas compressor and engine oils, cleaners, metalworking oils, rust preventative oils, high‑temperature chain oils, turbine oils, process oils, wind turbine lubricants, heat transfer oils, quench oils, seal oils, gas and diesel engine oils, specialty greases, and lubricant maintenance services such as used oil analysis.
• Must have in-depth knowledge of industrial lubricant products development.
• Ability to process information logically and understand and follow ethical business practices.
• Leadership mindset, analytical capability, planning and organizational skills, collaborative decision‑making ability, emotional intelligence, global perspective, and positive attitude.
• High degree of self‑motivation with excellent time management skills.
• Advanced knowledge of sales tools. Ability to plan and formulate sales strategies, support customer‑focused sales activities, and develop comprehensive customer proposals aligned with sales strategies.
• Ability to share negotiation expertise and provide technical and sales guidance through coaching and training.
• Demonstrates professionalism, personal integrity, responsibility, and accountability.
• Ability to meet firm deadlines and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Strong planning, organizational, collaborative decision‑making, and leadership skills.
• Ability to identify problems and develop independent solutions.
• Knowledge of sales planning, project management, product development, pricing analysis, and pricing strategy.
• Knowledge of market research, marketing, strategic planning, and proven sales practices.
• Ability to research new markets, support new business strategy development, and work effectively both independently and in a team environment.