Product Manager - Shop Solutions

Wanzl GmbH; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Wanzl North America seeks a Product Manager for Shop Solutions to define strategy, roadmaps, and lifecycle for shelving, fixtures, and integrated retail systems. You will own product-market fit, portfolio profitability, and long-term growth, shaping what products and services are brought to market and why.

In this cross-functional role you will partner with Sales, Operations, Finance, and European product teams to align roadmaps with regional needs.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years’ experience as a Product Manager or similar role.
• Experience in retail or companies supplying the retail market is preferred.
• Strong leadership and written/verbal communication skills.
• Willingness to travel up to 20% (including international).
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain a forward-looking Shop Solutions product roadmap.
• Own lifecycle strategy across ideation through end-of-life, including pricing and margins.
• Synthesize VOC insights to define winning product strategies and right-to-win positions.
• Coordinate with D&D, Sales, Operations, and Finance to align roadmaps with business objectives.
• Enable Sales with product positioning, pricing strategy, and standardized frameworks.
• Collaborate with European product management to accelerate North American market success.

Skills

Product management

Leadership

Communication

Travel up to 20%

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

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Product Manager - Shop Solutions

30+ days ago Requisition ID: 1095

Position Overview

The Product Manager (PM), Shop Solutions, will be responsible for driving the success of the shop solutions product (primarily fixturing solutions) category. This role is the strategic authority for the Shop Solutions portfolio, responsible for defining what products, services, and solutions are brought to market and why, ensuring long-term commercial viability and alignment to segment strategy. The Product Manager owns product strategy, roadmap, and lifecycle performance for catalogue-based and customer driven shelving, fixtures, and integrated retail solutions, with accountability for product-market fit, margin profile, and portfolio optimization. The Product Manager will work closely with various departments to ensure the product meets market needs and achieves business goals. The Product Manager operates as a strategic function focused on the “WHAT” and “WHY,” while execution responsibility (“HOW” and “WHO”) resides with Operations and Sales respectively. The PM acts as a portfolio gatekeeper, ensuring investments, roadmap priorities, and lifecycle decisions remain aligned to segment strategy and long-term growth objectives.

The Product Manager will also work closely with product management and operations in Europe, to leverage know-how and accelerate our success in the North American Market.

This position will be located at the Corporate Center for Wanzl North America (WNA) in Denver NC.

Company and Opportunity Overview

WNA’s vision is to be a leading entrepreneurial player in terms of market share, agility, and game-changing solutions. WNA is a solution provider, creating value along the supply chain of our customers, from online purchase to their customers.

WNA is headquartered in the Charlotte Metro Area, North Carolina. With around 500 employees and ~$200M of sales, WNA focuses on the retail and distribution market segments with marquee customers such as Walmart, Amazon, and most large grocers and retailers.

In addition to being the largest manufacturer of shopping carts in North America, WNA has three additional main product segments as well as a Service business, providing turnkey solutions for customer guidance (Access Systems), Shelving & Fixtures (Shop Solutions), and Material Handling products.

Access Solutions provides sophisticated customer guidance and loss prevention systems for major retailers. With German-engineered products and a strong installed base, this segment focuses on protecting existing market share while expanding into adjacent opportunities in smart retail, autonomous store technology, and digital integration.

Additionally, WNA offers a range of digital solutions integrated into our products, including advanced shopping cart containment systems, smart exit gate technology, and innovations for autonomous and semi-autonomous retail stores. We are continuously expanding and enhancing our digital offerings to meet evolving customer needs and drive industry advancement.

WNA is part of the Wanzl Group, headquartered in Germany, and has 12 plants in 8 countries, providing comprehensive, solutions-driven service and expert knowledge of local markets for customers across the globe through their 360° service.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Product Strategy and Vision :
• Define and maintain a forward-looking Shop Solutions product roadmap, identifying portfolio gaps, standardization opportunities, and growth platforms across shelving, fixtures, and integrated retail solutions. Lead portfolio strategy decisions including buy/build/partner trade-offs and product rationalization.
• Synthesize market intelligence, competitive benchmarking, and voice-of-customer (VOC) insights to define winning product strategies and right-to-win positions.
• Drive internal strategy to ensure the company develops the necessary know-how, business processes, and structure to sustain and grow the retail solutions segment.
• Train and support internal teams on product knowledge and best practices.
• Product Lifecycle Management :
• Own lifecycle strategy across all phases (ideation through end-of-life), including target cost, pricing, and margin profile for each product family.
• Define market requirements and prioritize roadmap initiatives based on strategic impact, profitability, and scalability; not customer‑specific customization.
• Communicate the roadmap to stakeholders and ensure alignment with business objectives.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration :
• Orchestrate alignment between D&D, Sales, Operations, and Finance to ensure roadmap execution supports strategic, financial, and operational objectives.
• Provide clear product requirements (WHAT/WHY) to D&D while ensuring technical trade‑offs are aligned to commercial objectives.
• Enable Sales through product positioning, pricing strategy, and standardized solution frameworks, while maintaining clear separation from deal‑level execution. Ensure effective communication and coordination with European product management and operations teams to leverage expertise and accelerate market success in North America.
• Customer and Market Focus :
• Lead structured VOC programs to identify unmet customer needs, emerging trends, and opportunities for differentiated solutions. Translate customer needs into scalable, repeatable product offerings rather than customer‑specific engineering solutions. Act as the voice of the customer within the company.
• Revenue and Business Goals :
• Support the Head of Segment(HOS) in developing revenue targets and budgets for the product category.
• Own product‑level P&L performance, including price, cost, and margin targets across the lifecycle. Drive pricing strategy and policy to balance market competitiveness with margin expansion and portfolio profitability.
• Market Analysis:
  • Partner with Finance to define business cases, NPV/IRR outcomes, and ongoing product performance analytics.Market Analysis
• Deliver structured outputs including VOC reports, competitive insights, and product‑market fit analyses to inform roadmap decisions.
• Define product positioning, target customer typologies, and launch strategies for Shop Solutions portfolio offerings.
• Enable Sales with standardized playbooks, pricing frameworks, and product training; not execution of marketing campaigns
• Own pricing strategy and policy, including discount guardrails and value‑based, customer aligned pricing models.

Required Skills and Experience

• Minimum of 3 years’ experience as a Product Manager or similar role
• Minimum of five (5) years’ experience in retail or companies supplying the retail market
• Strong leadership and excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Proficiency in all Microsoft Office applications
• Demonstrated success defining and launching products
• Excellent teamwork skills
• Proven ability to influence cross‑functional teams without formal authority
• Must be able to travel up to 20% including international