Product Marketing Manager

Midland Industries; Kansas City (MO); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Midland Industries in Kansas City seeks a Product Marketing Manager to own the strategy, performance, and lifecycle for a vertical system of components. You will develop deep market expertise, align the portfolio to customer applications, and collaborate across teams to drive market leadership.

The role emphasizes cross-functional leadership, data-driven decision making, launching products, and ensuring regulatory alignment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, marketing, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in engineering, product design, product marketing, manufacturing, or distribution, ideally with hands-on experience bringing a physical product to market.
• Experience in Midland's fluid management markets or verticals, including industrial, plumbing, or waterworks, preferred.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and collaboration skills.
• Excellent presentation and communication abilities.

Responsibilities

• Own and execute the strategic plan and product roadmap for the assigned vertical. Develop deep market/vertical expertise, understanding how the portfolio's components function together as a system to serve customer applications.
• Collaborate with various business departments on roadmap alignment and product line introductions.
• Lead full product lifecycle: VOC, competitive analysis, market alignment, NPI/NPD, launch, and sunsetting.
• Coordinate launches with supporting sales-enablement materials (catalogs, brochures, competitive comparisons, linecards, product family introductions).
• Monitor regulatory, compliance, and industry standards for the vertical.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Data analytics

ERP, CRM, PLM familiarity

Problem solving

Organizational skills

Presentation and communication

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, marketing, or related field

Tools

ERP software

CRM software

PLM systems

Job description

The Product Marketing Manager owns the strategy, performance, and lifecycle for a system of components serving a defined market vertical (e.g., plumbing, industrial, data center), rather than a single product line. This PM develops deep expertise in the vertical, its customers, applications, and competitive landscape in order to align a portfolio of products to support that market. This is a highly collaborative role for a technically-grounded product professional ready to build strategic, cross-functional, and market leadership capabilities.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Own and execute the strategic plan and product roadmap for the assigned vertical. Develop deep market/vertical expertise, understanding how the portfolio's components function together as a system to serve customer applications.
• Collaborate with various business departments on roadmap alignment and product line introductions.

Business Performance

• Contribute to profit plan objectives by setting pricing strategies the market will support based on value, competitive position, and application.
• Measure, analyze, and report product line/vertical performance (KPIs) monthly; drive corrective actions as needed.
• Use sales and ERP data to identify penetration gaps, whitespace, and demand signals.

Product Lifecycle Management

• Lead full product lifecycle: Voice of Customer, competitive analysis, market alignment, NPI/NPD, launch, and sunsetting.
• Coordinate launches with supporting sales-enablement materials (catalogs, brochures, competitive comparisons, linecards, product family introductions).
• Monitor and apply relevant regulatory, compliance, and industry standards for the vertical.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Sales, Marketing, Pricing, and Operations; serve as the key point of contact for front-line technical support and application alignment.
• Bridge the gap between customer pain points and value positioning to assist sales and marketing with GTM messaging.
• Create and deliver technical sales presentations to customers and internal stakeholders; facilitate customer meetings alongside sales.
• Lead and influence without formal authority across functions to drive vertical strategy execution.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Demonstrated ability to lead and influence cross-functionally without direct authority.
• Strong data and analytics fluency; familiarity with ERP, CRM, and PLM systems and KPI reporting.
• Effective problem-solving and process improvement skills to identify root causes, remove barriers, and improve business performance.
• Strong organizational and prioritization skills with the ability to manage competing initiatives, timelines, and stakeholder needs.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills, including direct customer-facing experience.
• Ability to travel up to 25%.

KEY COMPETENCIES:

• Strategic market and portfolio thinking
• Commercial and financial acumen
• Customer and application focus
• Cross-functional influence and collaboration
• Product lifecycle leadership

SUCCESS MEASURES:

• Achievement of revenue, margin, and profit plan objectives for the assigned vertical
• On-time execution of the strategic roadmap and product lifecycle priorities
• Successful new product introductions and sales-enablement readiness
• Improved market penetration, product mix, and identification of whitespace opportunities
• Accurate, timely KPI reporting and effective corrective action
• Strong alignment across Sales, Marketing, Pricing, Operations, and Product teams

BEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES:

• Proactively seeks out relationships with colleagues
• Comfortable having challenging conversations
• Pays close attention to quality standards
• Follows through with established requirements
• Embraces changing strategies or priorities
• Shares opinions proactively
• Manages conflict diplomatically
• Collaborates comfortably with different groups of people

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, marketing, or a related field required.
• 10+ years of experience in engineering, product design, product marketing, manufacturing, or distribution, ideally with hands-on experience bringing a physical product to market.
• Experience in Midland's fluid management markets or verticals, including industrial, plumbing, or waterworks, preferred.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Works in the office and remotely from home.
• Sits for extended periods when in the office with the opportunity to get up and move around as desired.
• Works on a computer for most of the day.
• Must be able to deal with others calmly and effectively in high-stress situations.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, or any other status protected by law or regulation. Selection decisions are based on job-related factors.