- *Senior Product Manager – Electric/AC Cooling**
We are seeking an experienced and innovative Product Manager to lead our Air Conditioning product and solution portfolio. The ideal candidate will have a strong engineering background and extensive experience in the AC cooling space. This role is responsible for the entire product lifecycle, from ideation and business case development to working with other functions on product launch and market success. The Product Manager will be a driver of innovation, identifying new market opportunities and working closely with sales, marketing, and engineering to bring visionary products and solutions to life through all phases of the product life cycle. This individual will also serve as product and solution support for our sales teams and customers to effectively position and sell our new offerings.
- *Key Responsibilities**
- Market and Technology Research: Conduct in-depth market analysis to identify emerging trends, customer needs, and competitive landscape within the industrial dehumidification and drying sector. Stay at the forefront of AC cooling technologies to drive product innovation to leapfrog the competition.
- Customer Focus: Actively engage with customers and end-users to gather feedback, understand pain points, and translate insights into product improvements and new product ideas.
- New Product Ideation and Strategy: Develop and present compelling business cases for new product and solution concepts, including market segmentation and opportunity, competitive analysis, financial projections, and strategic fit.
- Take on full Lifecycle Management Ownership: Orchestrate cross-functional teams (engineering, R&D, manufacturing, marketing) through a stage-gate process to deliver high-quality, market-ready products. Orchestrate the entire product lifecycle from concept to end-of-life.
- Go-to-Market Strategy and Launch: Collaborate with marketing to create and execute effective product launch plans. Propose product positioning, value propositions, and enable messaging to ensure a successful market introduction.
- Sales Enablement: Act as a product and solution consultant for the sales teams. Develop and deliver launch training, support creation of sales and training tools, and presentations to empower Sales to effectively sell new products and solutions.
- Cross-Functional Leadership: Build relationships and collaboration with all internal stakeholders, including sales, marketing, engineering, service, and finance, to ensure alignment and successful execution of product strategy.
- *Qualifications and Experience**
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Chemical, or related field) is required. An MBA or advanced Engineering degree is a plus.
- Experience: Minimum of 2-4 years of work experience in product management or related strategic functions, with a significant portion in the HVAC space. Direct experience with AC cooling technologies required. Knowledge of industrial segments in different countries and the different climate solutions needs in these segments is a plus.
- Technical Expertise: Strong technical aptitude and understanding of AC cooling requirements in different industrial and commercial settings. Ability to engage in high-level technical discussions with engineering and R&D teams.
- Business Acumen: Experience to identify target markets, industries, segments and customers, develop and present comprehensive business cases, including financial analysis (ROI, P&L) and strategic planning.
- Innovation and Vision: Experience in identifying new market opportunities and translating them into successful products and solutions. A passion for innovation and a forward-thinking mindset.
- Leadership and Influence: Demonstrated ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams without direct authority through interpersonal and communication skills.
- Process Orientation: A structured and process-oriented approach to product development and lifecycle management. Experience with stage-gate or similar product development methodologies.
- Communication Skills: Good written and verbal communication skills (German and English). The ability to articulate complex technical and business concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- *Desired Skills and Competencies**
- Innovation Focus: Skills to think out-of-the-box in an area which many experts consider that “everything has been invented”. Comfortable to challenge the status-quo and identify technologies (together with the R&D department) which could be a game change, innovate around use-cases, form/feature/function to improve the customer experience and business models.
- Strategic Thinking: Ability to think strategically and develop a long-term vision for the product portfolio.
- Analytical Skills: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. Ability to analyze market data, customer feedback, and financial metrics to make data-driven decisions.
- Customer-Centric: First experience how to gain and translate customer needs into product ideas and a passion for creating products that solve real-world problems.
- Adaptability: Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic VUCA environment and adapt to changing market conditions and business priorities.
- Team Player: A collaborative and team-oriented mindset. Ability to build strong relationships and work effectively with a diverse range of stakeholders.
- Results-Oriented: A strong drive to achieve results and a commitment to excellence.
- *Job Requirements**
The role will be based in the greater Düsseldorf/Cologne or the Hamburg metropolitan area and requires regular on-site time combined with appropriate home office opportunities. It also requires frequent national and international travel.
