Head of Product & Portfolio Management (m/f/d)

The Head of Product & Portfolio Management is accountable for the global product and portfolio strategy of Solar Trade and for translating that strategy into coordinated execution across global and local product management teams. The role provides clear portfolio direction, governance and decision criteria while enabling local teams to adapt and execute within their markets. It ensures that customer needs, market opportunities, technical feasibility, commercial performance and operational implications are consistently reflected in portfolio decisions.

The VP leads the global product management team with disciplinary responsibility and provides functional leadership to local product management teams. Working closely with Sales, Procurement, Supply Chain, Finance and country organizations, the role drives portfolio performance, develops new growth fields and prepares clear go / no-go, scale-up, optimization and exit recommendations for management.

What You Will Do

As Head of Product & Portfolio Management, the incumbent’s duties and responsibilities include:

1) Global Product & Portfolio Strategy

• Define and continuously evolve the global product and portfolio strategy in line with the Solar Trade business strategy and customer value proposition.
• Own the group-wide portfolio logic and decision framework, including Core / Optimize / Grow / Exit classifications.
• Set strategic priorities, guardrails and targets for product categories, portfolio development and market expansion.
• Balance global scale and standardization with justified local market requirements.

2) Global and Local Product Management Operating Model

• Lead the global product management team with disciplinary accountability for objectives, resources, capability development and performance.
• Provide functional leadership to local product management teams through common standards, governance, role clarity, methods and regular portfolio reviews.
• Clarify decision rights and interfaces between global and local teams, including ownership of strategy, assortment, local adaptation, launches and lifecycle actions.
• Enable local teams to contribute market and customer insights, execute agreed priorities and maintain portfolio and product data within defined group standards.
• Establish a community of practice that supports knowledge sharing, reusable tools and consistent product management capabilities across entities.

3) Portfolio Performance & Lifecycle Management

• Establish a transparent, fact-based view of portfolio performance using common KPIs for revenue, margin, working capital, complexity, customer relevance and strategic fit.
• Lead regular portfolio reviews and ensure timely decisions on phase-in, phase-out, optimization, standardization and local exceptions.
• Drive portfolio streamlining and complexity reduction while protecting customer value and commercial performance.
• Ensure clear ownership and coordinated implementation of lifecycle decisions across global functions and local entities.

4) New Fields, Innovation & Business Development

• Direct the systematic screening and prioritization of new technologies, product fields, adjacent markets and business models.
• Oversee business cases and pilot concepts, including market attractiveness, strategic fit, commercial potential, technical feasibility and scalability.
• Prepare and present go / no-go, scale-up, partner / make / buy and exit recommendations to management.
• Ensure successful integration of approved growth fields into the global portfolio and local go-to-market activities.

5) Governance, Stakeholder Management & Decision Support

• Own the product and portfolio governance cadence, including management decision preparation, portfolio reviews and follow-up of agreed actions.
• Act as the senior business partner for Sales, Procurement, Supply Chain, Finance, Technical Service and country organizations on product and portfolio topics.
• Resolve cross-functional and cross-country portfolio conflicts based on strategy, customer value and total business impact.
• Provide concise, decision-ready portfolio insights and recommendations to the CPMO and senior management.

6) Team & Capability Development

• Build a high-performing global product management function and strengthen product management capabilities across local entities.
• Define competency expectations, development priorities and succession needs for global and local product management roles.
• Promote an accountable, data-driven and collaborative way of working across the international matrix organization.

What You Bring

1) Education & Experience

• University degree in Business Administration, Economics, Industrial Engineering or a comparable field.
• 7-10+ years of relevant experience in product management, portfolio management, category management, business development or a related commercial function; strong PV industry experience preferred.
• Demonstrated leadership experience in an international matrix organization, including disciplinary leadership and functional leadership across countries.
• Proven track record of defining portfolio strategy, leading lifecycle decisions and translating strategy into measurable execution.
• Experience in developing and evaluating business cases for new products, technologies or markets.

2) Functional & Commercial Expertise

• Strong understanding of PV markets, customer requirements, product economics and value-chain dynamics.
• Solid financial literacy, including pricing, contribution margin, cost-to-serve, working capital and investment KPIs.
• Strong analytical and conceptual skills with the ability to turn complex, ambiguous topics into clear priorities and decisions.
• Ability to design pragmatic governance, standards and decision frameworks that work in a decentralized organization.

3) Leadership & Communication

• Strategic and entrepreneurial mindset combined with a hands-on, execution-oriented leadership style.
• Ability to align global and local stakeholders, influence without direct authority and manage competing priorities constructively.
• Confident communication and decision preparation for senior management in an international environment.
• Excellent English skills; German or another European language is an advantage.

4) Digital Literacy

• Advanced Excel and strong familiarity with Power BI or comparable analytics tools.
• Confidence working with ERP, product information, collaboration and business intelligence environments.

5) Working Conditions & Travel

• Hybrid or office-based work as aligned with company policy.
• Willingness to travel within EMEA for leadership meetings, portfolio reviews, workshops and entity collaboration.

What We Are Ready To Offer You

• A unique opportunity to work directly with the CSO and international leadership teams on high-priority strategic initiatives.
• Significant visibility and exposure to executive decision-makers across a rapidly growing international organization.
• The ability to shape commercial transformation at scale and create measurable business impact.A dynamic and entrepreneurial environment within one of the fastest-growing sectors of the energy transition.
• A clear development perspective with the potential to grow into broader leadership responsibilities over the coming years.
• Competitive compensation package aligned with market benchmarks.

Is This Role The Right Fit For You?

You matter to us

At BayWa r.e. we are fully committed to fostering equity and inclusion and embrace the diversity, of all our people, both present and those yet to join us!

We welcome applications from everyone, irrespective of gender, gender identity, national origin, religion, social-, cultural-, or ethnic-background, sex, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran status, or any other status protected by appropriate law. All hiring decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and qualifications. We are dedicated to being an equal opportunity employer for all by providing an inclusive environment free of discrimination or harassment.

If you as an applicant require additional assistance or accommodation throughout the recruitment process, please reach out to us.

We look forward to your application!

If you have any questions about the job offer, please get in contact with us.

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HR Business Partner

Christian

Skutujan

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Source: Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), table; dl-de/by-2-0; StarIn's calculation