Product Manager

Job Purpose Summary

You will be responsible for developing strong relationships with the vendors, customers and sales teams to drive growth, customer breadth and brand awareness to achieve/exceed targets set by all them all.

Taking ownership of the Product Management of your allocated vendor across the following customer categories; CE Retail and photographic channel – this will include vendor, customer and sales relationships.  Providing mentoring and on the job support for people in the team who look after day-to-day processes such as pricing, life-cycles, product categorisation, and executing the supported promotions and launches.

Key to this, is better understanding the systems, key processes to improve the function of the vendor team at CMS.  

Role Responsibilities

•    Achieve quarterly sales targets by driving the with the sales team and customers.
•    Develop and maintain CMS relationship at all levels with your allocated vendor - the objective being improving and maintaining the company’s presence as a partner.
•    Develop and implement best practices to maximise pipeline creation, customer conversion rates, forecasting accuracy, and cross-functional collaboration from vendor to customer.
•    Have a clear understanding of ranges and categories the brand offers in the market.
•    Coordinate regular engagement with your vendor to carry out daily and weekly action plans with them and attend customer meetings when required.
•    Contribute to discussions and agreeing CMS/Vendor quarterly business plans and provide regular performance updates.
•    Maintain a strong relationship with the top customers and ensure they are provided with accurate proposals, collateral, and other information as required.
•    Constantly improve knowledge and understanding of the markets which we operate in for the product category.
•    Identify market trends & outlooks to provide confidence for making strategic business decisions.
•    Take responsibility for and sell through of aged stock.
•    When required, attend appropriate shows and exhibitions representing CMS and the vendors within the UK and Europe.
•    Liaise with multiple other departments including:
Finance for Promotions, Pot control and PA Claims. Executing Price Protections, SOA’s and stock revaluation.
Forecast planning to execute new product launches, achieve stock goas for customers and maintain a healthy level of inventory.
Webstore team – to oversee successful online presence of your vendor portfolio on CMS’ webstore. 
•    Diving Digital Transformation through Identifying processes internally and externally for automation improvements.

Additional Responsibilities

Skills & Personal Attributes

•    A passion for driving and delivering growth in current and new channels.
•    Tenacious, target driven and results orientated.
•    Excellent communication/influencing skills – ability to communicate eloquently in both written and verbal formats, both face-to-face and remotely.
•    Ambitious and keen to take on responsibility in an organisation that provides a high level of autonomy and individual responsibility. 
•    Excellent motivational qualities with a passion to achieve exceptional results.
•    Strong commercial awareness, with good business sense, that will seek ways to improve overall business performance.
•    Outstanding organisational skills and ability to manage own time effectively.
•    Can demonstrate their ability to go the extra mile, to exceed expectations, conscientious and committed combined with flexibility in attitude and approach.
•    Willing to travel on business as required.
•    Mature, responsible and professional attitude to work.
•    Product Manager experience, with an understanding or experience of the channel.
•    Proficient user of the Microsoft Office suite, particularly Word, Powerpoint and Excel.
•    Demonstrate presentation skills to a high standard.

Key Traits