Product Manager, Seasonal & Innovation in Eden Prairie, Minnesota at Anagram International LLC

Position Summary
We are seeking a strategic, results-oriented, and highly motivated Product Manager to lead NPD and product strategy across assigned market categories for all brands and channels. This hybrid role combines deep product ownership with hands-on project management, ensuring initiatives are delivered with excellence, speed, and impact.
This role serves as the single point of accountability for both seasonal product execution and innovation momentum—owning the new format innovation pipeline for all established and new channels and acting as the central liaison between internal teams and external partners. The Manager drives product lifecycle management, delivers differentiated products aligned with brand and business objectives, and protects innovation intent from concept through commercialization.
The Manager oversees project execution, risk management, and portfolio optimization, leveraging cross-functional collaboration to maximize commercial impact and category growth. The ideal candidate excels in cross-functional execution and brings a passion for driving category growth through consumer-centric, benefit-led innovation.

Key Responsibilities
Brand Leadership
• Define and execute product strategies aligned with brand and business objectives.
• Lead consumer insights and customer feedback initiatives to inform brand and product decisions.
• Monitor competitive landscape to identify growth opportunities.

Seasonal Product Management
• Own the full product lifecycle from ideation through commercialization and post-launch optimization.
• Conduct competitive analysis, utilize VoC insights, market data and industry trends to inform product planning and prioritization.
• Define product requirements, user stories and success metrics in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Drive and manage seasonal product roadmaps aligned with brand goals.
• Collaborate with design, engineering, supply chain, marketing and sales to deliver differentiated products that drive category performance.
• Lead pricing, positioning, and go-to-market strategies for new and existing products.
• Co-ownership with finance and sales to develop forecasts, pricing strategies, and business cases.
• Own and monitor Product Performance KPIs to inform continuous improvement and future innovation.
• Analyze product performance across revenue, margin, velocity, and productivity metrics.
• Conduct root cause analysis for underperforming SKUs and identify opportunities for growth.
• Own end-of-life (EOL) planning and transitions for existing products.
• Lead portfolio optimization efforts, including SKU rationalization and tiered assortment planning.

Innovation Management
• Develop and sustain a robust pipeline of innovative product concepts and formats, aligned with strategic growth objectives.
• Translate product benefit strategy into clear innovation opportunity spaces—converting consumer friction and unmet needs into actionable direction.
• Define, prioritize, and maintain a focused pipeline of tiered innovation bets—actively recommending which ideas advance, pivot, pause, or stop to preserve strategic focus.
• Validate innovation concepts through consumer insights, trend analysis, and technical feasibility studies—ensuring market relevance and operational readiness before advancing to gate reviews.
• Lead cross-functional teams through early-stage Discovery and Concept phases, driving ideation, feasibility analysis, and presenting recommendations at gate reviews.
• Create preliminary business cases for new concepts, including cost modeling, ROI projections, and risk assessments to support informed decision-making.
• Proactively surface and resolve tradeoffs related to timing, cost, complexity, and capability—escalating decision points when functional priorities threaten innovation value.
• Define non-negotiable design constraints to protect consumer value through execution—partnering with R&D and PD to balance ambition with feasibility without diluting innovation intent.
• Act as steward of innovation intent from concept through development; prevent late-stage erosion caused by speed, cost, or operational pressure.
• Identify and mitigate risks early in the innovation process, developing proactive strategies to address compliance, timing, and resource challenges.
• Develop with Sales & Leadership the AOP revenue goal for incremental 'new' growth.

Project Management
• Own and manage the stage gate process for all new product development (NPD) initiatives.
• Lead cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and timely execution of deliverables.
• Develop and maintain detailed project plans, timelines, and budgets.
• Ensure alignment across stakeholders and proactively manage risks.
• Track progress and report on key milestones and deliverables.
• Establish and manage innovation decision gates with clear success criteria; prepare executive-ready recommendations and tradeoff scenarios to enable faster, higher-quality leadership decisions.
• Monitor approval workflows and implement contingency plans to prevent bottlenecks and maintain project momentum.

Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Serve as the central point of contact for product-related initiatives across marketing, sales, operations, and external partners.
• Communicate project status, key milestones, and decisions to stakeholders at all levels.
• Act as a horizontal integrator across Creative, PD, R&D, Marketing, Sales, and Operations—with enterprise-wide scope on strategic innovation initiatives.
• Challenge product roadmaps that do not align to innovation strategy; recommend advancement or stoppage of innovation initiatives based on strategic fit and consumer value.

Qualifications
Required
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Product Management, or related field.
• 7+ years of experience in product management, consumer-led innovation, or related fields—with proven success driving cross-functional initiatives in competitive or mature categories.
• Demonstrated ability to translate consumer insight into strategic and technical direction.
• Proven success in launching and managing high-impact consumer products.
• Strong strategic thinking, analytical, and communication skills.
• Excellent project management capabilities, including planning, execution, and stakeholder communication.
• Experience with stage gate or similar innovation frameworks.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage multiple complex initiatives simultaneously.
• High comfort operating in ambiguity and challenging status quo thinking; track record of influencing without direct authority.
• Proficiency with project management and analytics tools.
Preferred
• Experience in consumer-packaged goods, durable goods, or experiential categories.
• Exposure to R&D, engineering, or manufacturing processes.
• Experience leading breakthrough or adjacent innovation initiatives.