Program Manager- Military Programs

Job Title:          Program Manager- Military Programs                      

Location:          North Smithfield, RI (on-site)

Position Summary: 

The Program Manager will play a key role in establishment of the overall product and pricing strategy for the G-Form Family of Blunt Force Trauma Protective Products and Equipment. Family of Blunt Force Trauma Protective Products and Equipment. This position will also require extensive experience in product development and product management. This role will be the central figure for product line decisions, including breadth and depth of product line, positioning within the product line, pricing, and profitability. This role will work in concert with Engineering, Business Development, Product Development, and members of the Senior Leadership Team to lead multiple cross-functional teams within the organization to further the short-term, near-term, and long-term objectives of the DOD product strategy. 

 This position will plan and execute the DOD product roadmap, such that G-Form develops, grows, and separates itself from the competition with next generation innovative value-added products. Critical to this role is understanding the technical aspects of our products, knowledge of competitors within the global market, current and future requirements of our customers, and evolving chemical and material solutions and testing standards. This position will be accountable for the product roadmap and life-cycle management process, ensuring G-Form can deliver best in class blunt force trauma protective solutions to the global market for law enforcement agencies, military organizations, and other governmental agencies. As needed, this position will require the shouldering of the combined role of Business Development, Product Development and Program Management with direct communication and program management of the customer relationship to allow G-Form to win large dollar and multi-year contracts. 

Essential Functions/Major Duties & Responsibilities:

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Provide an educated perspective on the overall product strategy to the Senior Vice President of Global Product, Vice President of Operations, Strategic Partnerships, and the Senior Leadership team.
• Create and maintain the 3-year DOD product roadmap.
• Manage the life-cycle management process from inception to obsolescence.
• Work with cross-functional teams for development of standardized products and specialty products, as needed.
• Coordinate with Engineering Team to assess new technologies for inclusion into product line, as needed.
• Coordinate with Senior Leadership Team for establishment of strategic global partnerships.
• Manage Research and Development (R&D) budget, to ensure limited dollars are being allocated appropriately.
• Coordinate with internal and external customers to focus on strategies to expand our market share and/or open new markets with existing or new products and programs.
• Develop relationships with customers as means of ongoing Voice of Customer (VoC) data collection on product needs and/or technical solutions.
• Translate VoC into functional product specifications and sole source documents for new products and contracts.
• Lead the means for the vetting of new products, ideas, and partnerships. 
• Lead the means for the approval of final bids, proposals, and contracts. 
• Coordinate with Marketing to establish product positioning, technical information, and product launch strategies.
• Assist with developing the value propositioning, features, and benefits, and supporting documentation for product launches and product support collateral.
• Become the technical Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the Business Development team, sales channel partners and end user for technical performance, product comparisons and competitive intelligence.
• Manage the collection and dissemination of competitive and industry information for the global market.
• Manage DOD product pricing and profitability.
• Work closely with Business Development in the creation of customer bids with a focus on understanding customer-defined product specifications and translating them into G-Form technical product requirements.
• Provide Sales, Customer Service, Marketing, and specific customers with comprehensive product training.
• Ensure opportunities for Intellectual Property are identified to include plans for issuance and defense of patents.
• Coordinate product certification as required by testing standards and business plan (i.e., MJP 1621-1, IS 15613, NIJ, MIL-STD, ASTM, NATO STANAG, Special Environmental and Sustainability Standards).
• Work closely with Marketing to develop G-Form Testimonial and Influencer Program with respect to verification, replacement and recognition of end users who were protected by and/or allowed to continue to play or carry out the mission due to G-Form products.

Skills/Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in business, industrial design, mechanical engineering, or materials science, with master’s degree a plus.
• 10 years of multi-discipline experience in product development, product management, program management, operations, marketing and/or business development with a global customer base.
• Experience managing and developing products with defined technical requirements and governing standards.
• Experience in the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) as used by the U.S. Military in the validation of a product.
• A proven track record of gathering requirements in functional areas and converting them into product direction.
• Demonstrated ability to align cross-functional teams in the execution of corporate and business unit goals.
• Passion and desire to continuously improve one’s knowledge through exploration and ability to learn quickly.
• Driven for success and desire to be an integral part of a winning team.
• Experience within the US and international law enforcement and defense markets.
• Ability to review and edit written technical documents with extreme attention to detail is a must.
• Responsiveness to external and internal customers, a can-do and positive attitude are a must.
• Willingness to travel up to 25% domestically is a must.
• Knowledge of blunt trauma testing standards (NIJ, ASTM, MIL-STD, NATO STANAG, VPAM) is a must.
• Experience with certification testing, lot acceptance testing and/or first article testing is a must.
• Experience reviewing technical specifications and writing technical responses is a plus.
• Law enforcement experience, and/or military experience a plus.

Supervisory Responsibility

None at this time.

 Position Type/Expected Hours of Work 

This is a full-time on-site position. 

Travel 

Up to 25%

 Other Duties

The job description above is intended to describe the general nature and level of work to be performed; it is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required for the position. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. Continued employment is on an at-will basis.

***This position is on-site***