Junior Product Developer

Position Overview:

As a part of our Product Development/ Creative Merchandising teams, you will be responsible for managing the development of product from concept to creation. These roles are dynamic to say the least, as it embodies both product development, brand management, merchandising and overall business ownership.

To be successful in this role, you must have a good understanding of the product life cycle and have the ability to work within tight deadlines while managing multiple products at once. In addition, drive, detail orientation, and flexibility are also key attributes to consider when stepping into this role. Ideal candidates will have experience in toys, arts & crafts, accessories, or similar industry.

Responsibilities may include (depending on job level):

• Focus on new ideation and concept generation of new brands/programs/product extensions to fill missing category voids.
• Conduct market research to identify current and upcoming trends, retail gaps in product and packaging, and perform competitive retail landscape.
• Continually identify and drive improvements in existing product lines to ultimately deliver a better-performing product, drive cost savings, and increase product appeal and retail sales.
• Collaborate with merchandising, design and product engineering team members to generate and execute new product and packaging concepts. Collaborate with design team members to generate style guide direction, oversee product and packaging creation.
• Produce trend and concept boards as needed for new product and customer meetings. Provide direction to support team to create presentations, including mock-up samples, prototypes and presentation boards. Also, oversee preparation of other presentation support tools like trend boards and retail competitive analysis.
• Perform margin analysis on programs and work with merchandising team members to continually improve overall financial performance of SKU’s.
• Oversee daily communication with overseas office on issues of new product development/sourcing, costing & price negotiations and sampling/prototyping.
• Assist in providing item, costing and margin information to sales team on programs.
• Accompany sales team on presentations and sales calls as needed.
• Relate customer feedback to design and overseas teams to adjust artwork, packaging, retail price points and margins.
• Review and comment on all production approval samples and work with overseas office to correct all issues before items go into production.
• Monitor and analyze POS of active SKU’s to carve out upcoming product improvement and line plan alteration strategies.
• Work with testing/compliance team on new and existing products to make sure products are safe, age-appropriate and properly labeled for retail.

What You’ll Bring:

• Sourcing, Costing, Product Development experience required
• Product development/product management experience in a CPG or retail company preferred (toys, arts & crafts, accessories, etc. preferred)
• Experience communicating with overseas suppliers preferred
• Advanced skills in Powerpoint and Excel required
• Ability to work on tight deadlines and fast paced environment required
• Strong attention to details required
• Strong sense of trends, fashion, color, and design required
• Must be willing and able to commute to our New Providence, NJ office 2-3 times per week