Assistant Brand Product Manager

Responsible for: Product portfolio management & growth   

Purpose of Role:   THE ASSISTANT PRODUCT MANAGER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SUPPORTING THE PRODUCT TEAM IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING THROUGHOUT THE PRODUCT LIFECYCLE.  REPORTING AND REVIEWING PRODUCT LAUNCH PERFORMANCE AND CONTINUOUSLY REVIEWING AND RATIONALISING THE PRODUCT RANGE.  

Responsibilities:    

• Supporting the Product Manager in delivering an effective NPD pipeline, ensuring that product launches are delivered on time and meet the original concept.  
• Manage the brand product portfolio with operational excellence ensuring timely delivery of information to key stakeholders and completion of internal processes. 
• Manage all ESPA product documents including B2B order forms, new line form updates, price lists and product master sheet ensuring accurate and timely updates. 
• Working with the Brand Product Manager to set the product strategy for the brand and then concepting new product launches to support this strategy.  
• Conducting product and market research to identify opportunities in the market and presenting these insights to wider teams working across the brand to support future product development plans.  

• Supporting the Product Manager with preparation for and delivery of the Stage and Gate Process to gain approval for new product launches.   
• Reviewing price competition in the market and working with the Product Manager to suggest pricing strategies for the brand and individual product launches.   
• Creating a clear product proposition that will set all existing and new products apart from the competition, gathering compelling insights and data to support market demand and clearly communicating all required information to the brand team.  
• Create product communication tools clearly defining key features, benefits and claims working closely with Copy Writer. Including; product manuals, one pagers, product press releases.  
• Working closely with supply teams and manufacturers to keep NDP projects on track and well-coordinated.  
• Communicating regular updates on product development and launch timelines to wider teams including marketing and commercial.  
• Regular strong analysis and reporting on product performance to aid key decision making.  
• Provide market and competitor research and insights, keeping up to date with the latest launches and product innovations in the market and transforming these insights into clear strategic actions to enable brand growth.  
• Collaborate with the Brand Product Manager in delivering ESPA’s sustainability pledge and projects including Recycle Me and More trees and managing this through all product related decisions.  

Reporting: 

• Regular reporting of NPD performance and actively driving improvements in any underperforming areas.  
• Reporting on range performance and opportunities to improve range mix and reduce reliance on hero SKUs.  
• Monitor KPI performance across the brand including AOV, traffic, new customers, retention and conversion rates 

KPI’s 

• NPD performance & project management  
• Sales and GP growth targets  
• Continuously improving brand awareness & recall levels  
• New customer acquisition target 
• Retention targets  
• Development of strong working relationships with all partner/channel teams (A&A, campaign team, ecommerce team, marketing channels, retail teams), anticipating team needs and responding with effective and well-organised solutions 

Key behaviours  

• Experience in the beauty industry preferred. 

• Experience in delivering product development projects from reviewing initial concepts through to market launch. 
• Well organised and able to keep multiple stakeholders on track towards a shared deadline  
• Demonstrates strong commercial and business acumen. 
• Able to cope with the pressures of a fast-paced and agile working environment. 
• Initiative – able to think outside of the box 

• Driven and goal orientated  
• Passionate 
• Can build strong relationships 
• Can work cross functionally across teams