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VP, Product Design & Development

Employer
Versique Search & Consulting
Location
Minneapolis
Salary
Competitive

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Are you a passionate leader and love Product Design & Development - Let's talk

Job Description

We are currently seeking a VP of Product Design & Development to help lead our dynamic and fast-paced team. This leader will report directly to the President & CEO. For the first six months in role, this leader will be working side by side with the Co-Founder/VP of Innovation as s/he learns core processes, builds relationships with key business partners, and establishes the knowledge base necessary to direct the company's product innovation pipeline. From idea through to execution this leader will collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to turn vision into reality. This is the ideal role for individuals who love to flex their left and right brains and thrive in fast-moving, dynamic environments.

Primary Responsibilities
  • Innovation/New Product Development: Experience leading and bringing new products to market is mission critical to this role. Partnering with external vendors, key customers, and additional stakeholders to rapidly source packaging, develop formulations, and create product concepts that address critical consumer needs or category white spaces. Then championing those ideas and leading them through the organization. Experience developing robust innovation pipelines, managing product development and design processes, and leading core elements of packaging, formulation, and commercialization are at the crux of this opportunity.
  • Project Management: The VP, Product Design & Development will need to have a strong ability to lead and manage projects. Clearly communicating with key partners (e.g., manufacturers), and holding internal and external players accountable to execute flawlessly are very important to ensuring smooth innovation rollouts. This leader must demonstrate a strong ability to track timelines, deliverables, and manage complex workflows to ensure that key project milestones are delivered on-time.
  • Cross-Functional Leadership: Leading a diverse cross-functional team is a key component of this role. The role requires a leader who can manage stakeholders with empathy and influence partners to ensure that projects have necessary inputs and attention across the organization.
  • Commercialization: The leader must be adept at managing a project P&L and identifying the key inputs that inform the financial components of a project. We are seeking a leader who is comfortable with drafting business cases and assessing core levers, including volumes, cost of goods, and margins to determine the impact of each innovation project in achieving overall financial goals.
  • Research & Insights: The VP, Product Design & Development will need to gather and synthesize data to help inform key decisions. This will require formalizing the collection of insights across consumer, customer/trade, and competitive sources. It will also require deriving meaningful takeaways that will impact how innovation comes to life.
Ideal Candidate Requirements
  • At least 10 years of relevant experience in product design and development at a medium to large-sized consumer business.
  • A builder of strong teams. The ideal candidate has experience leading teams (5+), setting agendas, coaching and developing others, managing competing priorities, and instilling sound process where necessary to drive efficiency. S/he must also build strong relationships with cross-functional partners, particularly at our agency partners.
  • A creative, entrepreneurial mindset. Not only does the ideal candidate have good creative instincts, but s/he must also have the passion to work in a rapidly-changing environment and continually bring new thinking to bear so that we may continually outpace our competition.
About Versique

Versique is one of the largest recruiting firms in the Midwest and specializes in both consulting and permanent placement. With a valuable blend of functional, industry and recruiting experience, our award-winning team of headhunters has a proven track record of delivering exceptional talent acquisition solutions. The Versique brand represents a powerful combination of "versatile" and "unique" as it hints at the concept of "search" in it's pronunciation: ver-seek.

Versique is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse workforce. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or veteran status, among other factors.

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