Job Summary

The Product Manager leads the strategy, lifecycle management, and market performance of assigned building-material product categories, which may include tile, ceramics, natural stone, flooring, appliances, and other related construction products.

This position is responsible for understanding market and customer needs, developing product and category strategies, managing vendor relationships, supporting pricing and assortment decisions, and coordinating new product development and launches. The Product Manager will use market, financial, customer, and operational data to make recommendations that support revenue growth, margin improvement, product performance, and customer satisfaction.

The ideal candidate will have direct experience within building materials, flooring, tile, stone, ceramics, appliances, or a closely related construction-product category. Relevant experience may come from product management, category management, sourcing, merchandising, purchasing, product development, or a similar function.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Develop and execute product and category strategies for assigned building-material categories.
Create and maintain product roadmaps that align with customer needs, market opportunities, organizational priorities, and financial objectives.
Conduct market, customer, and competitive analysis to identify industry trends, product gaps, emerging opportunities, and areas for category growth.
Evaluate product performance and make data-driven recommendations regarding pricing, product positioning, assortment, specifications, packaging, and lifecycle decisions.
Establish and maintain productive relationships with manufacturers, suppliers, and external vendors.
Support vendor negotiations related to product costs, pricing, terms, quality expectations, specifications, and performance requirements.
Partner with sourcing and purchasing teams to support product selection, cost management, supplier alignment, and inventory planning.
Lead or support new product development and product introductions, including business-case development, pricing strategy, product positioning, launch planning, merchandising support, and training materials.
Collaborate with internal teams to promote product availability, effective product launches, strong sell-through, and a consistent customer experience.
Monitor and evaluate category key performance indicators, including sales, gross margin, product mix, inventory turns, vendor performance, and new-product launch results.
Adjust product and category strategies based on market conditions, customer feedback, financial performance, and operational needs.
Support the resolution of product-quality concerns, customer claims, vendor issues, and product-performance matters.
Ensure assigned products comply with applicable quality, regulatory, market, and organizational requirements.
Communicate product strategies, recommendations, performance results, and market insights to leadership and other stakeholders.
Take ownership of assigned product categories and serve as a key resource for product, vendor, market, and customer information.

Qualifications

To perform this position successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty effectively, with or without reasonable accommodation.

The ideal candidate will have direct experience in one or more of the following industries or product categories:

Building materials
Flooring
Tile
Ceramics
Natural stone
Appliances
Construction products
Closely related homebuilding or architectural product categories

Candidates should have experience supporting or leading several of the following areas:

Product or category strategy
Vendor relationships and negotiations
Pricing and margin management
Product assortment decisions
Product lifecycle management
Market and competitive analysis
Sourcing or purchasing
New product development
Product launches and go-to-market planning
Inventory or product-performance analysis

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Strong understanding of product, category, vendor, financial, and market considerations.
Ability to take ownership of a product category and develop strategies that support business objectives.
Ability to evaluate customer, market, competitive, and financial data and translate findings into actionable recommendations.
Knowledge of pricing, gross-margin management, product assortment, and lifecycle-management principles.
Strong vendor-management, relationship-building, and negotiation skills.
Ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, vendors, and product initiatives simultaneously.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and decision-making capabilities.
Effective written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to communicate product strategies and recommendations to both technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
Familiarity with product specifications, channel dynamics, inventory management, construction products, and industry trends is strongly preferred.
Experience partnering cross-functionally with sourcing, sales, operations, marketing, merchandising, finance, inventory planning, customer service, and external vendors is preferred but not required.

Education and Experience

Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, supply chain, engineering, construction management, merchandising, finance, or a related field is preferred.
Five or more years of relevant experience in product management, category management, sourcing, merchandising, purchasing, product development, vendor management, or a related function is preferred.
Direct experience with building materials, flooring, tile, ceramics, natural stone, appliances, construction products, or a closely related product category is strongly preferred.
An equivalent combination of relevant education, industry knowledge, and professional experience may be considered.

Measures of Success

Success in this role will be demonstrated through:

Effective ownership and growth of assigned product categories
Improved revenue and gross-margin performance
Strong vendor and internal business partnerships
Well-informed pricing and assortment recommendations
Successful product introductions and lifecycle decisions
Improved product availability and inventory performance
Increased customer satisfaction and product-market alignment

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