Head of Product Management

Whisker is the maker of Litter-Robot, Feeder-Robot, and Litterbox.com. At Whisker, we believe pet parenthood can always get better.

As leading innovators in pet tech and refined pet accessories, we work tirelessly to solve problems and deliver smarter insights for pet parents while enriching the lives of pets. Whether it's a self-cleaning litter box that automates scooping, an automatic feeder that helps pets develop healthier eating habits, or a modern cat tree that delights both humans and felines, we strive to deliver better solutions for consumers while transforming pet care along the way. To us, having a pet is the best thing ever. At Whisker, life together just keeps getting better.

Whisker is based in Auburn Hills, Michigan and Juneau, Wisconsin with 500+ passionate team members.

What You'll Do:

The Head of Product will be a hands-on product leader, overseeing and managing Whisker's product roadmap across our entire portfolio of robots, accessories, consumables, and digital products (app & cloud features). The Head of Product will partner with other company leaders and be responsible for product vision, management, and resourcing, collaborating with our team of 60+ engineers, in-house R&D department, and marketing organization - ultimately delivering to pet parents the solutions they don't yet know they need and want. The Head of Product will join the Whisker Leadership Team and report to the SVP of Engineering.

Executive Role: The Head of Product will work closely with Whisker's founder, CEO, and leadership team. The founder and CEO both have a strong product vision, having led the company for the past decade, and are looking to partner with somebody who can take us into the next chapter. This journey at Whisker is incredibly exciting, as there are few opportunities as a head of product to truly shape the future of a category - let alone a pet care category - where you get to transform how pet parents think about their pet household chores. This is a product leader's dream role and we look forward to partnering together to grow Whisker to its full potential.

To be in this role, you must have a cat We're a pet company with a focus right now on cats and the true understanding of our consumers is key for the head of product. As a fellow cat person, think about the chores you don't want to do: scooping the litter box, sweeping up cat litter, refilling the food bowl, washing the water dish-this is what we're solving for here at Whisker, and what you'll be building as head of product. So, yes, this is the only job description you'll read where having a cat is in fact a requirement of the role

Summary:

The Head of Product Management will be a product-obsessed thought leader that leads Whisker's product roadmap across the entire Whisker portfolio. They will be responsible for new product definition and evolution of existing product lines; including roadmap direction, product development, market penetration, pricing, and premiumization for Whisker's connected pet hardware appliances and digital products.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

This list of duties and responsibilities is not all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties and responsibilities as deemed necessary.

• Develops and executes the product strategy to drive growth and profitability in alignment with Whisker's goals and objectives.
• Defines and leads Whisker's product innovation by owning, identifying and clarifying product roadmap opportunities for new digital and hardware products as well as expansion of existing products
  • Creates a vision for overall product strategy at Whisker and transforms this vision into a prioritized new product innovation roadmap
  • Defines category and product level features and requirements, utilizing data analysis and consumer, market and competitor insights
  • Partners with program management to drive R&D and commercialization process, including managing key deliverables required to support each stage gate
  • Partners with Insights to obtain key qualitative/quantitative research to support initiatives
  • Shares category learnings with all relevant stakeholders and builds consensus on priorities
  • Leads execution of product launch, including product positioning and packaging
  • Owns product packaging across the company
• Conducts market research and analysis in conjunction with the Marketing team to identify emerging trends, customer needs, and competitive landscape, and translate insights into actionable product strategies.
• Drives product excellence and ensures high-quality standards across all stages of the product life cycle.
• Establishes and monitors key performance indicators (KPIs) to track product performance, customer satisfaction, market share, and drives continuous improvement initiatives.
• Builds and maintains strong relationships with key stakeholders, including executive leadership, customers, partners, and suppliers.
• Stays abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and competitive developments to inform product strategy and innovation opportunities.
• Provides leadership, mentorship, and guidance to the product management team, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and excellence.
• Works hand in hand with cross-functional teams, including marketing, engineering, supply chain, operations and finance
• Owns product catalog strategy and SKU rationalization
• Owns, develops and sets pricing strategy
• Leads with an innovative mindset
• Builds the systems, tools and processes for the current and growing Product Management team
• Responsible for management of existing Product Management team
• Develops a deep and continuous understanding of the Whisker customer, and their pain points and intuitively understands their unspoken needs and wants
• Defines and analyzes metrics to determine success of the product
• Directs post-launch analysis to continually evolve strategy and execution of future product launches
• Will perform additional responsibilities when required

Leadership Responsibilities:

Directly supervises department Teams. Carries out supervisory responsibilities following Whisker policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, training, and hiring, planning, assigning and directing work, appraising performance, addressing team issues, and upholding safety and quality guidelines.

Requirements

What You'll Bring:

• BA/BS in Engineering (Mechanical, Electromechanical, Software), Business, Marketing and/or equivalent years of experience
• 10+ years of experience of product management experience with increasing responsibility and scope; 3+ years defining and overseeing category and portfolio-level product strategy
• Current cat parent
• Experience in a fast paced consumer goods company, consumer focused technology company, or other high growth organizations
• 4+ years of experience in managing direct reports, cross-functional teams, and external partners/agencies
• 3+ years of direct P&L responsibility for a national, consumer-facing brand
• Experience with the following:
  • Launching a new product into a new category
  • Launching successful product lines and extensions to target new customer segments within a category, including variations and premiumization, etc.
  • Launching a successful refresh and/or reposition of an existing product within a category
  • Exiting / discontinuing a product line or category
  • Building and launching product adjacencies to drive high frequency purchases (i.e. consumables for subscription)
  • Managing alpha, beta and user acceptance testing for product launch
• Analytical and critical thinking leadership experience
• Experienced in the practice of design thinking and evolving organizations to get there as well
• Ability to actively listen to, translate and transform feedback into the right project
• Excellent communication skills with a matured ability in storytelling and can develop product thinking throughout the organization
• Deep understanding of consumer behavior, market dynamics, and competitive landscape in the consumer electronics industry.
• Strong business acumen and financial literacy, with the ability to develop and manage product budgets, forecasts, and financial models.
• Maintains confidentiality of proprietary information
• Ability to maintain a professional atmosphere in a fast-paced environment with numerous interactions and interruptions
• High degree of initiative, self-motivation and ability to motivate others
• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with Team Members and colleagues
• Comfortable with office pets (cats, dogs)

Not Required but Nice to Have

• MBA recommended
• Successfully launched app features/functionality that grew user engagement within the app and brought new users into the app

Benefits & Purrks:

Join a tenacious, inventive company that empowers team members to chart their own path, lead by grounding decisions in the "why", and has a strong sense of empathy and openness to new perspectives. Be a part of exciting growth, work with incredible people, and create tomorrow's pet products-plus a whole lot of extras. You will also be provided with:

• Premium Medical/Dental/Vision insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Whisker Parents Program
• 1 day "pawternity" leave for new pet adoption
• Pet Insurance
• 401K match
• Flexible spending accounts
• Company-paid short-term disability and life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Generous paid time off
• 14 Paid Holidays
• Top of the line equipment
• Pet-friendly office
• Whisker products and swag
• Continuing education Support
• On-site gym with Peloton
• Referral program

Statement of Inclusivity:

We believe different perspectives make Whisker better and strive to create a place where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive.

Please ensure to regularly check your email spam folder for any communication from Whisker to avoid missing important updates regarding your application status.

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