Product Planner

Bush Industries, Inc. is the world's product leader in the design, development, and manufacture of high-quality Ready-to-Assemble furniture for the business, home office, and home entertainment markets.  Our Headquarters is located in Jamestown, Western NY, with facilities in NY, Pa, Germany, and China. The company sells products through approximately 10,000 retail outlets, including furniture and department stores, office products and electronic retailers, and mass merchandisers.

Bush Industries, Inc. has an immediate need for a Product Planner, for our Corporate Office. We are seeking a qualified individual to be a strategic player and to augment our existing team of professionals.

 

The successful candidate will support all product related activities associated with the execution of Brand Strategy, and will report directly to a Brand Manager.

 

Primary Responsibilities and Specific Accountabilities:

1.  Manage product lifecycle by tracking performance of key products and proactively managing replacement products as appropriate.

2.  Act as Sales & Customer Liaison; Interface with Sales to collaborate on product marketing and sales to develop new product presentation materials to sell products to perspective customers in a thorough, professional, and persuasive manner.

3.  Participate in new product development process.

4.  Support Brand Manager in the development of Annual Plan and Business Plan.

5.  Based on consumer insights and defined customer needs, develops Design Brief to provide detailed direction to Director of Design, Product Engineer and Project Manager on new product plans, consumer and customer requirements (including features, functionality, design elements, retail price target), and business requirements for new products (including margin target and timing).

6.  Report all product metrics ensuring the Brand Managers is aware of critical project activities and product results, including tracking and reporting on project Gate status.

7.  Completes all competitive analyses and slot analyses and provides findings to Brand Manager to support Brand Strategy development.

8.  Provides financial support including hurdle rate analysis.

 

Minimum Qualifications:

· Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, or equivalent work experience required.

· Industry specific knowledge and/or marketing experience.

· Excellent communication skills all levels of the organization required.

· Strong team player and coordinator of cross-functional activity.

· Ability to understand brand strategy and execution, and to provide product / technical direction to the design and engineering team.

 

Skills and Competencies:

· Ability to manage complexity and ambiguity.

· Good judgment and well developed decision-making skills.

· Self-starter with superior planning and organizational skills.

 

 Bush Industries, Inc. provides very competitive compensation and benefits packages. We are a Drug Free Workplace, an Equal Opportunity employer and encourage qualified diversity candidates to apply for this position.