Product Developer, Equipment

Posted by Simms Fishing Products. on 06/15/2021

Job Basics

Industry Sector: Fishing

Job Categories: Design & Development - Product

Company Type: Apparel/SoftGoods

State: MT

City: Bozeman

Country:

Required Experience: 3 - 5 years

Job Type: Full Time

Salary: $63,000- $72,000

Required to Relocate: Yes

Required to Travel: Yes

Employee May Telecommute: No

Job Seeker Must Live Within: 25 miles

Job Description & Requirements

 

Product Developer, Equipment

Simms Fishing Products is a leader in the fishing industry – driven to create growth and vitality in the community. We build trustworthy and angler-driven products. Our employees communicate openly, keep their commitments, and inspire trust.   We build for the long haul with products that last and a brand that endures. Our employees are our most important catch.

 

To be a great fit at Simms, you must embrace the fishing culture and follow our practice to work like we fish – with purpose, passion & curiosity. 

 

The Product Developer (PD) will be a leader of the product creation process to ensure on-time development, engineering, testing, commercialization and accurate specification/BOMs for all assigned products.  The PD will execute in translating 2D designs into 3D samples that meet design brief intent, costing targets, and adhere to established standards for branding, design, build, fit, lab/field testing, quality, and durability.

The PD works both autonomously and collaboratively with their immediate manager and other stakeholders across the product team.  The ideal candidate for this role can work across a broad range of product types and is comfortable diving into new and unknown challenges.  The PD works with factory partners and materials vendors to identify new opportunities and innovations.  The PD must facilitate positive collaboration across the functional teams, and provide critical support to meet established workflow requirements, budget constraints, sampling standards, fit standards, and milestone dates.

The PD will successfully manage, as assigned, assorted projects to enhance and support the development process (e.g., process improvement, documentation standards, data integrity).  The PD will support the team’s success by mentoring and coaching other product developers on the team.

Key Responsibilities and Priorities:

=       Seasonal proto and commercialization phases hit or exceed established milestone dates while adhering to budget constraints, workflow requirements, design intent, lab & field-testing standards and BOM costing targets.

=       Manages, plans, and tracks the development progress of all products in the assigned category(s) and prepares and maintains seasonal project list and status reporting for the Product Team and Management.

=       Organizes and leads prototype reviews with key staff to ensure accuracy of execution and fit. Thereafter, provides clear and organized feedback to factory contacts.

=       Creates, publishes, and maintains all Specs, BOMS, Tech Packs, relevant records, and a sample archive for all assigned product lines.

=       Partners with Sourcing & Planning to ensure factory allocation, manufacturing capabilities, and costing structure are aligned to meet seasonal and long-range requirements and milestones.

=       Partners with Design, PLMs, Materials, and Developers to drive development of new materials that support advanced concepts, innovation, and seasonal briefing goals for assigned product lines.

=       Interacts with Product Director(s), PLMs, Sourcing. Planning, Design, Marketing, Sales, and Quality to communicate product technical details and assure the accuracy, legality, and integrity of all performance claims.

=       Cultivation of positive teamwork and inspiration within the category team(s), across the organization, and with external partners through an open, professional, and collaborative work style.

=       Embraces a ‘fail fast to succeed sooner’ approach to developing protos and new concepts & innovations.

 

Key Competencies:

=       Organization & Planning:  plans, organizes, schedules, and budgets in an efficient and productive manner. Focuses on key priorities.

=       Efficiency:  able to produce significant output with minimal wasted effort.

=       Attention to detail:  able to oversee process to ensure important details do not slip through the cracks or derail a project. Able to discern “important” from “not as critical”.

=       Creativity and innovation:  generate new and innovative approaches to solving consumer problems with product.

=       Communication and persuasion:  able to convince others to pursue a course of action, through speaking and writing clearly and articulately without being overly verbose or talkative.  Maintains this standard in all forms of communication, including email.

=       Calm under pressure:  maintains stable work performance and can meet deliverable when under heavy pressure or stress.

=       High standards:  expects personal and team performance to be nothing short of the best.

=       Analytical skill:  able to structure and process qualitative data and draw insightful conclusions from it.  Exhibits a probing mind and achieves penetrating insights.

=       Fail fast to succeed sooner:  understands the importance of verifying and validating ideas and seeking to test ideas or products and discovering failure faster to arrive at the final revision and success in an efficient manner.

=       Flexibility & adaptability:  adjusts quickly to changing priorities and conditions.  Can understand the business needs for these changes.  Copes effectively with complexity and change in a very subjective world of product creation.

=       Honesty & integrity:  does not cut corners ethically.  Earns trust and maintains confidences.  Does what is right, and not just what is politically expedient.  Speaks plainly and truthfully.   

=       Teamwork:  reaches out to peers and management to establish an overall collaborative working relationship. Understands that Team extends to all parts of the organization.

 

Key Performance Indicators:

=       Line Final & Bulk Approved samples hit target costs for assigned category(s):  R-above target costs by 5%, G-within +/-5% of target costs, SG-under target costs by 5%.

=       Line Final & Bulk Approved samples hit lab & field-testing standards. For assigned category(s):  R-PP samples don’t hit the standards, G-Proto 3 samples hit the standards, SG-Proto 2 samples hit the standards.

=       Proto and Commercialization phases hit established calendar dates, workflow requirements & sampling standards for assigned category(s):  R->75% of requirements & standards met, G->90% of requirements & standards met, SG-100% requirements & standards met.

=       Responsiveness: Measured by # of instances of time sensitive communication not being addressed within 24 hours of receipt:  R-untimely communication affected development 2+ times, G-Untimely communication affected development 2 times, SG-development timeline was unaffected.

Key Requirements:

=       Bachelor’s Degree

=       3-5 years of direct experience in pack/bag development

=       Strong knowledge of market/industry, competitors, product construction techniques, fabrications, etc.

=       Strong analytic and problem-solving skills.

=       Strong communication skills:  verbal/written, the ability to engage and influence others, skilled presenter.

=       High proficiency in PLM systems, Adobe Creative Suites & Microsoft.

About Simms Fishing Products.

Simms is a leading manufacturer of high quality fishing apparel and outerwear, based in Bozeman, Montana.