Location: Oakville, ON
Travel: 20–30% (Job sites, factory floors, and industry trade shows)
Position Type: Full-time, Senior Individual Contributor
About the Opportunity
We are a leading, established North American manufacturer of customized electromechanical enclosures and physical user-interface panels. Our business thrives on deep industry relationships, high-quality manufacturing, and a reputation for being a reliable partner to both OEM and independent customers.
We are seeking a hands-on, commercially minded Product Manager to take full strategic and lifecycle ownership of our physical interface panels. In this role, you aren't just managing a product from a desk; you are the bridge connecting market strategy, factory-floor execution, and real-world installation reality.
Who You Are (Our Ideal Candidate DNA)
- A Market-Minded Solution Finder: You have a natural curiosity about where the market is going. You actively reverse-engineer competitor strengths and market shifts, but you ground those ideas by digging into real customer feedback to design products that solve problems before customers even think to ask.
- Mechanically Curious with Field Credibility: You love figuring out the physical "how and why" of hardware. You look at products through the eyes of the person holding the tools on a job site or factory floor. You have the hands-on confidence to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with field mechanics or production teams, talk their language, and instantly understand their struggles.
- A Plain-Spoken Strategist: You connect immediate wins—like reducing field labor costs or plugging a feature gap—to a bigger 24-month plan to stay ahead of competitors. Instead of using massive corporate slide decks, you explain complex strategy and financial returns in simple, common-sense terms that instantly get everyone on board.
- A Full-Process Operator: You don't just focus on the final product features; you care about the tactical operational details. You take ownership of the entire lifecycle, ensuring ordering is mistake-free for the customer, packaging survives rough job-site handling, deliveries arrive on time, and components are easy to maintain and replace a decade down the road.
- Down-to-Earth and Relationship-Driven: You build genuine trust across all levels, from factory production employees and field mechanics to industry consultants and customer management. You are a practical, direct communicator who listens intently and can naturally connect with people whether they are wearing a safety vest or a business suit.
Key Responsibilities
- Field & Market Discovery: Track competitor releases, pricing, and positioning while maintaining a consistent cadence of field visits to observe installation, service, and user interaction firsthand.
- Roadmap & Strategy: Develop the 6-to-24-month product roadmap to stay ahead of competitors. Create concise business cases and ROI calculations to secure internal alignment and engineering budget for new projects.
- Launch & Operational Readiness: Coordinate new product or feature launches across R&D, Operations, and Supply Chain. Ensure manufacturing capacity, initial stocking levels, mistake-proof ordering guides, and clear technical documentation are locked in before release.
- Lifecycle & Margin Ownership: Manage ongoing product health by driving bill-of-materials (BOM) cost reductions, fixing packaging or field-damage issues, and navigating long-term component obsolescence. Coordinate inventory ramp-downs during product phase-outs to minimize dead stock.
Qualifications & Experience Requirements
- Education: Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical business field.
- Experience: 7+ years of experience in product management, application engineering, or field engineering within an industrial B2B, OEM, or building-systems environment.
- Target Sector Experience: Commercial Building Systems (such as HVAC, Automation, or Access Control/Security Infrastructure), Elevator/Vertical Transportation, or Industrial Electrical Distribution is highly preferred.
- Manufacturing & Commercial Execution: Proven track record navigating physical manufacturing constraints, product logistics, margin management, and component obsolescence. You know how to manage a physical product from the shop floor to the customer's hands.
- Code Aptitude: Demonstrated ability to quickly adapt to and navigate a highly regulated, safety-and-code-driven industry (e.g., ASME, CSA, building safety codes, or electrical standards).
- Cross-Functional Accountability: Comfortable operating independently as a senior individual contributor. Proven ability to pull R&D, Operations, and Supply Chain together, driving alignment and taking full ownership of product readiness without needing day-to-day direction.
Pay: $120,000.00-$150,000.00 per year
Application question(s):
- What is your current work status in Canada? (citizen, PR, work permit)
Work Location: In person
