[Hiring] Product Director, Marine Systems @Nikkiso Cryogenic Industries

Role Description

As a strategic senior member of the Product Management team reporting to the Sr. Vice President of Applications and Product Management for Nikkiso Applied Technologies Business Unit, the individual entrusted with holding this position will be responsible for Product Management of all Marine Systems for the Business Unit. The Product Director serves as the driving force for a product’s end-to-end success within the business unit, guiding products from concept through development to launch and beyond. This role pushes that product into all markets globally, combining industry knowledge, innovation, best engineering practices, and all resources within Nikkiso Applied Technologies.

This role will be directly responsible for the following for all Marine Systems:

• Life cycle management
• Product strategy & roadmap
• Market research & value proposition
• Continuous product improvement
• Identifying customer needs
• Proactively understanding market trends and competitor landscape
• New product development & innovation
• Sales support & customer engagement
• Actively marketing the products to increase sales, market share, and overall product positioning globally
• Optimizing the manufacturability of the products

Product Family Includes but is not limited to:

• FSRU Product Offerings
• Vaporizer
• Packaged Systems
• FGSS
• BOG Recovery
• Main Process Equipment

Note that products from other Product Families are integrated into this Product Family; this role is responsible for the integration of the products as well as the specific products.

Responsibilities

• Life Cycle Management: Managing each product's journey from initial idea, through development, manufacturing, service, maturity, and eventual retirement.
• Product Strategy & Roadmap: Develop and execute a clear product strategy and multi-year roadmap for the assigned product category, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives. This includes defining the product vision and updating it as market conditions evolve.
• Market Research & Value Proposition: Conduct thorough market, industry, and competitive analysis to identify customer needs, market trends, and gaps. Leverage these insights (including direct Voice of Customer feedback) to define compelling value propositions and requirements for new and existing products.
• Continuous Product Improvement: Develop better manufacturing processes, operating configurations, enhanced features and benefits, leveraged low-cost manufacturing techniques/centers to create competitor separation by incorporating closed-loop feedback systems with engineering, operations, sales, and our customers.
• Identifying Customer Needs: Very close interaction with customers and the sales team to clearly define customer requirements to consistently provide the optimal product offering.
• Understanding Market Trends: In-depth market knowledge and understanding to proactively pursue opportunities with either developed products or innovative new products.
• Understanding Competitor Landscape: Key insights into what our competitors are offering, what their differentiators are, and how we can use that information to better our product’s position.
• New Product Development and Innovation: Identify and evaluate new product opportunities and enhancements. Build robust business cases for investment in new product development, including ROI analysis and justification for projects. Lead Voice of Customer research and translate customer pain points into clear product requirements for engineering.
• Working with Cross Functional Department and Teams: Communicating with sales, marketing, and engineering to ensure alignment of product configurations and features with customer/market needs.
• Inorganic Developments / Growth Opportunities: Develop at least 1 per quarter inorganic opportunities that align with the Business Unit’s strategy for growth for the product family and the overall strategy for Nikkiso CEIG.
• Sales Support & Customer Engagement: Serve as the product expert and champion. Provide ongoing support to the global sales team and channel partners by addressing product-related inquiries, joining customer calls as needed, and delivering product training sessions.

Key KPI’s

• Product Line Revenue Growth: Year-over-year increase in sales revenue for the product category, indicating market success and growth.
• Profitability & Gross Margin: The profit generated by the product line after costs, often tracked via gross margin percentage and overall product line contribution to profit.
• Market Share Expansion: The product category’s share of the relevant market, and its growth over time.
• New Product Introduction (NPI) Success: Effectiveness of launching new products on time and within budget.
• Product Adoption & Sales Mix: The uptake of products in the portfolio, measured by units sold or revenue by product.
• Customer Satisfaction: Customer satisfaction scores related to the product, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) surveys.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of industry best practices and standards of excellence
• Extensive experience with relevant product lines
• Specific industry experience and knowledge in the following (amongst others):
• Cryogenics
• LNG
• Industrial Gas
• Hydrogen
• Clean Energy
• Exceptional problem solving, negotiating, time management, and general management skills
• Financial skills and strong familiarity with the following: revenue, bookings, gross margin, EBIT, project budgeting, cost structure/management
• Ability to motivate a result-driven team
• Ability to work across departments to reach meaningful results

Experience and Education

• A minimum of 10 years of industry experience with related equipment, preferably in technical sales, project management, or general management.
• A proven track record of overachieving business development targets, sales targets, forecasting, strategic planning, budgeting.
• Proven experience developing teams for technical business development.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical or Chemical Engineering, or Business with relevant work experience.
• Previous experience working in a manufacturing/engineering environment is strongly preferred.
• Equivalent combination of experience and skills may be considered.

Work Environmental and Physical Demands

• Ability to stand, walk, sit, reach with hands and arms, climb or balance, stoop or kneel, talk and hear, and use fingers and hands to feel objects, tools or controls.
• Overtime may be necessary as the workload dictates.
• Ability to lift to 40 lbs. may be required.
• Job will generally be performed in an office environment but may require extensive international travel.
• Conditions will vary at each location, but the conditions listed above will generally apply.

Environmental Safety Requirements

• New Employee Safety Training is required by all newly hired employees, including Safety Awareness.
• All safety related training is provided and tracked by the EHS Manager.
• Job specific training modules deemed necessary will be required of all employees on an ongoing basis.
• Employees are required to wear Nikkiso provided PPE as/when needed.
• Failure to comply with Nikkiso safety requirements will result in disciplinary actions, up to and including termination.

EEOC Statement

Nikkiso CEIG is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.