Consumer Product Category Manager

About the Role

Own and develop the strategy, portfolio and commercial performance of an assigned tyre category, ensuring Bridgestone has the right products, positioning and roadmap to meet market and customer needs while securing the financial viability of the business.

• Develop the category strategy and medium- to long-term product roadmap, identifying market, customer, vehicle and competitor trends and translating them into product priorities.

• Identify portfolio gaps, opportunities and areas for rationalisation.

• Own the category portfolio from launch through to replacement and end-of-life, defining product positioning, role, target customer and market coverage.

• Optimise range, fitments and SKU complexity while balancing customer needs, availability and profitability, and recommend new products, sizes, technologies and product withdrawals.

• Represent the commercial and market voice in product development and investment decisions, defining market and customer requirements and supporting business cases.

• Partner with R&D, Engineering and Supply Chain to deliver the product roadmap and lead the product input for successful launches, including positioning, readiness and Sales support.

• Monitor category volume, revenue, margin, mix and market share, and identify actions to improve category profitability and commercial performance.

• Partner with Pricing and Sales to ensure competitive and value-based positioning, and support annual planning, forecasting and long-range business planning.

• Maintain a clear view of competitor products, technologies, pricing and propositions, translating complex market, technical and commercial information into clear recommendations.

• Act as the category expert for Sales, Marketing and senior stakeholders, and lead cross-functional initiatives without direct line authority.

Qualifications & Experience Required

Education, Master, other certification:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.

Experience:

• Product/category management, commercial or marketing experience, ideally within tyres, automotive or another complex technical product environment.
• Experience managing portfolios and product lifecycles.

Technical Skills:

• Strong commercial and analytical capability.
• Ability to translate market and customer needs into product strategy.
• Experience managing product portfolios and lifecycles.
• Ability to work across technical, commercial and corporate functions.

Languages Skills:

• High level of competency in English is required.
• Fluency in another European language is considered a plus.

Soft/Behavioral Skills:

• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Ability to translate complex information into clear recommendations.
• Comfortable working across technical, commercial and corporate functions.
• Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives without direct line authority.

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