Global Product Director

About Kingspan Data Solutions:

Kingspan Data Solutions is a global business, operating independently as one of the five divisions within Kingspan Group. With a history stemming over 120 years, Kingspan Data Solutions began as a manufacturer and supplier of raised access floors, for high end commercial office. Today, the business also leads the design and manufacturing of data centre interior solutions, that optimise airflow, supporting energy efficiency for the world's most advanced cloud players and data centre operations.

Our business continues to grow from strength to strength, delivering a revenue in excess of €380m in 2023 with a team of over 1200 employees and growing! As we accelerate our growth strategy, we are expanding across all teams, in all regions, enhancing our manufacturing capability, while investing in the best available equipment and expertise.

Our business strategy is closely aligned with the ambitious Planet Passionate goals set by Kingspan Group focused on waste reduction, water conservation, energy efficiency, and carbon minimisation. We continue to encourage our teams to support Planet Passionate as we focus on minimising our climate impact.

About the Role:

The Global Product Director role is responsible for overseeing our Structured Ceilings product portfolio and driving our competitive edge through product innovation, ensuring alignment of product development with business objectives, meeting evolving customer needs and industry demands as well as identifying market opportunities for one of our core product ranges.

Key Responsibilities:

• Define the product vision and strategy by establishing and executing a clear, forward-thinking roadmap for the overall ceilings product portfolio as well as a regional commercial strategy that aligns with the company's overall objectives.
• Drive strategic leadership in market differentiation and ensure that the company's products standout in the marketplace by identifying unique selling points and leveraging innovation.
• Ensure all product initiatives are strategically prioritised based on business impact, customer value and resource availability.
• Drive the development and execution of the product roadmap by working cross functionally with design engineering, R&D, project management, operations, marketing, sustainability and commercial teams.
• Conduct ongoing market research and analysis to identify emerging trends, assess the competitive landscape, understand customer needs, pain points and preferences using available data and insights to inform product decisions and maintain a competitive edge in the market.
• Communicate the overall product strategy, roadmap, timeline for delivery, expected outcomes and progress updates to internal stakeholders and senior leadership regularly to ensure alignment and support for product initiatives.
• Drive revenue and profitability by aligning product strategies with revenue goals, focusing on profitability and ROI for product innovations and improvements.
• Take ownership of the ceilings global product portfolio profitability, including cost management and pricing strategies.
• Incorporate robust testing strategies and protocols into the overall product roadmap and development process and establish clear quality benchmarks for all product lines to safeguard the company's reputation and customer trust while delivering high-performing, reliable products.
• Ensure all products meet regulatory and quality standards while addressing the specific needs of global customers and markets.
• Lead the design and implementation of comprehensive scalable training programmes for onboarding new customers and advanced training for existing customers so that each customer gains a deeper understanding of the product's features and capabilities.
• Drive sustainability and compliance through the use of low carbon, eco-friendly materials, the establishment of a diverse and robust supply chain and energy-efficient manufacturing processes
• Work closely with the marketing team to enhance brand positioning and secure the company's reputation as a market leader in structural ceiling product delivery and innovation.
• Identify, create and define key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to measure the success of all ceilings products initiatives.
• Ability to travel globally as required.

Qualifications, Experience and Skills

Education: A Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, or a related field.

Experience:

• At least 8 years' experience in a senior product management role with a proven track record of successfully brining products to market from concept to launch.

Skills:

• 
  Strategic Vision: an ability to craft and communicate a compelling product vision and strategy with a forward-thinking mindset to anticipate market trends, emerging technologies and competitive dynamics.
• Customer-Centric Thinking: strong focus on integrating user insights into product development and solving real-world problems with a deep empathy for customer needs.
• Commercial Acumen: solid understanding of financial principles, including budgeting, revenue forecasting and ROI analysis and strategic prioritisation to maximise profitability and growth.
• Technical Understanding: understands product architecture, development processes and works effectively with engineering and design teams to ensure technical feasibility and scalability.
• Innovation and Creativity: challenges the status quo to identify opportunities for differentiation and market leadership and fosters a culture of innovation be encouraging new ideas and experimentation.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: skilled at working across teams (e.g. engineering, operations, marketing, sales) to align efforts and builds strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Stay connected with us on LinkedIn for insights into life at Kingspan Data Solutions.

Kingspan is an equal-opportunity employer. We encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and experiences.

Join us in our mission to make a difference through exceptional solutions.