PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (Web Hosting/E-Commerce) - BRACKNELL
Steve Wyles
FUNCTION: Product Development
REPORTING TO: Operations Director
SUMMARY
Responsible for the evaluation of Web Hosting and E-Commerce
products to assess their potential market opportunity and value to Netcom.
Liaison with suppliers to trial and introduce products. Construction of
demonstration and trial sites and their handover to Operations and Tech
Support for ongoing support. Support to the sales team for complex sales
opportunities.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Market Assessment:
To be aware of market trends and new technology introductions,
and the competition's actions and strategies, and advise on their
potential revenue opportunities.
Product Evaluation:
To evaluate products on behalf of Netcom customers and test their
functionality, reliability and suitability.
Business Plans:
Prepare Business Plans / Justifications for potential new
products for management approval. Including revenues, profitability,
marketing, development and support costs. Review product portfolio and
recommend dropping or amending products in line with performance,
competitive changes etc.
Supplier Liaison:
To liaise with suppliers and be aware of product and technology
developments. To ensure that development and support problems are managed
correctly.
Sales Liaison:
To liaise with Sales Department to identify new opportunities for
increased revenue and provide motivation/incentive to promote product line
profitably.
Technical:
Specifying hardware and software solutions and ensuring that they
meet customer requirements.
Sales Support:
To work with the sales team qualifying and specifying complex
solutions. Provide support to counter competition comments and activity.
To be targeted on the amount of orders generated for each of the products
on a monthly/quarterly/annual basis.
Product Introduction:
To set up initial equipment configurations prior to handover to
operations for ongoing support. Provide training as required for sales,
operations and customer service personnel. To assist marketing with
generating material for internal and external promotion.
Quality:
To follow all agreed procedures and provide a professional service
and image to both customers and suppliers.
Pricing:
Manage the product pricing structure and achieve targeted Gross
Margins on a Product by Product basis and also on an overall basis for all
Products. This will include seeking ways to reduce costs to improve
margins. Manage product bundles with other product managers to produce
profitable budle packages. Establish discount plans for use by resellers
and selected customers (subject to approval by the financial director).
Maintain the master price list and distribute as necessary.
Other:
Performing installations, hardware/software upgrades or providing
support as required.
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Minimum of 5 years experience in UNIX support together with 2
years experience in NT support. An experienced database administrator with
the ability to specify and build hardware. Web Hosting Management and
E-commerce desirable.
PERSONAL SKILLS
Team player with good interpersonal skills capable of working
under pressure using initiative to resolve problems. Organised and logical
working methods, used to working to procedures and maintaining systems.