Job Description

Working at Freudenberg: We will wow your world!

Responsibilities:

Are you passionate about driving growth, winning new business, and creating customer value in the rapidly evolving battery market? We are seeking a Sr. Product Manager to lead our Europe Thermal Barriers portfolio, driving growth initiatives, customer engagement, and market expansion across automotive and energy storage applications. Working closely with customers, engineering, operations, sales, and leadership teams, you will identify market opportunities, support customer acquisition activities, develop business cases, and help build sustainable long-term competitive advantage.

• Product Strategy & Portfolio Management: Define and implement Thermal Barriers portfolio strategies by identifying market trends, customer needs, and growth opportunities to support long-term business objectives.

• Commercial Excellence & Value Proposition Development: Develop compelling customer value propositions and support commercial activities through product expertise, product costing, pricing strategy, commercial proposal development, customer engagement, and business development initiatives.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Facilitate collaboration across Product Management, Engineering, Sales, Operations, Purchasing, and Finance to align priorities, support decision-making, and achieve business objectives.

• Customer Engagement & Market Insight: Build strong relationships with customers and industry stakeholders to gather market insights, identify opportunities, support customer acquisition activities, and translate customer needs into product and portfolio strategies.

• Market Intelligence & Business Planning: Monitor market, customer, and regulatory developments while supporting portfolio decisions through business cases, pricing strategies, profitability analyses, and investment evaluations.

• Product Lifecycle Management: Manage products throughout their lifecycle, from market assessment and new product development support to portfolio optimization, launch activities, and end-of-life planning.

• Team Development & Continuous Improvement: Support the development of Product Management team members through coaching and performance feedback while fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications:

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

• Professional Experience: 5-10 years of experience in Product Management, Product Line Management, Business Development, Engineering, or Commercial Leadership within the automotive industry, preferably with an OEM, Tier supplier, or engineered products company.

• Strategy & Business Development: Experience in developing business cases, product strategies, customer value propositions, and market assessments.

• Financial & Commercial Acumen: Strong knowledge of pricing, costing, profitability analysis, and business planning.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Proven ability to influence and align cross-functional teams without direct authority.

• Communication & Presentation Skills: Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to present recommendations to senior leadership and executive audiences.

• Industry Expertise: Experience in automotive, industrial manufacturing, or related B2B industries; direct OEM or Tier supplier experience is an advantage.

• People Leadership: Previous people leadership experience preferred.

The minimum gross annual salary for this position in Italy is €50,000. Compensation for this position will be determined by the candidate's qualifications, experience, education, and overall alignment with the role's responsibilities.

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The Freudenberg Group is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion. Employment opportunities are available to all applicants and associates without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, genetic information, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, protected military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Freudenberg Sealing Technologies S.a.s. di Externa Italia S.r.l.u.