Associate Product Manager, Merchandising and Management

Job description

**About Waterworks** When you see the world’s most inspiring homes and hotels, you invariably find Waterworks in the mix. For over 40 years, our designs have elevated the bath and kitchen experience, with exquisite fittings, fixtures, hardware and more. We strive to be participants in exceptional design moments not just through our products, but through how our company name shows up in the world at large. **What We Provide** What gives us an edge over our competitors is our people. We work in a highly collaborative, creative environment that values each team member’s contributions to our mission. We empower our associates with extensive training, career growth opportunities, competitive salaries, bonus potential and a comprehensive benefits package including medical/dental/vision, and 401k retirement savings plan. We offer a generous PTO program (vacation, personal and sick time) with additional perks like some summer half days and a volunteer day. The company observes at least 8 federal holidays throughout the calendar year plus a floating holiday that associates can use at their discretion. **The Role:** The **Associate Product Manager, Merchandising and Management** is an analytical and detail-oriented contributor within Merchandising and Management, supporting merchandising and assortment initiatives across the Fittings line of business. Positioned between Product Specialist and Manager, this role builds upon foundational experience in product coordination and analysis, expanding into defined project ownership, data-driven decision support, and structured execution. The Associate Product Manager strengthens merchandising judgment, deepens cross-functional collaboration, and supports project planning by preparing data, insights, and inputs for cross-functional alignment. This role supports scalable growth by improving tools, systems, and workflows and the quality of inputs that inform product decisions. This role also builds understanding of the product development lifecycle and cross-functional dependencies to support effective execution. ### Responsibilities **Product Merchandising & Assortment Support:** - Supports the execution of merchandising strategies across sales channels while coordinating assigned assortment projects and initiatives. - Supports assortment optimization and rationalization efforts aligned with the product roadmap by gathering showroom, channel, and market insights to inform thoughtful recommendations. - Partners with cross-functional teams to ensure assortments align with brand standards and go-to-market priorities. - Coordinates digital merchandising deliverables and visual asset needs, including Cylindo project management, to support timely product launches and ongoing initiatives. - Ensures Showroom and online merchandising accuracy, including pricing and product messaging. **Business Insights, Performance & Competitive Landscape:** - Prepares and distributes weekly sales performance reporting using Business Objects and internal dashboards, analyzing sales trends, margin, inventory, and lifecycle data to inform business recommendations. - Tracks post-launch performance, identifying and escalating risks or opportunities as appropriate. Incorporates Channel feedback into product and assortment discussions and develops clear reporting materials for cross-functional partners and leadership stakeholders. - Supports tracking of the competitive landscape within Fittings, tracking competitor assortments, product launches, pricing, positioning, and key innovations across channels. - Synthesizes internal performance data, competitive insights, and market feedback to highlight trends, risks, and opportunities, and organizes these inputs into clear insights to support product discussions. **Project Coordination & Execution:** - Manages assigned merchandising and assortment workstreams with guidance, coordinating timelines, deliverables, and cross-functional inputs to support successful execution. - Proactively identifies risks, dependencies, and gaps, escalating as needed to maintain progress. - Owns assigned project workstreams by organizing inputs, timelines, and key milestones, and cross-functional coordination, while preparing relevant data, and competitive context for Product Manager review. - Continues to build foundational project management capabilities through structured planning and adoption of best practices and tools. **Process, Systems, & Data Integrity:** - Maintains accurate product data within M3 and reporting systems, ensuring pricing, attributes, and assortment details are current and launch-ready. - Contributes to the refinement of tools such as the Fittings Control Center and Center of Truth, while supporting the rollout and adoption of best practices. - Assists in coordinating field communications in partnership with Channel Operations to ensure clear and timely information flow. ### Qualifications - Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate data into clear insights and recommendations. - Working knowledge of product lifecycle and assortment planning principles. - Developing project management capabilities with the ability to manage multiple priorities. - Clear and effective written and verbal communication skills. - Highly organized, proactive, and detail-oriented with strong follow-through. - Experience with business intelligence tools (e.g., Smartsheet, Business Objects). - Demonstrated initiative in process improvement. - Comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving environment. ### Requirements - Bachelor’s degree - 4–6 years of experience in product development, merchandising, assortment planning, or business analysis. - Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel and PowerPoint. - Experience working with PLM/ERP systems preferred (M3 a plus). - Experience in luxury, premium, or design-driven consumer products preferred. - Smartsheet experience preferred