Job Summary

The Category Manager serves as the business and product leader for one or more assigned product categories. They own category strategy, customer understanding, product portfolio, commercialization, and category P&L while their team of engineers and designers. They balance strategic leadership with hands-on product management and determine what products Benchmade builds-and why.

Category Managers are the company's foremost experts in their categories. They advocate for customers, translate insight into products, create demand for future technologies through innovation and prototyping, and are accountable for both business results and product execution.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Category Leadership

• Own long-term category strategy for one or more categories.
• Develop rolling 3-year category plans and product roadmaps.
• Own category P&L, budgets, forecasts, pricing, and investment priorities.
• Present category strategy and financial performance to leadership.

Customer & Market Leadership

• Serve as the primary voice of the customer.
• Lead customer research, field engagement, and competitive analysis.
• Translate customer needs into product strategy and validated opportunities.

Product & Innovation Leadership

• Lead products from concept through end-of-life.
• Partner with Innovation and Advanced Prototyping to pull future technologies and capabilities into the category.
• Balance innovation, lifecycle management, and commercial performance.

People Leadership

• Directly lead their team of engineers and designers.
• Coach, develop, recruit, and evaluate team members.
• Create an accountable, collaborative, high-performing culture.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner with Brand, Marketing, E-commerce, Sales, Operations, Finance, and Supply Chain.
• Ensure successful commercialization and launch execution.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA preferred.
• 5+ years in Product, Category, or Product Line Management.
• 2+ years of direct people leadership.
• Demonstrated P&L ownership, budgeting, forecasting, and executive presentation skills.

Working Conditions

• Primarily on-site leadership role with hybrid flexibility as business needs allow.
• Office-based with regular interaction across Design, Engineering, Operations, Marketing, Sales, and executive leadership.
• Travel as required (typically less than 10%).

Measures of Success

• Commercial performance (revenue, margin, P&L).
• Customer satisfaction and validated customer insight.
• Successful product launches and portfolio health.
• Team development and cross-functional leadership.

This is an exciting time to be part of a company on the verge of even greater success. If you think you have what it takes to be part of a company that strives to create a working environment that stimulates team spirit, passion, engagement, and achievement, complete an application today. Please include a resume with your online application.