Job Title: Pricing Manager
Division: Precision, Pulley, and Idler (PPI)
FLSA: Exempt
Grade: N/A
Job Status: Full Time
Travel Required: Limited
Revision Date: September 23, 2026
Reports To: VP, Corporate Development
PURPOSE OF POSITIONThe Pricing Manager owns and administers PPI's pricing control measures across all product lines and serves as the primary gatekeeper for pricing decisions that impact profitability. The role monitors sales and margin performance by customer, region, and application to protect and improve budgeted gross margin, using order, quote, and cost data to produce insight into price realization, market dynamics, and price increase opportunity. The position also manages special freight agreements with customers, including tracking, compliance, and margin impact analysis, and closely supports the rebate program owner.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIESThe following duties are normal for this position. These are not to be construed as exclusive or all inclusive. Other duties may be required and assigned.
More specifically, the person will:
Pricing Control & Margin Protection- Own and administer pricing control measures across all product lines to protect budgeted gross margin; serve as the primary gatekeeper for pricing decisions that impact profitability
- Define and maintain the pricing control framework, including approval thresholds, discount authorization levels, and escalation protocols
- Serve as the initial point of contact for Sales on competitive price requests; manage price approvals to ensure profitability while achieving sales goals
- Monitor gross margin by product line, product group, customer, region, and application against budget; quantify variances and identify the underlying drivers
- Track price realization against list, book, and target pricing; flag accounts, geographies, and product groups where margin is eroding
- Work with Operations and Engineering on product costing and total opportunity profitability, considering both variable and fixed costs
Order & Sales Analysis- Conduct order-level analysis across churn (daily business) and project volume to isolate price, volume, and mix effects on revenue and gross margin
- Analyze quote activity, conversion, and win/loss pricing to assess competitive position and identify where price guidance should be tightened, relaxed, or restructured
- Track realized margin on approved pricing exceptions so those decisions can be measured after the fact
- Segment customers and applications by profitability, volume, and price sensitivity to inform account-level pricing strategy
- Deliver segment-specific insight for Bulk, Unit Handling, LATAM, and Underground (Continental Mfg.) reflecting the distinct commercial dynamics of each
Price Structures, Increases & Rebate Support- Establish and manage list pricing grids for existing and new products; maintain corporate price files for distributor partners with accuracy and version control
- Lead analysis and proposals related to price increases and price optimization
- Manage execution of price increase cycles, including timing, magnitude, customer sequencing, and supporting communication
- Measure post-implementation results, including realization rate, volume retention, customer attrition, and margin capture versus plan
- Support the rebate program owner, maintaining enough working knowledge of program structures, terms, and administration to cover submissions, audits, and payouts during absences and peak periods
- Partner on rebate program design changes where pricing structure, margin, or customer segmentation is affected
Special Freight Agreements- Own and maintain the inventory of special freight agreements with customers, including terms, allowances, qualifying thresholds, effective dates, and renewal timing
- Track actual freight cost and recovery against agreement terms by customer, region, and lane; quantify net margin impact at the account and order level
- Conduct impact analysis on proposed and existing agreements, modeling the margin effect of prepaid and allowed thresholds, minimum order quantities, and freight-inclusive pricing before terms are committed
- Identify agreements where actual freight cost has outrun original assumptions and recommend renegotiation, threshold adjustment, or corrective pricing action
Reporting, Systems & Partnership- Build and maintain pricing, margin, and freight dashboards in partnership with Business Analytics & Intelligence, using Tableau and Excel
- Maintain pricing data integrity in ERP and supporting systems, including price lists, discount structures, customer-specific pricing, freight terms, and effective dates
- Advance PPI's pricing analytics capability through new methods, tools, and data sources
- Contribute pricing and margin inputs to the SIOP process and the annual budget cycle
- Serve as the pricing resource to Sales and segment leadership on pricing questions, quote strategy, freight terms, and margin trade-offs
- Partner with Finance to align pricing analysis with standard cost and reported gross margin
- Prepare pricing and margin materials for executive, senior leadership, and Board-level review
- Respond to pricing inquiries with timely, fact-based recommendations that enable commercial decisions rather than delay them
General- Communicate positively with supervisors, fellow workers, and other internal customers
- On occasion, travel domestically and internationally to support company initiatives
- Continually participate in additional training related to the job
- Demonstrate regular, consistent attendance
QUALIFICATIONS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- Advanced Excel proficiency, including pivot tables, lookup and reference functions, and large transactional data sets
- Working proficiency in Tableau and ERP systems, with the ability to source, validate, and reconcile pricing, freight, and cost data
- Demonstrated ability to translate raw transactional data into a clear recommendation with a quantified financial impact
- Ability to hold a defensible position on margin with Sales and customers while preserving the relationship
- Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to explain analysis to sales, operations, and executive audiences without an analytics background
- Excellent organizational skills and a customer service mindset with internal partners
- Sound judgment in handling confidential pricing, cost, freight, and customer information
- Experience with Power BI, SQL, or Power Query in addition to Tableau preferred
- Familiarity with standard cost accounting and gross margin mechanics in a make-to-order or engineered-to-order environment preferred
- Experience administering freight programs, carrier allowances, or delivered-pricing structures preferred
- Prior involvement in price increase execution, rebate administration, or contract and program pricing preferred
- Working knowledge of Spanish to support the LATAM segment preferred
EDUCATION - EXPERIENCE - COMPUTER SKILLS - Bachelor's degree from a four-year college and five or more years of progressive experience in a business-to-business pricing environment
- Advanced Microsoft Excel; working proficiency in Tableau and ERP systems
TRAINING - CERTIFICATIONS - LICENSES No specific training, certifications, or licenses are required.
COMPETENCIESTo perform this position successfully, individual should demonstrate the following work competencies:
- Safety and Security - Observes safety and security procedures; Uses equipment properly.
- Analytical - Works from actual data; validates sources rather than assuming.
- Commercial Judgment - Protects margin without damaging the customer relationship.
- Program Ownership - Runs pricing, freight, and increase cycles on a cadence, not reactively.
- Communication Skills - Explains complex pricing analysis simply to non-technical audiences.
- Collaboration - Credible with Sales, Finance, and Operations; an enabler, not a roadblock.
- Employee-Owner Mindset - Understands that margin performance directly affects PPI's ESOP value.
- Ethics/Professionalism - Treats people with respect; Works ethically and with integrity.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this position, the employee:
- Must be able to regularly sit, use hands to finger, handle, or feel, and reach with hands and arms.
- Must be able to repetitively use right and left hands for fine dexterity.
- Is frequently required to talk or hear.
- Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision.
- Specific hearing abilities required by this job include the ability to hear instructions from others.
ENVIRONMENTAL ADAPTABILITY- The noise level in the work environment is usually MODERATE.
- Safety glasses and ear plugs are required in production areas and where posted.
DISCLAIMER:This job description is intended to outline the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this role. It is not an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required for the position. Management reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties and to assign other duties as necessary. Duties and responsibilities are subject to change at any time, with or without prior notice.
