SR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Essential Function

The Senior Product Development Manager serves as the commercial and product development leader for assigned Own Brand categories. This role translates consumer insights, market trends, supplier capabilities, and business performance into profitable innovation, portfolio decisions, and business growth strategies. Partnering closely with Merchandising and cross-functional teams, this leader drives commercialization from concept through launch while identifying and solving business issues, influencing leader decisions, optimizing portfolio performance, mentoring team members, and driving continuous improvement. This position bridges Product Development Manager and Director, demonstrating business leadership in addition to development excellence. This is a hybrid role reporting into the support center at Legacy West in Plano Texas.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end product development lifecycle from concept through commercialization for assigned categories.

• Own the health and performance of assigned product portfolios by evaluating innovation, lifecycle performance, assortment productivity, and post-launch results.

• Develop business cases supported by financial analysis, consumer insights, competitive intelligence, and market trends.

• Lead strategic initiatives that address business opportunities or challenges across assigned categories, including growth gaps, margin pressure, assortment productivity, innovation performance, and lifecycle optimization.
• Identify business issues using financial, customer, competitive, and category data, and develop actionable recommendations to improve growth, profitability, and portfolio health.

• Partner with Merchandising to recommend new product introductions, product upgrades, reformulations, packaging enhancements, and SKU optimization opportunities.

• Build and maintain a multi-season innovation pipeline aligned with category objectives.

• Develop the assigned business through portfolio strategy, innovation pipeline planning, SKU optimization, supplier capability development, and commercial performance management.

• Translate customer insights, supplier capabilities, emerging technologies, and business performance into actionable product recommendations.

• Lead cross-functional commercialization teams across Merchandising, Marketing, Creative, Regulatory, Sourcing and Planning. 

• Drive alignment across partners while balancing customer experience, profitability, operational feasibility, timing, and compliance.

• Influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners to align on business priorities, investment choices, product strategies, and execution plans.

• Monitor launch success, sales performance, margin improvement, cost optimization, speed-to-market, and commercialization milestones.

• Proactive Management of Projects and Portfolio. Identify project, category or brand risks early and implement mitigation plans.

• Develop strategic supplier partnerships that improve innovation, quality, speed-to-market, and cost competitiveness.

• Support supplier negotiations through value engineering and cost optimization initiatives where relevant.

• Champion continuous improvement by simplifying processes and standardizing best practices.

• Leverage dashboards, analytics, and KPIs to support business decisions and executive recommendations.

• Present product strategies, business cases, innovation concepts, and portfolio recommendations to senior leadership.

• Mentor Product Development Managers, Assistant Managers, and cross-functional partners through coaching and knowledge sharing.

• Serve as the product development subject matter expert while fostering accountability, collaboration, and innovation.

Key Performance Indicators

Commercial: Portfolio sales growth, Gross margin improvement, Cost optimization, Innovation productivity, Category penetration

Execution: On-time commercialization, Critical path adherence, Quality & compliance, Speed-to-market, Launch success

Portfolio: Innovation pipeline health, Assortment productivity, SKU lifecycle optimization, Post-launch performance

Leadership: Cross-functional leadership, Talent development, Executive communication, Continuous improvement, Strategic initiative execution, Leadership alignment, Business issue resolution

Knowledge, skills & abilities requirements

• Bachelor's degree required.

• 5–7 years of Product Development, Product Management, Category Management, or Consumer Packaged Goods experience; beauty industry preferred.

• Experience leading complex commercialization programs across multiple categories.

• Strong financial and business acumen with experience developing business cases, solving business issues, and translating analysis into strategic recommendations.

• Experience influencing cross-functional teams without direct authority.

• Knowledge of commercialization, sourcing, packaging, regulatory requirements, quality systems, and supplier management.

• Excellent presentation, executive communication, and negotiation skills.

Competencies & attributes

• Strategic Thinking

• Commercial Acumen

• Portfolio Management

• Consumer & Customer Focus

• Innovation Leadership

• Financial Analysis

• Cross-Functional Leadership

• Influence Without Authority

• Strategic Initiative Leadership

• Business Leadership

• Problem Solving & Decision Quality

• Business Development Mindset

• Executive Presence

• Supplier Partnership Management

• Continuous Improvement

• Talent Development

• Results Orientation

• Agility & Adaptability

Working conditions & physical requirements

Location: Hybrid | Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at the Sally Beauty Support Center, Legacy West (Plano, TX); Remote Thursday and Friday

The typical working environment is in the support center office, and the work is sedentary. Typically, the associate may sit comfortably to do the job. However, some tasks and activities may be walking, standing, bending, carrying light items such as papers, files, books, and small parts, driving an automobile to a store location, etc. These activities are not frequent and do not require significant physical demands to perform the work.

While involving everyday risks or discomforts, the work environment is designed with standard safety precautions. These precautions, typical of offices, meeting and training rooms, retail stores, residences, or commercial vehicles, include using safe work practices with office equipment, avoiding trips and falls, observing fire regulations and traffic signals, etc. The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated, ensuring the safety and comfort of our associates.

Benefits:

We offer a competitive salary and outstanding benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, life Insurance, paid vacation and sick days, paid holidays, tuition reimbursement and 401(k) with company match. In addition, associates of SBH may take advantage of our in house salon with complementary services and a varied selection of food options at our corporate campus. Also, featured at our corporate campus, is both a Sally Beauty and CosmoProf Professional onsite store, where associates enjoy a great merchandise discount!

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