Associate Product Manager (119073) - Full-time / Part-time

Want to be a part of something awesome? Be part of a team working in one of the most innovative, exciting retail spaces in the country. JOANN has become more than a place where people buy fabric and crafts; it’s a place where people come together to celebrate making things with their hands, hearts, and minds. Every day, we strive to inspire creativity in ourselves and our customers. Join us in having courage, cleverness and passion as we help people find their happy place. Summary
The Associate Manager of Product Development will drive the profitable growth of the JOANN private brand business (Sewing, Seasonal, Craft) through innovative, trend correct, and competitively differentiated product exceeding our customers' expectations for value and style. The Associate Product Manager will lead a team in the strategy development through successful execution of product offerings for specific categories of business. Under the supervision of the Manager of Product Development the Associate Product Manager will collaborate with merchants to develop strategic direction and lifestyle-appropriate assortments.

Scope

• Strategize and then build trend relevant and competitively differentiated assortments and key items in accordance with the JOANN Merchandising Strategy.
• Work directly with agents and suppliers - either electronically or in person - to identify and evaluate product ideas and determines which products and ideas are worth pursuing. This involves ensuring strategy, pricing, and quality objectives are being exceeded.
• Manage the product development timelines to ensure all key milestone dates are achieved.
• Evaluate market trends - trend resources as well as competitive shopping - to seek out future opportunities, determine price/value comparisons, and make recommendations to the buying teams based upon findings.
• Analyze product performance metrics and apply results to future development.
• Review submissions/approval samples for execution and construction and give appropriate feedback to suppliers.
• Lead cross-functional development meetings throughout the product development cycle.

Education Requirements

• Minimum: 4 Year / Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Business Management, Brand Management, or Fashion Merchandising.

Experience

• Required: 4-6 years experience in Merchandising, Brand Management, or Sourcing.
• Preferred: 2-4 years experience in Sourcing or another Product Development

Core Competencies

• Excellent written and oral communication skills; Cross-functional collaboration; Strong sense of urgency; Strategic thinking; Strong organization and analytical skills; Ability to manage competing priorities; Ability to build internal and external partnerships; Project management skills; Ability to work with different cultures and nationalities.

Travel

• Potential Domestic and/or International Travel

Other Skills or Certifications

• MS Office suite of applications

Our company is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. This job summary is intended to be brief and does not list all the duties for this position. Nothing in this job description should be construed as an express or implied contract of employment. Jo-Ann Stores, LLC. is an at-will employer, which means that your employment may be terminated by the Company or yourself with or without notice or cause unless the at-will arrangement is modified by a written agreement signed by both you and the Chief Executive Officer of the Company.