Product Manager - Vehicle End of Life Services - Automotive Fleet Solutions

Product Manager - Vehicle End of Life Services - Automotive Fleet Solutions
Upper Heyford (Bicester) or Thurleigh, Corby 
£40,000 - £45,000 (dependent on experience) + Benefits

++ Are you an automotive professional (manufacturer or supplier side) with a thorough understanding of the lifecycle of a vehicle and refurbishment process? ++

The candidate will need to interface with lots of different external and internal stakeholders – they will need to deal with operations type people right through to manufacturer representatives. They will need to present well and have the flexibility to adapt their style. They will need to be very results orientated and be able to deliver a project. They will have no direct responsibility for any subordinates. 

About the Company:

Our aim is to drive growth along the automotive value chain, focusing on the core business: increasing volumes, creating value-added services and driving efficiency. We pride ourselves in excellent service and advice, with large state of the art workshops and friendly experts trained to deliver to a variety of manufacturer standards

We operate the most networked automotive business in the UK providing: New Vehicle Services, Fleet Management solutions, Defleet & Refurbishment, Automotive logistics.
Specifically within Fleet Solutions, our end of life (defleet and refurbishment) services expertise covers all aspects for used vehicle defleet management in line with our customer priorities; age or sales based production. Our standard services include inspection, refurbishment, imaging and valetting alongwith enhanced services to create a “retail ready” vehicle that can be handed over directly to the new car owner. 

Each service element is clearly defined enabling customers to choose the level they require. As the organisation grows both organically and by acquisition, there exists a desire to formalise our approach to Product Management. This role represents a key part of our Fleet Solutions team and the end of life services which are undertaken on all of our Fleet Solutions locations.

The Product Manager Role:

The main responsibility of the role will be to develop and execute the Product Management process across the company's end of life services products. This includes but not limited to:

1) Inspection
2) Refurbishment
3) Imaging
4) Valetting
5) Storage
6) “Retail ready”

The Product Manager is responsible to ensure that the development and evolution of the products is planned and executed via a rigorous process of research, consultation, collaboration and engagement with all interested parties, with a clear view to the 3-year horizon. You will work closely with a number of the business's functions including Operations, Logistics, Customer Services, Sales, Marketing, IT, Legal and others as required to produce a comprehensive strategy.

All of our products touch our customers in one way or another. For that reason, Customer-obsession forms a central part of the role. The needs of the customer need to be at the heart of the Product management process, whilst being continuously balanced with the needs of a large, complex, international PLC.

The ideal candidate will be a driven and results-oriented individual with a positive outlook and a focus on the delivery of tangible customer, and therefore business, value.

You must be an expert communicator with extraordinary influencing skills. You will manage the end of life products and services throughout the product lifecycle and will be responsible for taking these products from inception, through initial delivery, evolution and eventually, to retirement / discontinuation.

Reporting to the Products & Services Director, you will lead each product management and articulate the product vision and roadmap in a coherent manner up to BCAFS Managing Director Level, along with the business cases that support them.

You will work very closely with stakeholders to ensure that the product roadmap is in line with the overall IT and Operations implementation plans.

Product Manager Main Duties/Responsibilities:

+ Creation of the demonstration product offering:
+ + Define a clear product management process including longevity reviews
+ + Implement communication plans, both internal and customer-facing
+ + Implement product working and development groups
+ + Create a demonstrations products and services roadmap
+ + Manage the development scope and requirements with internal stakeholders
+ + Communicate prioritisation decisions based on the business guidelines
+ + Create market competitive propositions supported by credible business cases.
+ Work closely with relevant stakeholders in Operations, Logistics, Customer Services, Sales, Finance, Remarketing, IT, Legal and others as required, to execute a working model across our key products.
+ Champion our demonstration products within and outside the business

Required Skills:

+ Experience of new product definition to achieve business expectations
+ Expert Communication Skills
+ Expert Influencing and Facilitation Skills
+ Substantial experience in conducting research both within a business and with its customers and competitors
+ Ability to present evidence-based recommendations at the highest level
+ Technologically adept
+ Enthusiastic and driven with a desire to succeed
+ Experience in the automotive industry

Desirable Skills:

+ Experience in agile development methodology
+ Experience in P&L ownership or financial business case creation

Interested? Just Apply Below...

...But first, by applying you consent to your application being processed and passed to the recruiting client for review for this vacancy only in accordance with our Data Privacy Notice which can be found on our company profile and/or website. If you have any pre-application questions please contact us first quoting the job title & reference number. Good Luck. Team RR.