Product Development & Sourcing Manager

Product Development & Sourcing Manager

Full-time | Remote | no graveyard hours

We are seeking an experienced Product Development & Sourcing Manager to lead the development, quality and continuous improvement of our physical product portfolio. This role is for a UK based company that sells children and healthcare products in The USA, UK and EU. The products are sold on Amazon, shopify and Third party stores.

This role combines product development, sourcing, supplier management, quality assurance and product portfolio management**.

You will be responsible for both our existing products and our future product pipeline.

Key responsibilities

Existing Product Portfolio

• Own ongoing product quality and supplier performance.
• Monitor customer feedback, returns and quality issues.
• Identify and implement product improvements.
• Maintain product specifications and quality standards.
• Investigate quality issues and implement corrective actions.
• Work with suppliers to improve consistency and reliability.

New Product Development

• Research and identify new product opportunities.
• Evaluate products against our commercial and product criteria.
• Develop approximately 10 new products through our development pipeline.
• Create product briefs and specifications.
• Source suitable manufacturers.
• Manage samples, prototypes and product testing.
• Coordinate product development through to mass production.

Sourcing & Supplier Management

• Identify and evaluate manufacturers.
• Negotiate pricing, MOQs, lead times and production requirements.
• Develop strong supplier relationships.
• Maintain supplier performance standards.
• Develop alternative sourcing options where necessary.

Quality Assurance

• Establish appropriate quality standards and inspection procedures.
• Coordinate pre-production and production inspections.
• Review inspection results and implement corrective actions.
• Work with our China-based team member to investigate issues on the ground.

China Operations

You will work closely with a part-time team member based in China who will support with:

• Factory visits
• Sample inspections
• Production checks
• Supplier meetings
• Quality investigations
• Product photography/video
• Local supplier follow-up

The successful candidate will be responsible for prioritising and managing this support effectively.

Requirements

• 3+ years' experience in physical product development, sourcing, manufacturing or supplier management.
• Proven experience developing products from concept through to production.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing and quality control.
• Experience working with Chinese manufacturers.
• Strong project management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Strong commercial and analytical skills.
• High attention to detail.
• Ability to manage multiple development projects simultaneously.
• Strong problem-solving ability.
• Ability to work independently in a remote environment.

What we're looking for

We're looking for someone who combines product instinct with operational discipline.

You should be able to identify a great product opportunity, but also understand how to turn that opportunity into a manufacturable, profitable and consistently high-quality product.

You should be equally comfortable discussing customer needs, product specifications, manufacturing processes, quality issues and unit economics.

Success in this role

Success means our existing products become progressively better while our new product pipeline consistently produces commercially viable products.

You will be measured on:

• Product quality
• Supplier performance
• Product improvement
• Development speed
• Successful new product launches
• Commercial viability
• Quality issue reduction
• Strength of the product pipeline