Product Management Director

The organisation

Kramp is the market leader in the supply of agricultural parts and accessories and with a turnover of € 737 million and sales and operations in 24 European countries. Kramp has more than 700,000 items and a daily order flow of almost 13,000 shipments to more than 82,000 customers in the markets where Kramp is present.

Kramp is a highly profitable privately held Dutch company with a strong performance and an overall ambition to expand the group into new markets, drive, and implement effectiveness and efficiency measures within its existing markets.

Following a merger with Grene back in 2013, Kramp today has achieved synergies in procurement, best practice and the possibility of further market leadership in both existing and new markets. The total European market in which Kramp operates is in the area of approximately € 7 billion per year – and, as such, Kramp is believed to have an initial overall European market share of approximately 10%.

The objective is to continue market leadership in the Nordic countries, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Poland and the Baltic States and to be in the top 3 in the other countries. The ambition for Kramp is to reach a turnover of € 1 billion by 2020 and an EBITDA of 13%.

The position

Kramp management in the Netherlands has decided to elevate the product management competencies of the group by adding a new Product Management Director to be located in Varsseveld. The Product Management Director is responsible for the right product assortment, in the right place, for, at the right price for the customer. By delivering the strategic direction and support to the team the Product Management Director will ensure the assortment is profitable and relevant.

Kramp is looking for a person who is motivated by actively taking part in “the company journey”.

Tasks & responsibilities

• Product Management strategy:
  • Develops and executes the Product Management Strategy by ensuring the team has deep and relevant in depth product and arket knowledge;
  • Ensures that the relevant assortment is introduced and is available in the Kramp Product portfolio;
  • Ensures that the right marketing tools are available and connected to the assortment strategy;
  • Ensures a high level of customer service and customer satisfaction from the product portfolio
• Market knowledge:
  • Ensures that market research and competitive analysis is conducted to provide category intelligence and benchmarks on industry dynamics, trends and best practices;
  • Collaborates with Sales & Marketing in executing the go-to-market strategy;
  • Ensuring the best market practices are applied.
• Develops the assortment governance models to improve the way of working with key business units across multiple geographic regions.
• Cooperation:
  • Develops and executes strategic and tactical assortment plans with Key Business stakeholders that deliver both, agreed targets and other non-cash related benefits;
  • The Product Management Director should be a strong advocate for the department by aligning with key stakeholders, building open and honest relationships that results in business alignment and execution;
  • Creates synergy within the entire organisation by striving for optimal performance, connections and mutual commitment between individual business units;
  • Facilitates the right systems and processes for the Product Management team;
  • Leads the core meetings, prioritising and delegating the actions and projects.
• Develops and sets the framework for local assortments and ensuring the execution by co-operating with local management;
• Develops the pricing strategy along with the Pricing Manager;
• Leads cost reduction and continuous improvement initiatives;
• Ensures the development of skills and competencies of all team members through the Performance Cycle;
• Makes decisions according to the Company Business Plan and KPI’s;
• Realising relevant KPI's as set by the ExBo.

Candidate profile

• Master degree in technical or commercial direction.
• Has at least 10 years of experience in Product Management preferable in an international wholesale organisation;
• Has at least 5 years of experience in managing managers or employees;
• Is a visionary and strategic thinker;
• Will be able to take full ownership of his objectives;
• Very strong stakeholder management skills;
• Demonstrated ability to lead, engage, and orchestrate highly qualified teams. It will be an advantage if the candidate has had success in navigating in a matrix organization with an international scope;
• Strong managerial skills with the ability to lead a team that is dealing with tough stakeholders, tight deadlines, and big impact projects;
• Excellent business agility to collaborate and build relationships at all levels of the organization;
• Is a high energy, charismatic, action-oriented personality, who can build, inspire and motivate a team in an evolving environment by managing the performance of others giving clear;
• Accountability by rewarding success and coaching and developing others to high standards;
• The candidate can be an international citizen who speaks fluent English

Personal competencies

• A strategic thinker yet focused on execution; able to roll up the sleeves to get things done;
• Self-starter with high energy and drive; fast paced and results driven; forward thinking;
• Experimental, ready to learn and open to change;
• Good cultural and organizational sensitivity;
• Is a key proponent for and personally lives the Kramp values;
• Excellent active listening, problem solving skills;
• Strong and impactful; has an approach that allows influence of others and move toward a common vision or goal.

Interested?

You are invited to apply for this position by using the form below. For more information, please contact Alain Kok at +31 (0)20 661 17 99.