Director, Product Management- Fire Group (Ocala)
Location: Ocala , FL, US, 34474 The Director of Product Management for the Fire Group supports the strategic direction, platform development, and lifecycle management of the fire apparatus product lines across all of the brands. In this role, you will collaborate closely with engineering, operations, supply chain, sales, dealer partners, and leadership to help deliver world-class, mission-critical fire and rescue vehicles. You'll be responsible for helping define and execute product priorities that support modularity, standardization, cost control, build efficiency, and responsiveness to evolving fire service customer and regulatory needs. Key Responsibilities Own and advance the product and platform strategy for fire apparatus, translating business objectives and customer needs into clear product priorities. Develop and refine configurable product architecture that balances fire service customization with manufacturing scalability, cost control, and build efficiency. Maintain a multi-year product roadmap across fire apparatus platforms, ensuring alignment with business strategy, plant capabilities, regulatory requirements, and market demand. Cross-Functional Collaboration Serve as a cross-functional product leader, influencing engineering, operations, sales, supply chain, and dealer partners to align on product decisions and execution priorities. Provide product expertise and decision support to leadership on platform investment, standardization, lifecycle actions, and customer-driven enhancements. Manufacturing & Engineering Integration Guide design-for-manufacturing, platform modularity, and lean product design principles to improve manufacturability and reduce unnecessary complexity. Partner with engineering and operations to evaluate product architecture, configuration rules, and build processes that improve quality, throughput, and consistency. Foster cross brand collaboration and drive synergies among product lines and brands. Synthesize voice of customer input from fire departments, dealers, sales teams, field service, and industry events into actionable product requirements. Monitor fire apparatus market trends, technology developments, regulatory shifts, and competitor offerings to identify innovation and differentiation opportunities. Business Performance Manage product performance inputs including cost, margin, volume, configuration mix, and improvement opportunities to support profitable growth. Drive standardization of product configuration and BOM structures to optimize inventory, reduce variation, and improve build times. Use warranty data, service feedback, customer experience, and total cost of ownership insights to inform lifecycle planning and product improvement priorities. Compliance & Risk Ensure product strategies and roadmap decisions account for applicable fire apparatus regulatory and industry standards, including NFPA, FAA, SAE, FMVSS, and state or municipal requirements. Lead product risk, obsolescence, and lifecycle trade-off analysis in partnership with supply chain, engineering, operations, and service teams. Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Product Management, Industrial Management, or related field preferred; equivalent experience may be considered. 7 years of experience in product management, engineering, operations, sales support, or a related role within manufacturing or complex vehicle systems. Experience supporting modular product platforms or configurable products in a manufacturing environment. Working knowledge of fire apparatus design, fire service applications, and related standards and compliance requirements. Strong business acumen with the ability to understand product cost, margin, and customer value drivers. Strong communication, analytical, and cross-functional collaboration skills. Experience with PLM/ERP systems, configuration tools, or BOM management preferred. Must be able to work to schedule that supports both Centrl and Eastern Time Zones. Must be willing and able to travel up to 40% as business needs require. Preferred Experience Background in chassis integration, apparatus body design, upfitting, or specialty vehicle manufacturing. Experience supporting major redesigns or platform transitions. Familiarity with Lean, Six Sigma, or value stream mapping methodologies. The pay scale for newly hired employees in this position at this location in California is between $120,000 - $195,000 and in New York is $120,000 - $195,000 . This is based on meeting all of the requirements of the role. The base pay offered for the role may vary depending on the candidate’s job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We are proud to offer competitive benefits in addition to competitive pay. Our pay for performance philosophy allows top performers to earn more based on their continued success. This information applies to roles covered by New York and California's State's pay transparency law. Base pay information is based on market location and may differ in other locations. NOTICE FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS Effective January 1, 2020, pursuant to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (as amended, the 'CCPA'), if you are a California resident, you may have certain additional rights. Please click on the link for a description of those rights and how California residents may exercise them. J-18808-Ljbffr
