A person assigned with the associate product director responsibilities plays a very important role in research, development and production in an organization. To work in this position is a golden opportunity for individuals who want to serve the manufacturing sector with their passion and expertise.
As an associate product manager, an individual works under the supervision and guidance of product manager. This implies that the individual is involved in the product life cycle management which is a combination of many processes required to develop and deliver products that are inclusive of the latest features and are relevant to client requirements.
An associate product director takes part in projects where a product is developed from scratch and also in the projects where an existing product or range needs to be updated with the latest features. In all these projects, the job of an associate product director is to support the project by gathering project requirements through market research. He has to present the budget and material requirements for the project. He has to communicate with all the personnel in the production, marketing, customer service and other departments and explain the technical specifications of a product so that the production and selling activities go smoothly.
The associate product manager also supports the promotional activities to develop brand awareness and establish the product in the market.
Associate product manager responsibilities and his support to the product manager helps in achieving the sales targets and earning profits and goodwill. The following description will better explain how an associate product manager helps the organization.
Market Research
This is the very first and the most important task assigned to an associate product manager. He conducts market research and gathers information about consumer preferences and products offered by the competitors. He presents the gathered information in the internal meetings to brainstorm for research and development of a new product.
Project Planning
The associate product director helps in project planning by assessing the requirements
Product Design
The associate product director works with the engineering team for designing new products or making changes in the specifications of an existing product or a range of products.
Legal Formalities
The associate product director has to complete all the legal formalities such as registering the product design and applying for patents.
Quality Control and Product Testing
The associate product director ensures compliance to the manufacturing standards and verifies if the materials and equipments used for manufacturing meet the quality standards. He is also involved in the product testing process to identify and report any functional or technical errors in the product.
Support Post Production Activities
The associate product director supports all the post production activities to establish brand awareness and increase the sales of products. He participates in branding, packing and packaging, product promotions, trains sales personnel about product features, and sometimes also visits clients office or residences to train on how to use a product.
He helps in the documentation process to prepare user manual, FAQ guide and other documents.
An associate product director must be well versed with market research, product development, promotion, and project management. He should be able to concentrate on several activities while leading a project and manage the team with effective leadership. Technical proficiency in research tools, database modeling applications, e-mail and other applications is inevitable to work in this position.
To become an associate product director, you must complete your education with a degree in business administration, marketing, operations, or a related field. You also need an experience of working in a similar industry for a few years to gain knowledge of product life cycle development, marketing and sales process.
Salary for an associate product director usually ranges anywhere from $65,000 to $90,000. It may be even more or less depending on the total experience and qualifications you hold and the pay scale of the organization where you apply.
Associate product director responsibilities are a resource of knowledge and support to the production department and other departments of an organization.