Product Director - Industrial Gas Plants

Nikkiso Clean Energy & Industrial Gases is a leading provider of cryogenic pumps, heat exchangers, process systems, services, and solutions for the LNG and industrial gases industry. We are a subsidiary of Nikkiso Company Ltd, a leading industrial manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with over $1.5 B in annual revenue, 8000 + employees worldwide, and publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Position Summary:

As a strategic senior member of the Product Management team reporting to the Sr. Vice President of Applications and Product Management for Nikkiso Applied Technologies Business Unit, the individual entrusted with holding this position will be responsible for Product Management of all Industrial Gas Plants for the Business Unit.  The Product Director serves as the driving force for a product’s end-to-end success within the business unit, guiding products from concept through development to launch and beyond. This role pushes that product into all markets globally, combining industry knowledge, innovation, best engineering practices, and all resources within Nikkiso Applied Technologies. This role will be directly responsible for the following for all Industrial Gas Plants: life cycle management, product strategy & roadmap, market research & value proposition, continuous product improvement, identifying customer needs, proactively understanding market trends and competitor landscape, new product development & innovation, sales support & customer engagement, and actively marketing the products to increase sales, market share, and overall product positioning globally as well as optimizing the manufacturability of the products. 

Product Family Includes but is not limited to:

• Air Separation Units
• Nitrogen Generators
• Oxygen Generators
• IG Gas Plants

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

• Life Cycle Management: managing each product’s journey from initial idea, through development, manufacturing, service, maturity, and eventual retirement

• Product Strategy & Roadmap: Develop and execute a clear product strategy and multi-year roadmap for the assigned product category, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives. This includes defining the product vision and updating it as market conditions evolve.

• Market Research & Value Proposition: Conduct thorough market, industry, and competitive analysis to identify customer needs, market trends, and gaps. Leverage these insights (including direct Voice of Customer feedback) to define compelling value propositions and requirements for new and existing products.
• Continuous Product Improvement: develop better manufacturing processes, operating configurations, enhanced features and benefits, leveraged low-cost manufacturing techniques / centers to create competitor separation by incorporating closed-loop feedback systems with engineering, operations, sales, and our customers.
• Identifying Customer Needs: very close interaction with customers and the sales team to clearly define customer requirements to consistently provide the optimal product offering
• Understanding Market Trends: in depth market knowledge and understanding to proactively pursue opportunities with either developed products or innovative new products. New products can be close to home or far from home to current offerings to market.
• Understanding Competitor Landscape: key insights into what our competitors are offering, what their differentiators are, and how we can use that information to better our product’s position.
• New Product Development and Innovation: Identify and evaluate new product opportunities and enhancements. Build robust business cases for investment in new product development, including ROI analysis and justification for projects. Lead Voice of Customer research and translate customer pain points into clear product requirements for engineering. Serve as an active core team member in product development projects to ensure customer needs are met and technical challenges are addressed.
• Working with Cross Functional Department and Teams: communicating with sales, marketing, and engineering to ensure alignment of product configurations and features with customer/market needs. Includes working with Sales and Marketing to develop marketing strategies and materials in coordination with Nikkiso Applied Technologies overall marketing scheme.
• Inorganic Developments / Growth Opportunities: Develop at least 1 per quarter inorganic opportunities that align with the Business Unit’s strategy for growth for the product family and the overall strategy for Nikkiso CEIG. This includes acquisitions, joint ventures, conglomerations, or other approaches to bring our product portfolio to our target markets. Strategies for an inorganic opportunity are not limited and may include Horizontal/Vertical Integration, Product/Market Extension, Roll-Up Potential, or similar.
• Sales Support & Customer Engagement: Serve as the product expert and champion. Provide ongoing support to the global sales team and channel partners by addressing product-related inquiries, joining customer calls as needed, and delivering product training sessions. Gather customer feedback and monitor customer satisfaction with the products, using this information to drive continuous improvements. Act as an advocate for the customer internally, ensuring the product roadmap and features remain aligned with solving real customer problems.

Key KPI’s

• Product Line Revenue Growth: Year-over-year increase in sales revenue for the product category, indicating market success and growth. This can be measured in total dollars and as a percentage growth.
• Profitability & Gross Margin: The profit generated by the product line after costs, often tracked via gross margin percentage and overall product line contribution to profit. Maintaining or improving margins while growing revenue is a critical indicator of healthy product management.
• Market Share Expansion: The product category’s share of the relevant market, and its growth over time. An increasing market share signifies competitive success. (Where exact market share is hard to measure, proxy metrics like win/loss rates against key competitors or growth in key customer accounts can be used.)
• New Product Introduction (NPI) Success: Effectiveness of launching new products on time and within budget. KPIs may include time-to-market (actual launch dates vs. planned schedules), and the percentage of annual revenue coming from new products (e.g. products launched in the last 1-3 years). A shorter time-to-market and higher adoption of new products indicate successful innovation.
• Product Adoption & Sales Mix: The uptake of products in the portfolio, measured by units sold or revenue by product, especially for recently launched products. Tracking product adoption rates and the product mix helps ensure the portfolio is aligned with customer demand.
• Customer Satisfaction (Quality and Service Metrics): Customer satisfaction scores related to the product, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) surveys, as well as product-specific metrics like warranty claim rates or return rates. High customer satisfaction and low return rates signal that the product meets customer expectations in performance and quality.

Experience and Education:

• A minimum of 10 years of industry experience with related equipment, preferably in technical sales, project management, or general management.
• A proven track record of overachieving business development targets, sales targets, forecasting, strategic planning, budgeting
• Proven experience developing teams for technical business development
• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical or Chemical Engineering, or Business with relevant work experience
• Previous experience working in a manufacturing/engineering environment is strongly preferred
• Equivalent combination of experience and skills may be considered

The knowledge, skills and abilities listed above are typically acquired through the levels of education and experience listed.  An equivalent combination of education and/or experience that provides an applicant with the listed knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform the essential duties and responsibilities of the job, may be accepted.

Knowledge and Critical Skills/Expertise:

• Knowledge of industry best practices and standards of excellence
• Extensive experience with relevant product lines
• Specific industry experience and knowledge in the following (amongst others):
  • Cryogenics
  • Industrial Gas
  • Exceptional problem solving, negotiating, time management, and general management skills
  • Financial skills and strong familiarity with the following: revenue, bookings, gross margin, EBIT, project budgeting, cost structure / management and ability to learn other financial metrics required to perform job functions
  • Ability to motivate a result driven team
  • Ability to work across departments to reach meaningful results

Work Environmental and Physical Demands:

• In order to perform the duties of this job, the employee may be required to stand, walk, sit, reach with hands and arms, climb or balance, stoop or kneel, talk and hear, and use fingers and hands to feel objects, tools or controls.
• Overtime may be necessary as the workload dictates. This may include weekdays, weekends, nights and/or holidays.
• Ability to lift to 40 lbs. may be required.
• Job will generally be performed in an office environment but may require extensive international travel to a client’s office or site, production facility or industrial/construction job site, trade show or any other type of event related to the industry.  Extensive periods of sitting and standing during meetings, presentations and travel may be necessary.  Conditions will vary at each location, but the conditions listed above will generally apply.
• Candidates will be required to show a driving abstract with a clean driving history for travel between the Nikkiso facilities and client sites/offices as required. A valid driver’s license is necessary.

Environmental Safety Requirements

• New Employee Safety Training is required by all newly hired employees, including Safety Awareness
• All safety related training is provided and tracked by the EHS Manager
• Job specific training modules deemed necessary by employee’s President, Manager, or Director will be required of all employees on an ongoing basis

Employees are required to wear Nikkiso provided PPE as/when needed. PPE’s include, safety shoes, safety glasses, face shields, FR clothing, cryogenic gloves, cryogenic apron, cut resistant gloves, safety gloves, hearing protection, hard hats & dust masks. Failure to comply with Nikkiso safety requirements will result in disciplinary actions, up to and including termination.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the employer will provide reasonable accommodations to meet the work environmental and physical demands listed above.

Salary: $127,000 - $187,000 annually

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled

Nikkiso CE&IG is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.