Associate Manager, Product Development

What You’ll Do

The Product Development (Automotive, Tools, Yard and Home) team’s mandate is to help build the equity of CTR’s Retail Brands by improving the design and experience associated with our private-label branded offerings. The Product Development Associate Manager role within the Seasonal & Gardening team is to support the Product Development Manager in building processes and capabilities that help deliver a consistent, authentic, and customer-driven product experience through our retail brands.

• Manage the creation of technical specification guides specific to the product opportunity that integrates the relevant CTQ (Critical to Quality) and CTE (Critical to Experience) components.
• Work closely with Brand to provide art direction for packaging, marketing, etc. as needed ensure consistent presentation of the brand in all customer-facing assets.
• Travel (Domestic and International) to various vendor partners to participate in onsite engineering and manufacturing builds.
• Provide ongoing product and technical leadership via solutions for product specification, quality, certification, and focusing on improving product integrity.
• Be the SME (Subject Matter Expert) and support the business innovation pipeline goals by providing guidance on new technology, product design, manufacturing considerations and other areas in the product value chain that delivers a competitive advantage. Conduct competitive analysis via comp shops, gap analysis, product benchmarking and testing. Aim to help create the next category + subcategory.
• Under the guidance of the Product Development manager, leads and executes the product development efforts from concept to production for all given categories and brands in their portfolio. Work closely with Global Sourcing, Quality, Brand teams to integrate the specifications into the development requirements.
• Work closely with Design, Brand, QA, and Merch teams to conduct user centric design research exercises to learn about all aspects of the product experience in key categories. Analyze and synthesize findings into insights that identify feature sets, functionalities, and innovation approaches.
• Ongoing analysis of the business categories and consumer foresight, partner with the merchant and brand team to align on business priorities, product assortment architecture, and partner with cross functional internal and external technical teams.

What You Bring

• Strong familiarity with manufacturing processes that is typically found within consumer-packaged goods and quality control process
• Highly organized and detail oriented, able to tackle multiple projects with varying scope and project teams
• Experience in understanding consumer/market needs in the development of technical product requirements
• Undergraduate degree in Engineering and 3+ years of experience in product development in consumer-packaged goods, automotive
• Ability to work well cross-functionally; demonstrated ability to collaborate, influence and negotiate with colleagues more senior. Experience managing external agencies/labs – including briefing, selection, and project management.
• Strong presentation skills with demonstrated ability to adjust style and format as required to suit the audience. Able to clearly translate strategy into product specs or direction, with recommendations based upon robust research and assessment of risk/rewards.
• Ontario driving license an asset
• Preferred understanding of the retail industry and product planning in retail communicated via experience working for a retailer or developing products keeping in mind the retail channel

Hybrid

At Canadian Tire we work flexibility embracing ‘Hybrid’ whereby individuals utilize a combination of working at a CTC campus and or virtually in service of outcomes. Determined by managers, decisions around work location will be made based on business and team needs and grounded in a desire to support individual well-being and personal needs. Our goal is to empower teams and individuals to make the right decisions for them, and we expect that to look different for everyone.

About Us

Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (“CTC”) is one of Canada’s most admired and trusted companies. With more than 90 Owned Brands, 1,700 retail locations, financial services, exemplary e-commerce capabilities, and exciting market-leading merchandising strategies. We dream big and work as one to innovate with purpose for our customers at every level of our business, investing in new technologies and products, and doubling down on top talent to drive the company forward. We offer competitive salaries and wages to CTC employees, as well as store discounts, supported learning through our Triangle Learning Academy, Canadian Tire Profit Sharing, and retirement and savings programs for eligible employees. As part of our enhanced flex benefits program, we offer mental health benefits in the amount of $5,000 per year for benefits-eligible employees and their families, including total well-being, and mental health tools and resources for all employees. Join us in helping to make life in Canada better through living and working our Core Values: we are innovators and entrepreneurs at our core, outcomes drive us, inclusion is a must, we are stronger together and we take personal responsibility. It is an especially exciting time to join CTC and its family of companies where career opportunities are wide-ranging! Join us, where there's a place for you here.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging

We are committed to fostering an environment where belonging thrives, and diversity, inclusion and equity are infused into everything we do. We believe in building an organizational culture where people are consistently treated with dignity while respecting individual religion, nationality, gender, race, age, perceived ability, spoken language, sexual orientation, and identification. We are united in our purpose of being here to help make life in Canada better.

Accommodations

We stand firm in our Core Value that inclusion is a must. We welcome and encourage candidates from equity-seeking groups such as people who identify as racialized, Indigenous, 2SLGBTQIA+, women, people with disabilities, and beyond. Should you require any accommodation in applying for this role, or throughout the interview process, please make them known when contacted and we will work with you to help meet your needs.