Associate Director - Collar Product Manager
Merck, Olympia, WA, United States
Product Manager – Vence Collar
As the Vence Collar Product Manager, you will be a key driver of value and viability within the product team. You will define product strategy, lead continuous customer discovery, partner with engineering and manufacturing through NPI stages, and coordinate go-to-market and post-sales activities with commercial teams. This role requires technical fluency in hardware and connected-device ecosystems, strong cross-functional collaboration, and a focus on measurable customer and business outcomes.
Key Responsibilities Product Ownership & Strategy
Own and manage the Vence collar, together with Collar Tech Lead, throughout its entire product lifecycle.
Define the overall collar vision and strategy with a keen focus on value, business outcome, and user experience.
Work with Vence Product Manager to create high‑level market valuations, compelling value propositions, and business cases for new product concepts and capabilities.
Identify unmet customer needs and market opportunities to inform new product development.
Customer & Market Insight
Lead customer discovery, problem definition, value hypothesis generation, and product experiments focused on market outcomes.
Work with the Collar Technology Lead to design and run technical prototypes and feasibility experiments that validate implementation approaches.
Develop and execute customer insight strategies through surveys, farm visits, and customer advisory boards to capture feedback and validate direction.
Build strong relationships with customers, field teams, and commercial stakeholders to capture real‑world use cases, pain points, and adoption barriers.
Translate customer needs into a prioritized backlog and outcomes‑based roadmap.
Monitor industry trends, emerging technologies (including animal health monitoring), and the competitive landscape to inform strategy and continuous improvement.
Collaboration & Cross‑Functional Leadership
Connect collar product team directly with customers to facilitate open communication and alignment.
Work with commercial teams to ideate new solutions, validate value propositions, and ensure alignment with customer needs.
Partner cross‑functionally with the product team (Tech Lead, marketing, sales, and customer success) to ensure end‑to‑end delivery and adoption.
Collaborate closely with the Collar Technology Lead, Product Designer, and engineers to discover, validate, and deliver effective solutions.
Lead adoption, retention and growth of the product by leveraging marketing, customer success, and market activation capabilities.
Act as the product advocate for external partners and customers during discovery, validation, and launch activities.
Go‑to‑Market & Commercialization
Drive release planning, manufacturing, go‑to‑market execution, and ongoing product support in partnership with cross‑functional teams.
In partnership with the Collar Tech Lead, engage supply chain and manufacturing teams to decide the most efficient way to bring products to market.
Engage commercial teams across regions and markets to drive understanding and adoption of the product’s value proposition.
Establish customer success frameworks and support models to ensure optimal product adoption and satisfaction.
Work with Marketing on go‑to‑market messaging, pricing inputs, sales enablement, launch readiness, and customer‑facing commitments.
Coordinate with the Collar Technology Lead on technical onboarding materials and field escalation processes.
Performance & Accountability
Own unit economics and cost targets for the collar, tracking performance against agreed financial and product metrics.
Create, maintain, and continuously prioritize the product backlog to maximize value delivery and long‑term sustainability.
Define and regularly calibrate product metrics to track success and progress against objectives.
Conduct business reviews and monitor industry trends and competitive dynamics to inform product strategy.
Champion a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement within the product team.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, or a related area of study.
10 years overall relevant work experience, with at least 5 years experience in product management of hardware or IoT products.
Demonstrated experience working in a product operating model with continuous discovery and outcome‑based planning.
Ability to learn and work across multiple functional areas (e.g., engineering, design, finance, sales, or marketing).
Demonstrated ability to solve complex problems with many constraints, using sound judgement to assess risks and build well‑structured, data‑informed narratives.
Proven ability to engage with engineers, designers, stakeholders, and senior leaders in a constructive and collaborative way.
Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a track record of leading through influence rather than authority.
A mindset of ownership, accountability, and customer focus, comfortable signing up for results and driving outcomes through others when needed.
Passion for fostering team innovation and leveraging the collective ideas and expertise of cross‑functional colleagues.
Comfortable operating in a hardware development environment, familiar with concepts such as NPI, DVT/PVT, manufacturing ramp‑up, and field validation.
Willingness to travel to customers.
Required Skills
Business Reviews
Client‑Centric
Cross‑Functional Collaboration
Customer Insights
Customer Success
Design
Emerging Technologies
End‑to‑End Management
Market Valuations
Operating Models
Product Lifecycle
Product Management
Product Strategies
Preferred Skills
Financial Management
Management System Development
Problem Management
Requirements Management
Solution Architecture
Stakeholder Relationship Management
Strategic Planning
System Designs
Employment Details Salary range: $142,400.00 – $224,100.00. The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long‑term incentive, if applicable.
Benefits include medical, dental, vision, retirement 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days.
Travel requirement: 50%
Work arrangement: Remote, with a U.S. hybrid model of three onsite days per week (Monday‑Thursday) and one remote day (Friday), unless business critical tasks require an onsite presence.
Employee status: Regular. Relocation: No relocation. Visa sponsorship: No. Shift: Not specified. Valid driving license: No. Hazardous material(s): N/A.
Job posting end date: 04/24/2026.
As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit EEOC Know Your Rights.
We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together talented and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another’s thinking and approach problems collectively.
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Key Responsibilities Product Ownership & Strategy
Own and manage the Vence collar, together with Collar Tech Lead, throughout its entire product lifecycle.
Define the overall collar vision and strategy with a keen focus on value, business outcome, and user experience.
Work with Vence Product Manager to create high‑level market valuations, compelling value propositions, and business cases for new product concepts and capabilities.
Identify unmet customer needs and market opportunities to inform new product development.
Customer & Market Insight
Lead customer discovery, problem definition, value hypothesis generation, and product experiments focused on market outcomes.
Work with the Collar Technology Lead to design and run technical prototypes and feasibility experiments that validate implementation approaches.
Develop and execute customer insight strategies through surveys, farm visits, and customer advisory boards to capture feedback and validate direction.
Build strong relationships with customers, field teams, and commercial stakeholders to capture real‑world use cases, pain points, and adoption barriers.
Translate customer needs into a prioritized backlog and outcomes‑based roadmap.
Monitor industry trends, emerging technologies (including animal health monitoring), and the competitive landscape to inform strategy and continuous improvement.
Collaboration & Cross‑Functional Leadership
Connect collar product team directly with customers to facilitate open communication and alignment.
Work with commercial teams to ideate new solutions, validate value propositions, and ensure alignment with customer needs.
Partner cross‑functionally with the product team (Tech Lead, marketing, sales, and customer success) to ensure end‑to‑end delivery and adoption.
Collaborate closely with the Collar Technology Lead, Product Designer, and engineers to discover, validate, and deliver effective solutions.
Lead adoption, retention and growth of the product by leveraging marketing, customer success, and market activation capabilities.
Act as the product advocate for external partners and customers during discovery, validation, and launch activities.
Go‑to‑Market & Commercialization
Drive release planning, manufacturing, go‑to‑market execution, and ongoing product support in partnership with cross‑functional teams.
In partnership with the Collar Tech Lead, engage supply chain and manufacturing teams to decide the most efficient way to bring products to market.
Engage commercial teams across regions and markets to drive understanding and adoption of the product’s value proposition.
Establish customer success frameworks and support models to ensure optimal product adoption and satisfaction.
Work with Marketing on go‑to‑market messaging, pricing inputs, sales enablement, launch readiness, and customer‑facing commitments.
Coordinate with the Collar Technology Lead on technical onboarding materials and field escalation processes.
Performance & Accountability
Own unit economics and cost targets for the collar, tracking performance against agreed financial and product metrics.
Create, maintain, and continuously prioritize the product backlog to maximize value delivery and long‑term sustainability.
Define and regularly calibrate product metrics to track success and progress against objectives.
Conduct business reviews and monitor industry trends and competitive dynamics to inform product strategy.
Champion a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement within the product team.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, or a related area of study.
10 years overall relevant work experience, with at least 5 years experience in product management of hardware or IoT products.
Demonstrated experience working in a product operating model with continuous discovery and outcome‑based planning.
Ability to learn and work across multiple functional areas (e.g., engineering, design, finance, sales, or marketing).
Demonstrated ability to solve complex problems with many constraints, using sound judgement to assess risks and build well‑structured, data‑informed narratives.
Proven ability to engage with engineers, designers, stakeholders, and senior leaders in a constructive and collaborative way.
Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a track record of leading through influence rather than authority.
A mindset of ownership, accountability, and customer focus, comfortable signing up for results and driving outcomes through others when needed.
Passion for fostering team innovation and leveraging the collective ideas and expertise of cross‑functional colleagues.
Comfortable operating in a hardware development environment, familiar with concepts such as NPI, DVT/PVT, manufacturing ramp‑up, and field validation.
Willingness to travel to customers.
Required Skills
Business Reviews
Client‑Centric
Cross‑Functional Collaboration
Customer Insights
Customer Success
Design
Emerging Technologies
End‑to‑End Management
Market Valuations
Operating Models
Product Lifecycle
Product Management
Product Strategies
Preferred Skills
Financial Management
Management System Development
Problem Management
Requirements Management
Solution Architecture
Stakeholder Relationship Management
Strategic Planning
System Designs
Employment Details Salary range: $142,400.00 – $224,100.00. The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long‑term incentive, if applicable.
Benefits include medical, dental, vision, retirement 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days.
Travel requirement: 50%
Work arrangement: Remote, with a U.S. hybrid model of three onsite days per week (Monday‑Thursday) and one remote day (Friday), unless business critical tasks require an onsite presence.
Employee status: Regular. Relocation: No relocation. Visa sponsorship: No. Shift: Not specified. Valid driving license: No. Hazardous material(s): N/A.
Job posting end date: 04/24/2026.
As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit EEOC Know Your Rights.
We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together talented and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another’s thinking and approach problems collectively.
#J-18808-Ljbffr