Director of Product Development, Wine Storage

About the role

Wine Enthusiast is seeking a Director of Product Development, Wine Storage to lead the innovation, development, sourcing, and commercialization of our wine refrigerator and wine cellar portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Own the product development strategy and roadmap for Wine Enthusiast's wine refrigerator and wine cellar portfolio.
• Lead the end-to-end product development process from concept, design, engineering, testing, and commercialization.
• Identify customer needs, market opportunities, emerging technologies, and industry trends to develop innovative and differentiated products.
• Collaborate with industrial design, factory engineering teams, and development partners to translate concepts into commercially viable products.
• Drive innovation across product features, usability, aesthetics, controls, connectivity, energy efficiency, and overall customer experience.
• Conduct competitive benchmarking and product evaluations to identify opportunities for innovation and differentiation.
• Develop product specifications, feature sets, performance requirements, and quality standards that align with customer expectations and business objectives.
• Champion a customer-first approach to product development while balancing quality, cost, timing, and innovation.
• Lead product development initiatives from concept through commercialization, coordinating efforts across industrial design, factory engineering teams, and external technical resources.
• Evaluate new technologies, materials, manufacturing processes, and components to improve product performance and customer satisfaction.
• Support the development of connected and smart product capabilities, including user interfaces, digital controls, and future technology integration.
• Ensure products meet performance, reliability, and quality expectations before launch.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance product quality, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with domestic and international manufacturing partners.
• Collaborate closely with factories to improve product quality, cost efficiency, manufacturability, and innovation capabilities.
• Manage development timelines, tooling investments, sample approvals, and production readiness.
• Lead supplier negotiations related to product development, tooling, and product cost targets.
• Conduct factory visits and product reviews as needed to support development and quality objectives.
• Identify and evaluate new supplier and manufacturing opportunities that support category growth and innovation.
• Maintain expertise in DOE requirements, energy efficiency regulations, safety standards, and product certification requirements related to refrigeration products.
• Ensure all products meet applicable regulatory and compliance requirements for target markets.
• Partner with factories, testing agencies, and quality teams to maintain compliance throughout the product lifecycle.
• Monitor regulatory changes and proactively address evolving requirements.
• Partner closely with Merchandising, Marketing, Creative, Inventory Planning, Operations, and Customer Experience teams to successfully launch new products.
• Support product positioning, feature prioritization, and go-to-market planning.
• Present development updates, innovation roadmaps, business cases, and project milestones to executive leadership.
• Serve as the internal subject matter expert for wine storage products, technologies, and industry trends.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Product Development, Engineering, Industrial Design, Business, Supply Chain, or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in product development, sourcing, product management, or related leadership roles.
• Experience developing hard goods products, preferably appliances, refrigeration products, consumer electronics, or other technically complex consumer products.
• Deep understanding of the product development lifecycle from concept through commercialization.
• Experience working directly with overseas factories and manufacturing partners.
• Experience managing product costing, tooling investments, supplier negotiations, and development timelines.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple development programs simultaneously.
• Strong technical aptitude with the ability to collaborate effectively with industrial designers, factory engineering teams, and external development partners.
• Knowledge of DOE regulations, energy efficiency requirements, safety standards, and product certification processes.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally as required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within refrigeration, appliance, kitchen appliance, or consumer durable industries.
• Experience managing refrigeration products subject to DOE certification and testing requirements.
• Experience developing connected or smart products.
• Mandarin language proficiency is highly desirable.
• Experience working with manufacturing partners throughout Asia.
• Passion for wine, hospitality, or premium consumer products.