Head of Product, Textiles & Furniture

Ideal Candidate Profile

• A product leader with the sensibilities of both a businessperson and a design advocate.
• Understands the financial and commercial disciplines required to manage a successful portfolio, but is equally comfortable discussing materials, finishes, colors, form, visual presentation, and the emotional response that distinguishes an exceptional product from a merely functional one.
• Energized by the opportunity to work within a smaller, design-driven brand where senior leaders remain close to the product and where speed, judgment, and individual contribution matter.
• A compelling champion for HBF within the larger HNI organization—possesses the executive presence to explain why a specialized opportunity matters, the financial and strategic discipline to support that argument, and the relationship-building skills to secure the resources and organizational commitment necessary to turn a strong design concept into a successful commercial product.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Design, Aesthetic & Brand Stewardship

• Partner closely with internal and external designers to develop products that reinforce HBF’s distinctive design identity.
• Apply strong aesthetic judgment when evaluating product concepts, materials, colors, textiles, finishes, photography, and presentation.
• Balance commercial considerations with the creative integrity and differentiated design perspective expected of a premium furnishings brand.
• Help ensure individual product introductions contribute to a cohesive portfolio while retaining the originality and visual impact associated with HBF.
• Maintain awareness of developments in architecture, interiors, furniture, textiles, materials, fashion, and adjacent design disciplines that may influence future portfolio opportunities.

Internal Advocacy & Enterprise Partnership

• Serve as a visible and persuasive advocate for HBF and its product portfolio within HNI Corporation.
• Communicate HBF’s product strategy, market opportunity, priorities, and resource requirements to senior leaders and shared-service partners.
• Develop compelling business cases that articulate both the financial opportunity and strategic importance of product investments.
• Build alignment across functions and organizational boundaries to secure Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, and other resources required for successful product development.
• Ensure the needs and opportunities of a smaller specialty brand receive appropriate visibility within a larger enterprise environment.
• Develop strong relationships throughout HNI that enable HBF to leverage enterprise capabilities without sacrificing the speed, creativity, and entrepreneurial approach that differentiate the brand.

Product Portfolio Strategy

• Own the overall strategy, performance, and lifecycle of HBF’s Furniture and Textiles product portfolios.
• Develop short- and long-term portfolio roadmaps aligned with the HBF brand, market opportunities, customer needs, and financial objectives.
• Identify opportunities for new products, category expansion, line extensions, new materials and finishes, product refreshes, and portfolio rationalization.
• Evaluate the portfolio holistically to maintain the appropriate balance of iconic products, established revenue drivers, new introductions, and emerging design concepts.
• Develop business cases and recommendations for new product investments based on market potential, competitive positioning, financial performance, strategic value, and fit with the HBF brand.
• Monitor portfolio performance and recommend investment, repositioning, enhancement, or discontinuation decisions as appropriate.

Product Development & Lifecycle Management

• Participate actively in all phases of the product development lifecycle, from early concept development through commercialization and ongoing lifecycle management.
• Help translate market opportunities and customer needs into clear product briefs and development priorities.
• Participate in product reviews and provide direction regarding positioning, features, materials, finishes, applications, price points, and overall market fit.
• Make timely decisions and facilitate cross-functional problem solving to keep development initiatives moving in a fast-paced environment.

Textiles Portfolio Leadership

• Provide high-level strategic leadership to an experienced team responsible for HBF Textiles, including new collections, patterns, colors, materials, applications, and lifecycle decisions.
• Monitor performance of existing textile collections and identify opportunities for extensions, refreshes, repositioning, or rationalization.

Furniture Portfolio Leadership

• Lead portfolio planning and product development activities across HBF’s furniture categories.
• Partner with Design and Engineering to translate concepts into commercially viable products without compromising design intent.
• Evaluate product opportunities based on customer needs, competitive whitespace, application, aesthetics, manufacturability, pricing, margin, and portfolio fit.
• Maintain a clear perspective on how individual furniture introductions contribute to HBF’s broader market position and design identity.

Market, Customer & Competitive Insight

• Maintain a deep understanding of HBF’s customers, dealer partners, designers, specifiers, and other stakeholders within the architecture and design community.
• Monitor competitive products, emerging design trends, workplace changes, material innovations, pricing, and broader market dynamics.
• Build relationships with Sales and dealer partners to capture market feedback and identify unmet needs.
• Translate qualitative market intelligence and quantitative product performance into actionable portfolio recommendations.

Financial & Business Performance

• Develop and maintain a strong understanding of the revenue, margin, volume, investment, and lifecycle performance of assigned product categories.
• Partner with Finance to develop business cases, forecasts, investment analyses, and product performance reporting.
• Evaluate product development decisions with consideration for both creative objectives and commercial return.
• Manage portfolio priorities within established investment and resource constraints.

Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Product Management, Business, Design, Architecture, Industrial Design, or a related field required. MBA or advanced degree preferred but not required.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in product management, product marketing, portfolio management, product development, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience owning a product portfolio and participating throughout the complete product lifecycle.
• Experience bringing new physical products from concept through commercialization.
• Demonstrated experience developing business cases and influencing senior leaders regarding product investments and organizational priorities.

Qualifications

• Experience within workplace furnishings, contract furniture, textiles, interior products, architectural products, consumer design, or another design-led industry strongly preferred.
• Experience working directly with designers, creative professionals, engineering teams, and commercial organizations.
• Previous leadership experience, including direct or functional leadership of product professionals and cross-functional teams.

Skills

• Exceptional product judgment, combining market awareness, financial reasoning, customer insight, and aesthetic sensibility.
• Strong appreciation for sophisticated design and the ability to recognize products and ideas that reinforce a distinctive premium brand.
• Executive presence and persuasive communication skills, with the ability to build enthusiasm and organizational support for product opportunities.
• Entrepreneurial mindset and comfort operating within a smaller, fast-moving business while navigating the resources and processes of a larger corporation.
• Ability to move fluidly between high-level portfolio strategy and detailed product-development decisions.
• Strong commercial instincts with the ability to balance creative ambition with market realities and financial performance.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and ability to influence across organizational boundaries without relying on formal authority.
• Decisiveness and willingness to make thoughtful decisions with incomplete information.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage numerous concurrent product initiatives.
• High standards for quality, design, execution, and attention to detail.