Product Development Manager

What you'll do:

Leadership & Team Development
• Lead by example to build a high-performing collaborative team culture grounded in trust, shared accountability and technical excellence.
• Elevate a multidisciplinary team of Design, Materials, Process, and Project Engineers by driving a culture where engineers reliably 'take the ball,' make informed decisions, and demonstrate end-to-end ownership across the development.
• Identify, mentor, and grow high-potential talent; create an environment where engineers are empowered to take ownership, learn, and innovate.
• Build a world-class product development team by introducing structured career paths, technical training, and collaborative problem-solving practices.
• Partner with Program Management to define and maintain clear engineering roles & responsibilities and accountability frameworks within the Integrated Project Team (IPT) structure, ensuring predictable ownership during times of complexity or ambiguity.

Cultural Transformation
• Serve as a change agent to shift from traditional hierarchical norms to a culture defined by cross-functional engagement, open idea-sharing, confidence and accountability.
• Build an environment of proactive ownership-empowering engineers to make decisions, resolve ambiguity, and drive issues to closure without waiting for direction.
• Foster psychological safety - encouraging engineers at all levels to participate in creative problem solving, challenge traditional assumptions, and collaborate across boundaries.
• Model modern engineering leadership behaviors through transparency, humility, decisiveness, and consistent communication.

Technical Leadership & Innovation
• Apply expertise in polymers, molding, tooling, and product engineering to guide Global development of new golf grip technologies and performance-enhancing materials.
• Lead the development lifecycle-from consumer design freeze through to mass production.
• Introduce advanced R&D concepts, engineering methodologies, and tools that elevate team capability and product quality.

Product Development & Execution
• Oversee complex Retail development projects ensuring speed and engineering rigor.
• Manage highly dynamic OEM programs ensuring on-time commitments and class leading customer service are always upheld.
• Global collaboration - Partner closely with Global Innovation, Manufacturing, and Quality teams to ensure seamless integration from development through to production.
• Prioritize projects based on the needs of external and internal customers, strategic impact, and technical feasibility.

Operational & Strategic Impact
• Build and implement new engineering processes, protocols, and best practices that measure improvements in Global efficiency, development predictability, and innovation quality.
• Strengthen alignment between TWN R&D and Global Innovation, ensuring local strengths support the global technical strategy.
• Drive operational excellence through data-driven decision making, robust problem solving, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications:

10+ years of engineering experience with at least 5 years in a leadership role within polymers, tooling, molding, or related manufacturing technologies.

Skills:

• Demonstrated success in transforming or uplifting engineering organizations, especially in cultures with traditional hierarchy.
• Strong technical acumen across polymer chemistry, tooling, injection and compression rubber molding, and product design engineering.
• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams in fast-paced, high-output environments.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to influence across geographies and functions.
• Experience in global consumer goods, sporting goods, or performance products is a plus.