Associate Category Manager

Job Title: Associate Category Manager, Baseball Bats

Supervises: N/A

Department: Product Management 

Reports to: John Loeffler

Location: Thousand Oaks, CA

FLSA: Exempt

General Overview: 

The Associate Product Manager plays a critical role in supporting the development and execution of our baseball bat product portfolio. This position serves as the operational backbone of the Product Management team, ensuring product information, sample management, and commercialization activities are executed with precision while providing valuable market insights to help shape future product strategies.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, detail-oriented, analytical, and passionate about consumer products. This role offers significant exposure to the full product creation process - from concept through commercialization

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Own and maintain Master Line Plan data at the SKU level, ensuring accuracy throughout the product lifecycle. 
• Manage the creation and setup of new SKUs from initial request through system completion. 
• Support the development and maintenance of annual price lists, sell sheets, and other product marketing materials. 
• Update and maintain style-level transition lists to support effective inventory planning and supply chain execution. 
• Receive, catalog, photograph, and organize all incoming product samples, ensuring sample availability for internal teams and key initiatives. 
• Manage and maintain the organization of the product sample room, coordinating multiple rounds of product samples throughout development. 
• Conduct competitive product research, monitor marketplace trends, and gather consumer insights to support product strategy. 
• Coordinate product testing initiatives, including athlete evaluations, consumer testing, and product performance validation. 
• Evaluate product samples and prototypes, providing feedback on product performance, quality, and design execution. 
• Maintain accurate product information within PLM systems and other internal databases. 
• Assist with product lifecycle management activities, supporting products from concept through commercialization and end-of-life. 
• Prepare presentations, reports, and supporting materials for product line reviews, business updates, and strategic planning meetings. 
• Support retailer meetings, sales conferences, trade shows, product launches, and other customer-facing events as needed. 
• Perform ad hoc analyses, reporting, and special projects to support the Product Management team and broader business objectives. 

This job description does not list all the duties of the job. Position may be required to perform other duties as needed.