Careers

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES AND REQUIREMENTS:

• Assist and support the SVP, Design and Development in all aspects of seasonal planning, schedule creation and tracking, design documentation oversight and general project management.
• Experience managing the product development process from preliminary design, functional specification, colors and materials to rough models, prototyping and engineering.
• Concept development for existing brands and new categories as well as generation of preliminary product descriptions/features.
• Strong sketching, concept ideation, and a developed aesthetic sense coupled with creative problem solving and critical thinking.
• Creation of concept renderings for presentations and preparation of preliminary and final design documents/files for hand off to the Hong Kong team.
• Act as a design liaison between Design, Sales, Marketing and Operations to ensure products are developed and specified to meet target costs and customers needs.
• Effectively communicate issues, updates, changes and project status to cross-functional team members in a timely manner.
• Maintain broad oversight of retail programs and related program SKUs to ensure design and brand continuity.
• Strong presentation and communication skills to see concepts through the licensor approval process.
• Maintain a consistently high level of quality, thoroughness and attention to detail.
• Manage projects on a daily basis, keeping documentation for current projects up-to-date.
• Review and scrutinize all product specifications, Cost Breakdowns and Tool Plans to confirm accuracy while working with cross-functional teams to identify ways to reduce costs through design/tooling optimization.
• Management of multiple competing projects through the entire development process, from initial concept to production, successfully juggling priorities, to ensure deadlines and project milestones are met.
• Assist and support the SVP, Design and Development in management of external talent resources, demonstrating strong communication and negotiation skills to meet product development and design needs.
• Communication with the overseas office on all aspects of design and development with travel to Asia as needed to oversee development.
• Awareness and sensitivity to business and marketing requirements, demonstrating responsiveness to internal and external customers.
• A positive, can-do attitude, acting as a team player by sharing, supporting and cooperating with a fast-paced, cross-functional team.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• BS, BA in Industrial Design
• Minimum 6 years product design experience within the toy industry or related consumer goods.
• Amazing sketching and conceptualization talent
• Mastery of common design tools (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign)
• Proficiency in Solidworks/Rhino for 3D model development and renderings is a plus
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications. Advanced Microsoft Excel experience is a plus.
• Inventive with the ability to produce sound designs for manufacture.
• Thorough understanding of part design for injection molding.
• Effective verbal and written communication to all organization levels, internally and externally.
• Sound independent judgment, design methodology and problem solving skills.

Local candidates preferred.

Please email resumé and samples of work to: careers@unclemilton.com. Enter "Senior Product Designer" in the subject field.

Position Summary

• Primary responsibility is to drive sales volume for Specialty domestic accounts.  Grow a base of existing, domestic Specialty accounts
• Add new domestic Specialty accounts by establishing direct account relationships and/or managing the independent sales representatives (“sales reps”) to add new accounts within their territory
• Meet sales objectives and quotas

• Provide overall direction, oversight, and expertise in sales management to UMI’s specialty account segment (see Territory definition separately defined).
• Establish clear direction by effectively communicating the organizations’ sales goals, priorities and sales standards to independent sales representatives.
• Communicate up-to-date information about the company’s products, competitive advantages and opportunities to the account base and sales rep’s.
• Maintain knowledge of assigned house accounts as well sales rep accounts needed to nurture and grow the account base.
• Effectively coach sales reps on how to develop new business and manage accounts with the focus of coaching the reps in growing their markets. Ensures sales reps are capable of educating all stakeholders about the benefits of working with our organization.
• Effectively work with sales reps on pre-call strategizing and post-call debriefing—identifying what worked well and what didn’t to improve close rates and sales volume per account.
• Maintain a disciplined and systematic approach to sales management duties - regularly scheduled calls, meetings, ride-alongs, etc.
• Work collaboratively with sales team to identify sales opportunities, establish relationships, and ensure operations and sales growth strategies are aligned
• Holdsales reps accountable for achieving sales forecast; monitor number of contacts, appointments scheduled, referrals made and other sales activities of sales reps
• Make continuous direct account calls to UMI data base of Specialty accounts (sales rep and house accounts)
• Capture key contact information (i.e. phone numbers, email addresses, etc.) to be utilized in on-going sales and marketing campaigns and utilize Constant Contact
• Support UMI at tradeshows where needed
• Develop John Deere dealer account business and implement details of program
• Create and execute promotions geared toward specialty market
• Participate in Specialty account strategy sessions
• Travel to specific account presentations as directed
• Assist with other UMI sales activities as needed. 

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

• Four-year degree in business preferred
• Five years of progressive responsible sales experience, experience in the toy industry preferred
• Established contacts and relationships with potential customers and channel partners
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and staff to create a results driven, team oriented environment
• Expertise in working with cross-functional teams (especially sales, marketing, finance and customer support)

SKILLS AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS: 

• Excellent organizational and workflow skills; ability to work on simultaneous projects
• Exceptional communications skills, especially with cross-functional work groups; ability to effectively communicate and close sales over the phone.
• Works effectively in a fast-paced sales and rapidly evolving corporate environment
• Understands and embraces change
• Customer service & support oriented
• Strong work ethic, ability put in the extra hours during peak times (especially end of quarters)
• Ability to travel as needed
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite
• Process-oriented, metrics-based “system” thinker
• Self-motivated, responsible, and accountable

This position requires employees to maintain cooperative, diplomatic working relationships with co-workers, supervisors, customers, and the public; work as part of a team and collaborate with colleagues; and complete projects under tight deadlines even when there are competing requirements and changes in assignments.

You may occasionally be called upon to perform other duties not included in this job description. If at any time your job duties vary significantly, you should notify the human resources manager or immediate supervisor.