Product Director Robotics

About the role:

Home to some of the world’s most renowned home appliance brands, our purpose is turning houses into homes. As a house of brands, we are home to Philips, Philips Baristina, Saeco, Gaggia, Preethi, Philips Walita, L’OR Barista and Senseo. With more than 900 patents to our name, our portfolio spans kitchen appliances, coffee, climate, garment and floor care.
The Product Director Robotics owns the category strategy, innovation roadmap and financial results, including turnover, margin and market share, focusing on the global Robot Vacuum Cleaner portfolio.
In a fast-moving category where robotics, IoT, connected devices, software and physical products increasingly come together, you will ensure that consumer needs, technology and commercial opportunities translate into compelling product propositions.
This is a highly cross-functional role requiring someone who can connect people, ideas, technologies and commercial opportunities across a complex global organization. You will bring together Product Management, R&D, Marketing, Design, Operations and Markets, creating clarity in complexity and ensuring that innovative ideas translate into successful products and strong business results.
You will lead and develop the Product Management team for Robotics and play a critical role in shaping the future direction of the Robotics category.

The impact you’ll make:

The Product Director defines the category vision and strategy and translates this into a clear portfolio and innovation roadmap, including new product introductions, range extensions and global rollouts. This includes setting the innovation strategy, providing commercial briefs to R&D and defining global price positioning guidelines.
Robot vacuum cleaners are one of the fastest-growing small domestic appliance categories. At the same time, household penetration is still low, so the opportunity lies in addressing mainstream consumers, not only tech-focused early adopters, building on Philips’ brand reliability and floor care heritage.
You will ensure that the Robotics portfolio continues to evolve with developments in connected devices, IoT, smart-home ecosystems and emerging technologies, identifying where technology can create meaningful consumer value rather than innovation for innovation’s sake.
You will own the end-to-end product lifecycle from value proposition creation to phase-out, understanding consumer pain points and translating these into product specifications and differentiated propositions. This includes translating the main barriers for mainstream consumers into propositions that give clear proof of value and a robot that works reliably on its own.
A key part of the role will be the ability to take technically complex propositions and turn them into clear, compelling marketing and commercial stories. You will articulate not only what the product does, but why consumers should care, why customers should list it and how the proposition can win in the market. You will guide the global marketing team in creating compelling robot stories in (social) media and at the point of sale, and, together with the countries and sales organizations that sell the robots, pitch a convincing sales and marketing story to retailers to secure listings.

• Own the category strategy, innovation roadmap and product/project portfolio, balancing consumer needs, technological opportunities and commercial potential while driving turnover, margin, market share and portfolio complexity.
• Lead new product introductions and partner with Operations to ensure delivery on time, in full, within cost and at the required quality and manufacturability standards.
• Develop and present robust business cases, track product and category performance, and drive revenue and profitability through a strong understanding of pricing, market dynamics, Ratings & Reviews and quality.
• Partner closely with R&D to translate developments in robotics, IoT, connectivity and connected-device ecosystems into scalable, relevant consumer propositions.
• Connect Product Management, Project Management, Marketing, Design, Engineering, Operations, Finance and Markets around a common product vision, translating complexity into clear priorities and decisions.
• Build strong relationships with markets and guide the global marketing team in translating technical capabilities, market research and consumer insights into compelling sales and marketing stories that win with retailers and consumers.
• Present and champion category strategy and innovation proposals to senior stakeholders through clear and persuasive commercial narratives.
• Own product claims and substantiation, including technical and consumer testing, trademarks and IP.
• Align the Robotics portfolio with the wider Floor Care range on proposition, claims, service and retail presence.
• Lead with a positive, solution-oriented mindset, creating momentum and bringing stakeholders together through ambiguity and competing priorities.

The skills and knowledge you’ll bring:

• 10+ years of experience in Product Management or related fields, ideally in vacuum cleaners/floor care, or in consumer electronics, robotics, smart home, connected devices, household durables or another technology-led consumer category.
• An advanced degree in Business, Marketing, Product Development, Engineering or a related discipline is preferred.
• Strong experience managing complex physical-product portfolios, ideally involving a combination of hardware, software, connectivity and/or digital ecosystems.
• Good understanding of IoT and connected-device propositions, with the ability to understand technology sufficiently to challenge, prioritize and translate technical capabilities into consumer and commercial value.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and deliver complex projects on-time, within budget and at quality.
• Strong commercial acumen, with experience translating portfolio and product strategy into sustainable growth, revenue and profitability, and in supporting markets with sales stories and retailer listing pitches.
• An excellent storyteller and communicator, able to turn consumer insights and technical features into a compelling proposition and gain buy-in from senior stakeholders, customers and consumers.
• A natural connector who builds relationships across functions, regions, cultures and levels of the organization, as well as with markets (countries, sales organizations and key retailers).
• Demonstrated ability to manage complexity and ambiguity, quickly grasp interconnected technical, consumer and commercial topics and convert them into clear strategic choices.
• Able to develop solid understanding of cleaning performance (suction, brush systems, mopping, filtration, base stations) and of how consumers and retailers judge and buy floor care products, online and in-store.
• Open and curious towards innovation, emerging technologies and new approaches, with the judgment to distinguish meaningful consumer innovation from technology-led novelty.
• A positive, pragmatic and solution-oriented mindset, with the energy to create momentum and engage others around a shared vision.
• Experience working in a global and cross-cultural environment, including collaboration with development, manufacturing and commercial teams across different regions.
• Chinese language skills are a strong advantage.

What we’ll give you in return:

• Internationally competitive base salary | benchmarked against global industry and market leaders
• Performance-based Annual Incentive Program | rewarding those who dare and achieve more
• Top of the market pension scheme | with higher-than-average company contributions
• Work from home, commuting and phone allowances | to support your daily commute, home office setup & business connectivity
• Hybrid working model | effectively combining working from the office & home, depending on team dynamics and personal needs
• Working from abroad | for up to 30 days per year, supporting our many international colleagues as well as travel enthusiasts
• Extensive holiday package | additional care and development days, extensive maternity / paternity leave & possibility to purchase days
• Bicycle Plan | possibility to select a company bicycle for daily commute along with accessories & insurance
• Health Insurance Discount | when signing up with our partner insurance
• Gym Membership Discount | to support your focus on health and wellbeing
• Product Discounts | on all Versuni products which are sold under the Philips brand and our other brands
• High growth environment | offering exciting learning and career development perspectives beyond your first role
• Inclusive working culture | we embrace our international community & diversity as competitive advantage

Ready to make an impact?

From developing game-changing air fryers to perfecting the art of coffee making, Versuni’s purpose is turning houses into homes — and we’re calling on your talent to bring it to life. Join our global team of 6,000+ passionate individuals, work with world-class brands, and shape the future of home living. We’re ready for you — are you ready for us?