Director, Product Management

Job Description

Fortune Brands is looking for a Director of Hardware Product Management to lead the hardware product strategy and execution for our Connected Security portfolio. This is a role for someone who wants to leave real fingerprints on the business - build on a strong foundation, shape where it goes next, and help define what the next generation of intelligent access looks like across Yale, August, Master Lock, and Sentry Safe.

Our connected security products are trusted by millions of users across consumer and commercial channels - and we partner with the top companies in the smart home industry to help shape where it goes, not just react to it. The category is evolving fast, and we have a seat at the table where those decisions get made.

As the primary 4P owner for hardware, you will drive product strategy, pricing, positioning, forecasting, and channel planning across both B2C and B2B verticals. You'll lead a hardware PM team supported by dedicated software and design resources aligned to each vertical - giving you the leadership surface to think and operate strategically, not just execute tactically. The leaders who thrive here are builders: people who create clarity from ambiguity, strengthen process as they go, and get more done through influence and ingenuity than org chart.

Connected Products is one of the highest-visibility growth bets across Fortune Brands Innovations - with direct exposure to senior leadership and a mandate that spans the full enterprise. For the right person, this role is also a launching pad: FBIN's portfolio spans Moen, Therma-Tru, Master Lock, and beyond, and leaders who perform here find no shortage of opportunity to grow within the broader organization.

Location:

This position is eligible for hybrid schedule working out of our Deerfield, IL HQ office with remote days on Mondays and Fridays.

What Your Day Looks Like as Director, Product Management:

* Own the full 4P strategy (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) for hardware across the Connected Security portfolio, serving as the primary product authority for Yale, August, Master Lock, and Sentry Safe smart security devices

* Define and maintain a rolling 3-year hardware product roadmap aligned to business strategy, customer needs, and competitive positioning

* Lead by doing as much as by directing - the best hardware PMs on our team are as comfortable writing a product brief or running a line review as they are presenting roadmap to senior leadership

* Lead cross-functional new product development teams through the full product lifecycle - from unmet need identification through commercial launch - across retail, e-commerce, and B2B channels

* Partner closely with engineering, industrial design, operations, and marketing to deliver hardware products that are differentiated, manufacturable, and profitable

* Develop winning go-to-market plans incorporating pricing strategy, channel mix (retail, e-commerce, B2B/MDU), demand forecasting, and messaging frameworks

* Conduct primary and secondary market research, competitive analysis, and consumer insight development to identify category trends and whitespace opportunities

* Translate voice-of-customer and channel partner feedback into clear, actionable product requirements

* Build and develop the hardware product management team - establishing practices, raising the bar on craft, and developing the next generation of PMs

* Align roadmap investments to strategic customer requirements across both consumer (B2C) and business (B2B) segments

What Brings Success to this role:

* You're a builder - you define process where it doesn't exist, create clarity from ambiguity, and get more done through influence and ingenuity than org chart

* Deep fluency in consumer electronics or smart home technology product development - you understand hardware constraints, BOM tradeoffs, and what it takes to bring a connected device to market

* Strong 4P instincts: you think naturally about pricing architecture, channel dynamics, positioning strategy, and promotional trade-offs - not just product specs

* Customer obsession: you use research and data to ground decisions, and you can move fluidly between consumer insight and business case

* Cross-functional leadership presence - you can align and motivate engineering, design, sales, operations, and finance toward shared outcomes without direct authority

* Comfortable owning a portfolio with both B2C and B2B dimensions - you understand how the channel dynamics, buyer psychology, and success metrics differ between them, and you build teams that reflect that

* A bias for clarity: you simplify complexity, write crisp product briefs, and make hard prioritization calls

* An instinct for developing others - you invest in your team and raise the standard of practice in the PM function

Why Fortune Brands Innovations - Connected Security

* Millions of users trust our products every day - this is a portfolio with real scale, real revenue, and real market impact across consumer and…