Product Manager

Product Manager | Preston | Up to £45,000 DOE  Company Car We're currently working with an innovative manufacturing business in the Preston area that's looking to appoint a Product Manager to support the research and development of new and existing products across international markets. This is a newly created role with a strong product development and innovation focus . The successful candidate will sit close to R&D, engineering, and design teams, providing the market and customer insight that shapes product strategy, informs design decisions, and supports long-term commercial growth.

The Role You'll be responsible for delivering insight that feeds directly into the product development lifecycle , from early concept generation through to launch and post-launch review. Working across global markets, you'll help ensure new products are designed with clear customer demand, regulatory awareness, and competitive advantage in mind.

Key responsibilities include:

Leading qualitative and quantitative market research to inform product concepts, development priorities, and product roadmaps. Identifying unmet customer needs and new product opportunities within fire safety, automotive, and environmental sectors. Tracking industry trends, competitor activity, regulatory change, and emerging technologies that impact product design and development. Conducting customer interviews, field research, and site visits to gather real-world product feedback. Translating research insight into practical recommendations for engineering, R&D, and design teams.

Supporting sales and marketing teams with evidence-based business cases for new products and product enhancements. Reviewing the performance of recently launched products and feeding insight back into future development cycles. Managing multiple research projects while working cross-functionally across technical and commercial teams. About You Experience in market research with a clear link to product development , ideally within manufacturing, industrial, or technical environments (minimum 2 years).

Strong ability to turn data, insight, and customer feedback into clear product recommendations. Solid understanding of how market needs translate into product design, innovation, and go-to-market planning. Confident working with complex datasets, performance metrics, and commercial information. Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence both technical and senior stakeholders. Strong organisational and project management skills. Naturally curious, commercially aware, and interested in innovation and emerging technologies.

French speaker - desirable not essential. Why This Opportunity?

This role offers the chance to have a direct impact on product direction , working on projects where insight genuinely influences what gets designed, developed, and launched. It's well suited to someone who enjoys seeing their research translated into real products used in global markets. If you're a market researcher who wants to work closer to product development and innovation, this is an opportunity worth exploring.