Business Unit Director- Heaters

Operations · PA, United States of America

Job description

Lasko Products, an industry leader of home environment products for over 100 years, is seeking a Business Unit Director for our Heaters division. 

 The BU Director owns all aspects of Lasko’s Heaters Business Unit (BU). The BU sells portable heating solutions into the brick-and-mortar Retail and eCommerce channels. Responsibilities include P&L management, product development, brand building, strategy, profitable growth, marketing planning and activation, business and competitive analysis, consumer research, product life cycle management and cross-functional team collaboration and leadership. The Director will be responsible for identifying industry and product trends, developing comprehensive business plans, and gaining business support to resource, develop and launch new products.

This role will report to the SVP – Business Units.

The ideal candidate will live in the Greater Philadelphia area or be able to relocate to West Chester, PA. Lasko offers a hybrid work schedule—the Director will be expected to work in the office Monday-Wednesday each week.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: 

  • Deliver short and long-range business and financial (revenue and profit) goals
  • Establish and track key metrics across multiple projects, reporting out to leadership regularly both in writing and verbally
  • Lead business case development for new product, category, or channel concepts
  • Provide business analysis necessary to make fact-based go/no-go decisions or advocate a course of action to senior management
  • Recommend and evaluate product pricing and quantify expected impact on volume and margins
  • Utilize data analysis and data sources to anticipate business trends and competitive activity, understand implications, and make sound conclusions and recommendations
  • Partner with Engineering to drive new product development, channel strategy and and regular product line/SKU review
  • Collaborate with Engineering, Procurement and Operations to generate insights and opportunities through ideation, teardowns, and mock-ups
  • Lead new product launches, partnering with Sales and eCommerce teams in the development and execution of detailed commercialization product plans
  • Continuously improve cross-functional planning, team alignment, stage-gate development, and decision-making processes
  • Provide category direction and collaborate on development of go-to market plans
  • Synthesize information from market, product, and consumer research findings to develop insights that guide strategic and tactical plans
  • Help develop and guide packaging strategy, branding, packaging changes, product claims and product descriptions.

 

Requirements and Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's Degree in consumer products or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience. MBA preferred
  • 10+ years of demonstrable successes in global consumer product marketing, brand, and/or product management experience for branded products
  • Demonstrated business acumen and substantive experience with, and, understanding of P&L
  • Demonstrated ability to think and act strategically with a general management orientation
  • Well-developed leadership skills including the ability to inspire others, set direction/vision, drive innovation, get results through others, manage change, develop organization/team, coach and develop across the team as well as cross-functionally
  • Exceptional analytical thinking skills including the ability to see trends and identify implications
  • Detail oriented but able to understand and present the big picture
  • Change management and problem-solving skills
  • Excellent communication and presentation skills, including PowerPoint
  • The ability to travel domestically and, occasionally, internationally

About the Company

Lasko Metal Products was founded in 1906 by Henry Lasko in Philadelphia. Lasko designs, manufactures, assembles, and distributes portable fans, heaters, and humidifiers for the consumer market (Lasko brand), air purifiers (Germ Guardian brand), ventilation products such as range hoods and bathroom exhaust fans to the construction industry (Air King brand) and water damage restoration products such as air scrubbers and dehumidifiers (B-Air brand).  Lasko’s products are sold in North America, South America, the Caribbean, and Asia. The company is recognized as the leader in the portable fan and portable heating categories and proudly operates American manufacturing, assembly, and distribution facilities across the US.  Lasko’s leading market share in fans and heaters is 2X – 4X larger than the #2 brand.  Lasko’s domestic production capabilities uniquely position Lasko to serve its customers.

Lasko’s Mission is to improve everyday life with trusted products which create a healthier and more comfortable environment.  The company’s success is based on 5 Core Values:

  • Be Bold:
    • Challenge the status quo
    • Courageously pursue the impossible 
    • Reject mediocrity
  • Be Together 
    • Work together for success 
    • Drive trust and candor with each other 
    • Prioritize "We" before "I"
  •  Be A Leader
    • Lead with personal conviction 
    • Inspire each other to deliver high- quality results
    • Leverage resilience and agility to drive excellence
  • Be Accountable 
    • Consistently deliver to our customers 
    • Embrace commitments as a contract 
    • Take pride in our actions
  • Be The Change 
    • Demonstrate a passion to win 
    • Make a difference at work in our communities 
    • Step forward and take initiative

The Lasko family owned and operated Lasko Products until November 2016, when private investment firms Comvest Partners and JW Levin Management Partners (“JWLMP”) acquired the business. Comvest Partners and JWLMP are committed to growing the business with investments in growth and productivity.

Geographic Reach

Based in the greater Philadelphia, PA area, Lasko Products operates in locations throughout the US and Canada. The company’s Tennessee, Texas, and Pennsylvania manufacturing facilities produce both indoor and outdoor fans and heaters. The company also sources select products internationally from China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and India.  Lasko operates distribution centers in all manufacturing locations plus Nevada and Ohio.

Diversity & Inclusion

Comvest and its portfolio companies recruit, employ, train, compensate and promote regardless of race/national origin, gender/gender identification, sexual orientation, age, disability status, veteran status, religious affiliation, and other protected status.  We have a clear vision to be the place where diverse talent wants to come, stay, and do their best work.  We know our companies run on the hard work and dedication of our passionate and smart employees.  We believe that diversity within an organization creates long-term value for the organization itself and its constituents.  Comvest and its portfolio companies are high performing organizations that seeks to hire hard-working and dedicated high performers.  While Comvest and its portfolio companies always strive to look at a diverse pool of candidates, we will always choose the most qualified candidate for the job being recruited for, in order to strive for success for both the employee and the firm.