Assistant Program Manager – New Product Design & Launch

# Job Description

Role: Assistant Program Manager – New Product Design & LaunchDepartment: New Product Development / Design & Merchandising

## Role Overview

We are looking for a detail-oriented and proactive professional to manage end-to-end product launches, support new product development, drive assortment planning, and undertake data-driven business analysis. The role involves working closely with Design, Buying, Merchandising, Supply Chain, Content, and Warehouse Operations teams to ensure timely product launches, maintain data accuracy, identify market opportunities, and improve overall operational efficiency.

The ideal candidate should have strong analytical skills, an understanding of product trends, excellent coordination abilities, and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

Key Responsibilities

1. Product Launch Management

• Manage end-to-end product launches across categories such as Silver, Gold, Demi Fine, Personalised, and other emerging product categories.• Coordinate with Design, Buying, Content, Editing, Merchandising, Supply Chain, and Warehouse Operations teams to ensure timely execution of launches.• Ensure 100% accuracy of SKU attributes, including pricing, product titles, cataloguing, tagging, inventory, and other relevant information before launch.• Track launch timelines, identify bottlenecks, resolve dependencies, and ensure adherence to planned launch schedules.• Manage SKU creation, category setup, and product attribute updates on internal systems such as GUTS and Shopify.• Maintain launch trackers and dashboards to monitor progress, identify pending SKUs, and improve launch efficiency.• Identify opportunities to improve inventory utilization by prioritizing the launch of available but unlaunched warehouse inventory.

2. New Product Development & Assortment Planning

• Work closely with Buying and Design teams to plan and execute new product development based on business requirements, customer preferences, and market trends.• Conduct trend forecasting, competitor benchmarking, and market research to identify emerging designs, motifs, categories, and product opportunities.• Analyse best sellers, slow-moving products, and kill SKUs based on sales performance, design, motifs, plating, and price points to improve future selections.• Identify assortment gaps across categories and develop mood boards and product recommendations to guide the Buying and Design teams.• Support category expansion through research on new product segments, customer preferences, pricing strategies, and market opportunities.• Track the performance of newly launched products and use insights to improve future assortment and product selection decisions.• Ensure product selections are commercially viable by considering trends, COGS, pricing, inventory availability, and category performance.

3. Data Analysis & Business Insights

• Conduct SKU-level analysis to identify pending launches, operational challenges, and opportunities to improve product availability.• Perform root cause analysis (RCA) of pending and underperforming products and recommend actionable solutions.• Analyse category-wise, price-bucket-wise, motif-wise, and design-wise performance to support data-driven assortment decisions.• Gather and analyse customer and store staff feedback to identify product improvement opportunities and understand factors affecting sales.• Track product performance, sales trends, and assortment effectiveness to provide actionable recommendations to Buying and Design teams.Conduct product policy and attribute reviews to ensure consistency, accuracy, and alignment with business requirements.

4. Project Management & Process Improvement

• Independently manage cross-functional projects related to product launches, category expansion, assortment optimization, and operational improvements.• Identify opportunities to streamline existing NPD and launch processes, improve turnaround times, and reduce manual effort.• Maintain NPD dashboards, OKR trackers, collection-level dashboards, and other project documentation to ensure accurate and timely reporting.• Coordinate with relevant stakeholders to ensure project milestones, deliverables, and dependencies are tracked and completed.• Drive initiatives related to inventory optimization, SKU data accuracy, product policy updates, and process standardization.• Prepare monthly project updates and performance reports to communicate key achievements, progress, and areas requiring attention.

5. Stakeholder Management & Cross-functional Collaboration

• Act as a key coordination point between Design, Buying, Merchandising, Content, Editing, Supply Chain, Warehouse Operations, and other relevant teams.• Ensure clear communication of product requirements, launch priorities, timelines, and project updates across stakeholders.• Collaborate with leadership teams to understand business priorities, track product selection requirements, and ensure assortment gaps are addressed.• Facilitate timely resolution of operational dependencies and challenges to ensure smooth execution of launches and strategic projects.• Maintain centralized product and collection information to improve accessibility, transparency, and collaboration across teams.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret product and sales data.• Good understanding of product development, buying, merchandising, and assortment planning.• Knowledge of jewellery trends, market research, competitor analysis, and customer preferences.• Strong project management, planning, and execution skills.• Excellent communication and cross-functional coordination abilities.• High attention to detail, particularly in SKU data management and product launches.• Ability to manage multiple priorities, work independently, and meet strict timelines.• Proficiency in Google Sheets / Microsoft Excel, dashboards, and data management tools.• Familiarity with Shopify, product information management systems, and inventory management platforms is an advantage.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Fashion Management, Retail Management, Business Administration, Merchandising, or a related field.• 2–5 years of experience in New Product Development, Buying & Merchandising, Product Launch Management, Category Management, or related roles.• Experience in jewellery, fashion, lifestyle, e-commerce, or retail is preferred.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Product Launch Execution: Timely and accurate launch of SKUs across assigned categories, with adherence to planned launch timelines.• New Product Development: Effective assortment planning, identification of market trends, and development of commercially relevant product selections.• Product Performance Analysis: Regular analysis of launched products, best sellers, and underperforming SKUs to improve future selections.• Process Efficiency: Improvement in launch turnaround time, data accuracy, inventory utilization, and operational processes.• Project Ownership: Successful execution of assigned strategic projects and initiatives within defined timelines.• Stakeholder Collaboration: Effective coordination across teams to ensure smooth workflows, timely deliverables, and achievement of business objectives.