Project Management and Product Development Associate [CLOSED]

We are looking for a curious, driven and thorough person to join us! Product selection and market research is the foundation of the business success (or failure) and if you have experience with and get excited about taking new ideas and bringing them to market in the ecommerce space, keep on reading!

Our Company:

We are a 9-year-old e-commerce company based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We manufacture, import and sell a wide range of apparel and accessories on Amazon.com. The products are sold under multiple brands and range from clothing to socks and soft accessories. We are a market leader in many product categories such as athletic socks, yoga socks, swim shorts, bathrobes and many more. Our main brand is: www.pembrookapparel.com.

The business is managed by the founder, a director of operations and logistics director and supported by a senior business analyst and an awesome team in the Philippines, Turkey and China.

Ashford Point is made up of a small team of 14 people including the founder. You would be number 15. We have doubled in size over the last year, but you would likely be the last person we hire in a while as this role will really round out the team - so we're excited to meet you!

Ashford Point has a very low turnover rate and we pride ourselves on hiring people for the long term.

What we are looking for

We are looking for a curious, analytical and self-motivated person to ultimately become the driver and lead for our product development. This includes researching and finding new ideas and opportunities doing market and product research, figuring out what the optimal offer is, presenting findings to the executive team and then sourcing and bringing 4-5 products to market each quarter.

Additionally, you will support our efforts to consistently keep our product listings optimized for CTR and CVR by doing competitive research and SEO optimization.

You will assist with and have exposure to nearly all aspects of the business and you’ll be learning from and working closely with the business founder on the new product development.

About the Role:

We are looking for a person who is motivated and excited about researching, selecting and bringing new products to life. You are curious and driven by nature yet with a keen attention to details. You are a good communicator both internally with colleagues and externally with suppliers and other collaborators.

We are not looking for someone to simply execute on tasks, but a person who can analyze a market, understand it and make data-driven decisions to optimize our positioning. In the same vein, you can look at a data set of keywords, find opportunities and optimize our product listings. You are organized and you know well how to plan, execute and report on a project.

You will be given challenges and responsibilities and expected to proactively deliver solutions and results without the need for much follow up. You will be part of a small and internationally distributed team.

Typical questions you will find the answer to:

• Is there an opportunity for us in this market?
• How can we differentiate ourselves from the competition?
• Is this product viable from a keyword perspective?
• What are the potential pitfalls in this market?
• What size, material, packaging and bundling choices will optimize profit margin?
• What price should we launch at and what is a competitive target price?
• What are the top 5-10 keywords we should target for a launch?
• Why is our organic ranking dropping off? What can we do to fix it?

Here are a few specific things you will work on:

• Do market research for current and potential products and make recommendations and take action on findings/opportunities.
• Support the company founder in product development activities
• Help prepare for new product launches, select target keywords and monitor ranking
• Seek to intimately understand our product, their features and the various demographics that buy them
• Become a keyword expert and track both organic and sponsored ranking as well as optimize based on data-driven processes
• Actively solving ‘ranking problems’ for new and existing products
• Support the Keyword & Launch Manager with relevant activities

You will report to the People and Operations Director but will also work closely with and learn from the company founder.

You must be okay with occasional early morning or late evening calls to talk with the team in the Philippines, Europe or on the US East Coast.

Traits / Experience We're Looking for:

• Curious, analytical and self-motivated
• Experience with Amazon.com
• Clear understanding of the product research, sourcing and launch process on Amazon
• Proven experience in keyword research
• A good understanding of competition in the e-commerce space
• Familiarity with Helium 10 is a plus
• Native or near native English level preferred
• Friendly, confident, motivated and communicative

What does success look like?

Bias for action - You are moving projects forward and suggesting new initiatives without prompting or supervision.

Quantitative - You are meaningfully and measurably improving the business through your actions.

Organized – You plan ahead, allocate resources and communicate effectively around progress and bottlenecks.

Communication - You are transparent and communicative and keep the team updated on your progress and learnings.

Team player - You engage with and support your colleagues.

What we offer

• Pay: up to 2,500 USD per month depending on experience and skills with the potential for a 5-10% year-end target bonus. For the right person, there is good opportunity for advancement and taking on additional responsibilities.
• 21 days paid time off
• Remote work: with no commute you can work from the comfort of your home, the local coffee shop or resort. Fast, reliable internet is an absolute must.
• Flexible hours: we do not believe in micro-managing. Outside of scheduled meetings, our employees manage their own time. We don’t care when you do it, as long as it gets done on time.

Interested?

If you're interested in this job, please send us the following information:

• Your CV/resume.
• A short letter. Make sure to give us concrete examples of relevant projects you have done.
• Your 3 favorite books and/or podcasts

We can't wait to meet you!