Product Manager - Cables

The Product Manager for Cable Categories owns Monoprice's cable categories end-to-end: assortment, roadmap, pricing, and lifecycle from NPI through EOL. This person needs to rationalize a large, legacy assortment into a clear, defensible good/better/best structure that is competitive in the market and easy for customers and internal teams to understand. This is not an engineering or product-marketing role.

We want someone fluent in cable fundamentals (gauges, connector types, shielding, construction, and what separates a good product from a better or best one) across our cable assortment, who can self-educate to the depth a specific line requires. The role requires the ability to own the category, make defensible decisions, and answer product questions without deferring to others.

It also requires the presence to represent the category as its authority, whether the audience is our Sales team, executive stakeholders, or a manufacturing partner. The role is both strategic and tactical and works closely with Program Management, Purchasing, Sourcing, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service.

It calls for a self-starter who takes ownership of the category from day one, contributes immediately, and stays current on competitors and market direction. Cables are the core of Monoprice's business. This role sits at the center of what we do.

It offers real ownership: the person who takes it shapes the cable assortment and roadmap directly, makes the calls, defends them, and has visibility to senior leadership. This is a seat for someone who wants to own a category, not administer one.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the cable assortment and roadmap: rationalize and consolidate complex legacy assortments into a defensible good/better/best structure without sacrificing sales.
• Benchmark the assortment against competitors and against current market direction; explain and defend product decisions to internal and external stakeholders.
• Order, test, and physically evaluate Monoprice and competitor products to judge quality (fit, finish, performance) and drive improvements that add value to the customer experience.
• Manage product lifecycles from NPI through EOL, filling category gaps with NPI and retiring or consolidating redundant SKUs.
• Work with Management and Finance to set and hit revenue and margin targets by product, category, and customer segment.
• Set MSRP direction to balance sales velocity against revenue and margin targets; monitor e-commerce and retail competitiveness.
• Work with Purchasing, Program Management, and Sourcing to manage supplier relationships and ensure on-time delivery against the Product Requirements Document (PRD).
• Prepare budgets and break-even analyses for new development projects; read P&Ls and own the numbers behind category decisions.
• Define product specifications and self-educate on category-specific requirements to the depth needed to make sound decisions.
• Serve as the authority on the cable category: answer technical and market questions directly and promptly for Sales, Customer Service, and leadership, and represent the category with credibility in front of suppliers and manufacturing partners.
• Provide the product substance and selling points that Marketing and Sales turn into campaigns; collaborate with Marketing and Sales without owning marketing execution.
• Collaborate with the Monoprice Design and Factory teams to adjust products and packaging as needed.
• Translate concepts and performance requirements into prototypes and organize sample reviews with stakeholders to gain buy-in.
• Request, test, and dispose of samples responsibly and maintain a professional, safe workspace.
• Stay current on cable technology and market trends and bring proactive ideas and opportunities to leadership.
• Other duties may be assigned to accomplish company or department objectives.

QUALIFICATIONS

• To perform this job successfully, the employee must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.
• The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Education & Experience Must-have 4 to 7 years in product management or product development for consumer products, with demonstrated ownership of a category or assortment (planning it, cleaning up a legacy line, building a good/better/best structure).
• Cable-category literacy: comfortable with gauges, connector types, shielding, and construction, and how those translate into good/better/best differentiation across categories such as USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, Ethernet, and Thunderbolt.
• Financial fluency: reads P&Ls, builds break-even analyses, calculates landed cost and margin, and weighs pricing and inventory trade-offs.
• Experience managing overseas manufacturing partners and supplier relationships.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, or equivalent relevant work experience.
• Preferred Direct Ethernet cable experience.
• Not required: a candidate strong in cable fundamentals who is willing to self-educate on Ethernet specifics is acceptable.
• Familiarity with cable and connectivity compliance (RoHS, REACH, FCC, UL/cUL, USB-IF, HDMI Licensing, Thunderbolt certification).
• MBA.
• Conversational Mandarin fluency is a plus.

Location

Based in Brea, CA, with a strong preference for candidates local to Southern California. Remote arrangements will be considered only for exceptional candidates. Attributes for Success Takes ownership: picks up the category and runs with it without needing to be followed up on.

Genuinely interested in the products, not just assigned to them; curious about how cables are built and what separates good from better from best. Comfortable making a call and defending it; can explain a consolidation or product decision to Sales, leadership, and suppliers without deferring.

Carries the room: presents as a credible authority on the category, with a clear read of the market and of how customers use the products. Equally at ease in front of a Sales team, a supplier, or a manufacturing partner with deep cable expertise of its own. Hands-on: willing to order our products and competitors', test them, and form an opinion.

Respectful and collaborative across functions and with overseas manufacturing partners.

Language Skills

• Ability to write clearly across multiple formats: PRDs, supplier briefs, internal memos, and stakeholder presentations.
• Strong English fluency required; Mandarin a plus given the manufacturing partner base.

Mathematical Skills

Ability to read and interpret P&Ls, build break-even analyses, calculate landed costs and margins, and evaluate financial trade-offs across pricing and inventory decisions.

Reasoning Ability

Ability to exercise independent judgment across both strategic and tactical decisions: identifying category gaps, evaluating supplier trade-offs, setting pricing, and balancing NPI pipeline against margin and revenue targets.