Assistant Product Development Manager Retail Consumer Products (Contract)
Location: Woonsocket, RI onsite Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
Duration: Nov 30, 2026 May 29, 2027 (about 6 months)
Schedule: Full-time
Pay rate: Up to $38.89/hr
Overview
Support product development for a national retailer's consumer products (private label, brand and retail merchandise). A large part of the job is working directly with outside suppliers to keep deliverables and timelines on track. This is a physical-product role, not an IT, software or digital product role.
Responsibilities
- Work directly with suppliers and vendors on follow-ups, deliverables and timelines (the biggest part of the role)
- Help define project scopes, build timelines and track progress against milestones
- Plan and run product testing, including UAT, usability and performance testing
- Analyze market data, customer feedback and industry reports; run benchmarking studies
- Update product managers, executives and other stakeholders on progress
- Support regulatory documentation and certifications for product submissions
- Record key details in the company database and recommend corrective actions
Qualifications
- 3 5 years in product development, project management or retail merchandising tied to physical or consumer products (you do not need all three)
- Direct experience with external suppliers or vendors
- Bachelor's degree preferred
- Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams)
Preferred
- Retail knowledge: SKU and UPC management, merchandising processes and the retail product lifecycle
- Product launch experience
- PMP certification