Job Summary

Connect Homes is a product driven company, turning the home into a product and striving to make the process of building a new home more like buying a new car. As VP of Product, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the design vision of our company and transforming the way housing is created, built and delivered. You will lead the design strategy for a product platform that supports a range of different product lines - primary residences, second homes, ADU’s, shelters and townhomes - ensuring alignment with our mission, business goals, and user needs.

Connect Homes is the only vertically integrated company in the prefab space, self-performing the design and engineering, manufacturing and installation of our products. By owning the end-to-end process, we create both a better experience for our customers as well as drive efficiencies through a continuous feedback loop. The center of Connect Homes are our products, and the VP of Product will strive to find the right balance between the needs of the sales team and customers, with the needs of the factory and field to ensure a seamless integration of design throughout the product lifecycle. You will collaborate with cross-functional leadership stakeholders to align design initiatives with strategic goals and contribute to product roadmaps, vision and scaling plans.

What you will do

• Collaborate cross functionally with the Manufacturing, Design and Project Management teams to develop and implement a DFM (Design For Manufacturing) process which will simplify and optimize our product lines to allow for scalability
• Manage the product platform and distinct product lines of design series, pro series, shelter series by:
  • Maintain standards for details, systems, finishes, assemblies for each product line and universally across the platform
  • Set standards for acceptable configurations, upgrades and customizations
  • Develop and maintain fit-out selections – both standards and upgrades – for each product line
  • Seek continuous improvements for each product line and across the product platform
• With the newness of our shelter series and developer (pro) series lines and the level of customizations of our design series line, you will need to maintain a certain degree of fluidity in our product line designs and ensure that the product development process remains ongoing
• Carefully balance all product design decisions with aesthetic and user needs, cost impact and manufacturing impact, with an eye towards always maximizing the work that we can complete in our factory
• Oversee and manage the workflow of the Product Director, product team, product consultants and the technology/ BIM team
• Look for ways to make process improvements at the hand-offs along the product lifecycle – from the project management team to the product team and from the product team to the manufacturing team
• Lead a cross functional team for the ongoing product development of the pro series line, continuing the product development through the first prototype build and then the implementation of learnings back into the product design
• Work and collaborate with the sales and business development teams to develop product configurations for larger potential projects through the shelter and developer channels
• Work and collaborate with the Design management team to review customization requests and unique project conditions and to develop product solutions
• Work and collaborate with the manufacturing team to continually optimize designs for manufacturing, look at opportunities to use more sub assembly processes and reduce build time and build costs
• Work and collaborate with the field and installation team to continually optimize designs to minimize the work in the field and the reduce the overall installation time
• Assist in developing our software and technology roadmap, including defining and embedding product rules into our BIM modeling, optimizing sub-assembly development and identifying and implementing a software platform approach to our design and fabrication processes
• Ongoing research into new products, materials, systems, finishes and assemblies
• Perform other duties as required

What You Will Bring

• Combination of Master’s Degree in Architecture, Manufacturing and Construction
• 10+ years of experience in Architecture, Manufacturing and Construction, with hands-on experience in the field during all phases of manufacturing/construction
• Manufacturing operational experience. This does not need to be specific to construction, but experience in a manufacturing work environment and an understanding of assembly line principles and processes.
• A passion for innovation, challenging the status-quo and developing an execution strategy
• Demonstrated success in being a results-driven leader who can promote collaboration and foster strong relationships along a cross-functional leadership team while advocating for our product vision

Nice to Haves

• Experience in on-site construction, either in prefab single family housing or multi-family housing experience.