Associate Product Development & Commercialization Manager

Chicago, IL | Hybrid — Three Days In Office

The Opportunity

Chartwell Studio is seeking an organized, creatively minded Associate Product Development & Commercialization Manager to help develop and launch the next generation of wall décor products.

This hands-on role combines product development, customer insight, merchandising, and product marketing. You will turn market opportunities into compelling, manufacturable products and help position them for successful retail and e-commerce launches.

A key responsibility will be partnering with leadership to help develop and commercialize a new architecturally inspired brand, while also supporting innovation across Main Street Wall Creations and Wallwear.

Key Responsibilities

Product Development

• Manage multiple projects from concept through prototyping, testing, production approval, and launch.
• Maintain timelines, sample trackers, specifications, test results, revisions, and approvals.
• Create an organized, accessible system for product-development and testing information.
• Coordinate deliverables across internal teams, factories, suppliers, overseas agents, and engineering partners.
• Evaluate prototypes, materials, packaging, displays, and production samples.
• Provide clear supplier feedback and identify development risks early.
• Collaborate with domestic and Overseas manufacturers.

Innovation and Customer Insight

• Partner with leadership to translate the vision for a new architecturally inspired brand into product direction and launch plans.
• Research customer needs, retail trends, competitors, materials, and market opportunities.
• Propose new products, features, formats, and customer-experience improvements.
• Bring creative thinking to product design, functionality, packaging, installation, and merchandising.
• Balance innovation with manufacturability, cost, retail pricing, durability, and ease of use.
• Turn testing results and customer feedback into actionable recommendations.

Product Marketing and Merchandising

• Develop product positioning, customer benefits, key selling points, and launch stories.
• Translate technical features into clear, consumer-relevant reasons to buy.
• Create product briefs, presentations, retail concepts, competitive comparisons, and launch materials.
• Support packaging, product photography, demonstrations, installation guidance, and digital content.
• Develop planograms, renders, displays, prototypes, and merchandising visualizations.
• Collaborate with sales, e-commerce, brand, and creative teams to deliver consistent product stories across channels.

Qualifications

• 5–7 years of experience in product development, product management, industrial design, merchandising, consumer-product marketing, or a related field.
• Experience taking physical consumer products from concept through production and launch.
• Experience working with factories, suppliers, engineers, designers, or overseas development partners.
• Strong project-management skills with close attention to organization, documentation, and follow-through.
• Customer-centered thinking with strong creative and commercial judgment.
• Strong visual communication, presentation, and product-storytelling skills.
• Proficiency with relevant design or visualization tools. Experience with Rhino, SolidWorks, Fusion 360, KeyShot, Adobe Creative Suite, or similar software is preferred.
• Comfortable working hands-on with prototypes, samples, materials, displays, and fixtures.
• Proactive, resourceful, and able to move between creative thinking and detailed execution.

Who Will Thrive Here

You are both a builder and an organizer. You bring structure to complex projects while contributing original ideas and thoughtful customer insight.

You understand that a successful product requires more than a strong concept. It also requires disciplined development, effective testing, manufacturing feasibility, clear communication, and strong commercialization that meets our customers’ needs.

About Chartwell Studio

Chartwell Studio is a second-generation product company developing trend-forward home décor for major retailers and consumers across North America. We specialize in peel-and-stick wall décor and are expanding into a broader range of accessible wall-transformation products.

Our portfolio includes Main Street Wall Creations, serving the value-oriented mass market; Wallwear, our elevated wall décor brand; and a developing architecturally inspired brand.

We offer a collaborative hybrid work environment, with team members working from our Chicago office three days per week.