Product Development Specialist
Job Description
Title: Product Development Specialist
Location:Lodi, NJ
Compensation: $100-125k
Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k, product discounts
Overview:
We’re looking for a highly organized Product Development Manager to drive the full product development process from concept through final samples. This is a process-focused role with no direct people management. You’ll act as the central connection point between sales, marketing, sourcing, engineering, and manufacturing to ensure new products move efficiently through the development pipeline.
Job Duties:
• Manage up to 50 concurrent product development projects, guiding each from initial concept to final sample approval.
• Serve as the main communication link between sales/product marketing and engineering/factory teams to ensure clear, accurate execution of requests.
• Oversee development of new and custom products, including sample review and approvals.
• Coordinate testing and evaluations with engineering, sourcing, and product development groups.
• Partner with product managers to ensure new products align with catalog direction and overall business strategy.
• Monitor critical product specifications, including color accuracy and design details.
• Utilize design tools (Adobe, CAD, Illustrator) when beneficial.
• Continuously identify opportunities to streamline and improve the 9–12 month product development cycle.
Qualifications:
• 3–5+ years of high-volume product development experience, ideally with a strong record of launching 50+ products early in your career.
• Strong process management skills; experience in sourcing strategy is a plus.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-variety project environment.
• Excellent communication skills to effectively bridge sales, engineering, and factory teams.
• Genuine passion for innovation and bringing new ideas to life.
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.
Meet Your Recruiter
Alicia Alexander
Technical Recruiter & Team Mentor
Alicia Alexander is a Technical Recruiter and Team Mentor at Sterling Engineering with four years of recruiting experience and nearly three years with Sterling. She specializes in engineering, manufacturing, and technical recruiting, supporting roles across maintenance, reliability, operations, engineering, and industrial environments, including food and life sciences.
Alicia is passionate about helping people find careers where they feel genuinely happy, supported, and positioned for long-term growth. She enjoys building meaningful relationships with candidates, helping them take the next step in their careers, and supporting companies as they build strong, high-performing teams.
With a background in psychology and human resources from North Central College, Alicia brings a people-focused approach to recruiting. Her understanding of relationship building, communication, and candidate motivation helps her create successful matches between talent and opportunity.
Alicia is known for developing strong partnerships with both candidates and hiring managers, with a focus on creating long-term placements that benefit both the individual and the organization.