Burial Product Manager

At Batesville, you will be a part of a dynamic team committed to excellence and innovation. A recognized leader in the death care industry in North America, we are committed to our mission of helping families honor the lives of those they love®.

Batesville has been named one of the Most Trustworthy Companies in America by Newsweek for three consecutive years, reflecting our commitment to quality, integrity, and the trust families and funeral professionals place in us every day

We are currently seeking a Product Marketing Manager to join our team in Batesville, Indiana. This is a hybrid position, requiring 2-3 days per week in our Batesville office.

Your Role at Batesville:

As a Product Marketing Manager, you will be responsible for owning the strategy, portfolio health, and lifecycle performance of Batesville's burial casket and related hardgoods product lines — the company's core, revenue-defining category. This role acts as the general manager of the Burial portfolio: setting product strategy and roadmap, prioritizing innovation and renovation investment, partnering on pricing and margin, and ensuring the category stays ahead of shifting funeral home, family, and demographic trends in a mature but still-evolving market.

This is a highly cross-functional role sitting at the intersection of commercial strategy, manufacturing/operations, sales, and marketing. The Product Manager, Burial partners closely with peers leading the Cremation and Digital portfolios, and reports into the CMDO's Product Management pillar alongside Strategy & GTM and Corporate Capabilities. Success in this role requires equal comfort with quantitative category analytics (share, mix, margin, elasticity) and qualitative field insight gathered directly from funeral home directors and families.

How You’ll be Rewarded:

• Batesville is a family. You will be part of a family of highly committed associates who are passionate about our company, committed to our customers and excited about our future.
• The expected base salary range for this role is $105,000- $120,000 per year. Actual compensation within this range will be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to qualifications, skills, experience, and location.
• IMMEDIATE ELIGIBILITY – Comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance, as well as prescription coverage, short-term disability, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and more.
• Generous 401K Matching Program
• Paid time off
• Opportunities for development and advancement

What You’ll Do:

Category Strategy & Portfolio Management

• Own the Burial product roadmap — balancing core-line stability, premium/upgrade innovation, and value-tier competitiveness.
• Conduct ongoing portfolio health analysis (sales, share, mix, margin, SKU productivity) and recommend rationalization or investment.
• Build and maintain a multi-year category plan that accounts for shifting burial/cremation preference mix and demographic trends.
• Define and track category-level KPIs and report performance to CMDO and executive leadership.

Product Development & Innovation

• Lead new product development from concept through launch, partnering with Design, Manufacturing, and Sourcing.
• Translate funeral home and consumer/family insights into clear product requirements and business cases.
• Manage the renovation and refresh cadence for existing product families to protect share and relevance.
• Evaluate materials, finishes, and personalization/customization opportunities that differentiate Batesville's offering.

Pricing, Merchandising & Channel Enablement

• Partner with Revenue & Pricing on price architecture, tiering, and promotional strategy for the Burial line.
• Develop merchandising and selection-room strategies (physical and digital) that improve presentation and conversion at the funeral home.
• Create sales tools, print materials, and training content that help the field sales organization position the portfolio effectively.
• Partner with Digital Product Management on how Burial products are represented across Batesville Connect, Digital Showroom, and Remembrance Store.

Market & Competitive Insight

• Maintain a current view of competitor product, pricing, and M&A activity across the deathcare industry.
• Conduct regular field research — funeral home visits, director interviews, win/loss reviews — to ground strategy in frontline reality.
• Apply quantitative market research methods (e.g., conjoint, discrete choice) where useful to validate product and pricing decisions.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Act as the primary product owner for the Burial category across Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sales, Finance, and Marketing.
• Represent the Burial portfolio in CMDO leadership forums and broader executive planning cycles.
• Partner with peer Product Managers (Cremation, Digital) to ensure a coherent, non-cannibalizing portfolio strategy.

What You’ll Bring:

• Bachelor’s degree (B.S./B.A.) or equivalent from a college or university in Marketing, Engineering, or financial field
• Minimum of 5 years’ related Product Management experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience with an emphasis in Marketing and Product Management.
• Experience in the funeral, deathcare, or broader durable/legacy-goods industry.
• Experience partnering with field sales organizations and independent/dealer-style distribution channels.
• Exposure to digital merchandising or e-commerce as a complement to a traditional physical product line.
• Demonstrated experience owning a P&L-adjacent product category — including pricing, mix, and margin accountability.
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills; comfort working with sales, share, and market research data to drive decisions.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams without direct authority, and to operate effectively with Manufacturing/Operations partners.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience presenting to senior executive audiences.

Travel

Associate must be able to travel 5 % of the time.  

Physical Requirements:

To perform this job successfully, the physical demands listed are representative of those that must be met by an employee. Reasonable accommodation(s) may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, stand, walk, use hands to handle and feel, reach with hands and arms, talk, and hear. The employee may occasionally be required to crouch, or lift items as heavy as 25 lbs. This job may require the employee to see with clarity at both near and far distances.

DISCLAIMER: The above information on this job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by the employee within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of any employee assigned to this job. Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.

 

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