Overview
Director of Product Development Jobs in United States at Sky Castle Toys
Title: Director of Product Development
Company: Sky Castle Toys
Location: United States
Product Development Director
U.S. Based | Sky Castle Toys Inc.
Position Summary
The Product Development Director leads the end-to-end development of Sky Castle Toys' product portfolio, from concept through mass production. The role bridges U.S. creative, marketing, licensing, and sales teams with the China-based development, engineering, and production organization. The Director owns timelines, technical execution, and team management across multiple concurrent product lines.
Job Responsibilities
• Manage the design and development process for both new and existing toy products from initial concept through final production readiness.
• Collaborate with internal creative, marketing, licensing, and sales teams to translate product concepts into commercially viable products.
• Oversee product development timelines, ensuring all milestone dates, approvals, and deliverables are achieved on schedule.
• Build and maintain detailed development calendars and tracking systems for all active projects.
• Coordinate the creation and refinement of product specifications, packaging requirements, artwork files, and engineering documentation.
• Serve as the primary liaison between U.S.-based teams and China development, engineering, and production staff.
• Manage the transfer of approved designs and technical specifications to the China manufacturing team to ensure accurate execution and product quality.
• Review prototypes, engineering samples, pre-production samples, and production submissions to ensure consistency with approved designs and quality standards.
• Work closely with China sourcing and engineering teams to troubleshoot development issues, improve manufacturability, and identify cost-saving opportunities without compromising product integrity.
• Track product development progress across multiple projects simultaneously and proactively identify risks or delays.
• Candidates need to be very detail-oriented, and this is our filter. In the LI application are screening questions. Start your answer for screening question #1, labeled "What is the Secret password", with "803" otherwise your application will not be reviewed or considered.
• Maintain development schedules across the full project portfolio.
• Work with the China team to create RFQs and assist in vetting new factories.
• Work with the Compliance team to set strict protocols for monitoring product specs and requirements in pre-production, inline, and post-production phases.
• Oversee and manage various roles within the product development department, including but not limited to graphic designers, product designers, engineers, project managers, and illustrators.
• Participate in ideation sessions and contribute innovative product ideas, features, and play patterns aligned with market trends and brand objectives.
• Work with external inventors to develop concepts that have been optioned by the company. Assess new product concepts for feasibility and design, and develop concepts into viable products.
Qualifications
• Firm understanding of the U.S. toy competitive landscape, with a keen eye for branding and product engineering.
• Proven track record managing toy product development from concept through mass production.
• Experience leading distributed teams across U.S. and Asia.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to track multiple programs simultaneously.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, founder-led, entrepreneurial environment.
Travel
• Role requires 4 to 6 trips to China per year, with each trip consisting of 7 to 14 days based out of our Shenzhen office.
Reports To
CEO
Manages
- U.S. and Hong Kong based product and packaging design teams.
