Head of Product Development & Innovation at KittySpout · Shenzhen

Head of Product Development & Innovation

A profitable DTC pet brand doing $50M+ a year is looking for a Head of Product Development to join our team! You will own every new product end to end, from the customer problem to mass production: industrial design, engineering, prototypes, patents, factories, cost and quality. This is a builder role: you will build our product function from the ground up, using contract engineers, design studios, building your team and factories in Shenzhen rather than an already set team.

We are looking for someone with 6–8+ years of building great physical products end to end, who has already built and run a product team (design, patents, factories). You are fluent in English and Mandarin, based in Shenzhen, Dongguan or Hong Kong, and in factories, design agencies and studios in person every week. The end goal: someone who can consistently create market-leading products in our industry.

The mission of this role

Build the products that make our brands the best pet brands in their categories. This role owns every new product end to end, from the customer problem to mass production: industrial design, engineering, prototypes, patents, factories, cost and quality. You will build the product function from nothing, using contract engineers, design studios, hiring your own team and factories in Shenzhen. Success is great products launched on time, at their target cost and margin, protected before any factory sees them, and better than anything competitors sell.

Who are we?

We're a profitable, premium DTC pet brand selling stainless steel cat water fountains, filters and accessories. We sell across Shopify, Amazon and Chewy, and we're one of the fastest-growing brands in the pet space – $50M+ in annual revenue and scaling to $100M+. We recently launched a second brand, expanding into an entirely new vertical and customer base. We're a 100% remote, lean, senior team that moves fast, and every person here has a massive impact on the business.

What is our culture like & who is a good fit?

Culture-fit is our #1 factor when hiring! We have a genuine will-to-win. No work is beneath us if it moves us towards our goals. We use creativity to do more with less – and quickly. We use data to make decisions and live by four core values:

• Better Everyday: improve every product after launch from reviews, returns and defects, and make the development process faster and cheaper with each product.
• Speed Is King: get from brief to first prototype in weeks, not months, make stage-gate calls on time, and fix factory problems the day they come up.
• Work Smart: use contractors, studios and AI instead of a large salaried team. For example, use Claude to turn reviews and return reasons into product ideas, draft and translate factory messages and specs, and fill the weekly update automatically.
• Overdeliver: bring the CEO product ideas, cost-downs and factory options before being asked, and launch products that beat the brief on cost or quality.

If you want a stress-free corporate 9–5 job, this isn't it.

If you want to challenge yourself and shape a fast-growing company, work directly with the founder, and play a big role in scaling it to $100M+... If you want to drive results with a group of passionate, smart, hardworking people, in an environment without politics or corporate chicanery, being hands-on and active – then you've come to the right place.

Outcomes (what success looks like)

90-day targets for each outcome are agreed with you before your start date.

• New products launch on time: launch date vs the date agreed in the brief, per product
• Products hit their target cost and margin: landed cost per unit and gross margin at launch vs the brief
• Customers love the new products: star rating, return rate and defect rate in the first 90 days vs our core products
• New products grow revenue: revenue from products launched in the last 24 months as a % of total revenue
• Every design is protected before a factory sees it: patents filed before factory contact; NNN and IP assignment signed with every supplier and contractor

Key Objectives

• Build and own the product roadmap for both brands (roughly one main launch a quarter, plus consumables, accessories and upgrades), ranked by revenue potential and margin.
• Turn customer reviews, support tickets, return reasons and competitor products into product ideas, and write a signed-off brief for every product.
• Hire and run contract industrial designers, engineers and design studios in Shenzhen, and take every product through clear stage gates to mass production.
• File patents in China and the US and lock down every design with NNNs, IP assignments and mold ownership before any factory sees it.
• Find, vet and run Pearl River Delta factories, and hold landed cost and margin to the brief.
• Set the quality standard for each product, get the certifications it needs, and hand it over ready to launch.
• Build the product function: documented processes, a weekly product update, and the next product hires when the roadmap needs them.

Requirements

• Based in Shenzhen, Dongguan or Hong Kong, and able to visit factories, design agencies and studios in person every week
• Fluent in English and Mandarin (English with the CEO and team, Mandarin with factories and engineers)
• Product Experience: 6–8+ years building physical products end to end is a must, with several products taken from idea through mass production and launch, ideally consumer hardware with electronics.
• Team Builder: You have already built and run a product team (design, engineering, patents, factories), including contractors and studios.
• Factory Management: You find, vet and run Chinese factories, and negotiate price, MOQ, tooling and quality in Mandarin.
• IP Protection: You have filed patents in China and/or the US, and know how to protect designs with NNNs, IP assignments and mold ownership.
• Cost Discipline: You design to a target landed cost and margin, and hold it through tooling and production.
• Engineering Judgement: You understand mechanical, electrical and firmware trade-offs well enough to lead engineers and catch problems early.
• Customer Insight: You turn reviews, returns and pet behaviour into products people want, not just products that can be made.
• No issue working overtime or on the weekends if needed. You are passionate about your work.
• Excellent cultural fit as per our values above.
• Excited to play a big role in scaling the company and work closely with the founder.
• Bonus points: pet products, small appliances or app-connected devices shipped end to end.

Accountabilities

What you own. Each one is checked green, yellow or red every week.

• Product roadmap and briefs: Agree the roadmap with the CEO each quarter, and get a signed-off brief (customer problem, retail price, landed cost, margin, launch date) for every product before design starts.
• Design, engineering and prototypes: Move every product in development forward each week through the stage gates (concept, industrial design, engineering, prototype, EVT/DVT/PVT, mass production), test prototypes with real cats and dogs, and own firmware and the companion app for connected products.
• Patents and design protection: File every design before any factory sees it, get our NNN signed by every supplier, and make sure every contractor has signed an IP assignment and molds and tooling are ours in writing.
• Factories, cost and tooling: Pick the factory for each new product, agree unit cost, MOQ, tooling and lead time, and hold landed cost and margin to the brief.
• Quality and launch handover: Pass testing, certification and inspection before mass production, hand each product over ready to launch, and fix defects and returns with the factory for 90 days after launch.
• Build the product function and reporting: Post a weekly product update, set monthly Rocks with the CEO, write the product process as SOPs, and plan the next product hires.

How Our Hiring Works & How We Operate

(1) Application + Screening Interview

(2) In-depth Interview with the CEO

(3) Reference Calls

(4) Final Interview with the CEO

Salary Expectation

US$135,000–175,000 per year base, plus up to 20% of base in milestone bonuses (stage gates hit on time, landed cost on target, defect and return rates, patents filed).