Product Manager - Manufacturing (Games)

We're on the look out for a Product Manager to join our team of 'tatos'. This role exists to make sure our games get made properly. You’ll assist in the costing, specification and manufacturing of our products - working with factories in China and managing timelines, specs, costs and materials, making sure projects go to print/tooling/ordering and delivered on time. This is not a creative or gameplay role. It’s about process, development, and getting things over the line.

What You’ll Be Doing

• End-to-End Manufacturing
  • Own the manufacturing lifecycle for a range of products (10-30 new or updated SKU's per annum), from factory brief to shipment.
  • Be a key point of contact for factories and suppliers in China (Ningbo/Dongguan and potentially Vietnam and Latin America in the future, this will require some travel for factory visits).
  • Manage specifications, materials, tooling and production methods (Injection/roto molding, print finishes, & paper engineering).
  • Make decisions that balance cost, quality and speed and responsible for sign off with Game Development.
• Production Planning & Control
  • Build and maintain detailed production schedules.
  • Track critical paths, dependencies and deadlines.
  • Manage changes, reworks and knock-on impacts.
  • Keep production moving when things inevitably go wrong.
• Quality & Compliance
  • Aid quality standards, by working with a junior colleague.
  • Review pre-production, golden and mass-production samples.
  • Manage tolerances, colour consistency and materials.
  • Ensure, along with colleagues, all products meet safety testing, compliance and regulatory requirements.
• Costing & Commercial Discipline
  • Be a key contact for costings and margin assumptions from a manufacturing perspective.
  • Flag risks early when costs drift or specs creep.
  • Support print-run decisions with clear manufacturing insight.
  • Understand how factory decisions affect retail pricing and profitability.
• Process & Continuous Improvement
  • Improve manufacturing workflows, documentation and handovers.
  • Build repeatable systems so future products run more smoothly.
  • Capture learnings from every production and feed them back into process.
  • Reduce surprises, firefighting and last-minute fixes over time.
• Internal Coordination
  • Be a key contact as an operational bridge between creative, logistics and factories.
  • Translate creative intent into clear, manufacturable requirements.
  • Be clear, direct and pragmatic when something can't (or shouldn't) be made, whilst always striving to make the impossible, possible.

Requirements

Essential

• Good experience in manufacturing, production or operations roles.
• Hands-on experience working with factories in China.
• Strong understanding of production workflows, tooling and materials.
• Excellent attention to detail and process thinking.
• Confidence making difficult calls on cost, quality and timing.
• Experience in either board games, toys or similar consumer products.

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with freight, shipping and logistics.
• Experience with factory audits or QC processes.

Reporting to Production Director

What Success Looks Like

• Improved sample approval cycle times.
• Improved cost predictability vs forecast.
• Fewer surprises late in production.
• Clear, predictable manufacturing timelines.
• Products that arrive on time, on cost and at the right quality.
• Processes that get better with every product we ship.

About Big Potato

We're an indie board game company based in Clerkenwell. From quiz games to drawing games, TV game shows to mobile apps, we like to turn our hands to all sorts. No matter what the project, we always try to stick to one golden rule: to make sure our games are easy to understand, fun to play and guaranteed to get the party started. We’re committed to building a team that reflects a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives, and we encourage applications from underrepresented groups.

Benefits

• Annual Leave Entitlement (Full-time): 16 days, in addition to Bank and Public Holidays.
• We work a four-day week (we were one of the first companies to implement this and we’ve never looked back).
• Enrolment in the Employee Benefit Trust after 12 months (everyone owns a part of the Big Potato).
• Free BUPA private healthcare.
• Access to the Government Pension Scheme.
• Each year you are entitled to a £500 bonus (pro rata) to put towards your holiday.
• Free fruit, snacks, soft drinks, office wine & beers, tea & coffee.
• Discounted gym.
• Free monthly yoga.
• Monthly paid socials.
• Summer and Christmas Party.
• Free games.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Free eye tests.