Cassandra Maktabi
About Cassandra Maktabi
Cassandra Maktabi serves as the Advanced New Product Development Manager at Spectrum Brands, Inc., where she has worked since 2020. With a strong background in mechanical engineering and extensive experience in product development, she manages significant budgets and leads cross-functional innovation sessions.
Current Role at Spectrum Brands
Cassandra Maktabi serves as the Advanced New Product Development Manager at Spectrum Brands, Inc. She has held this position since 2020, contributing to the company's innovation strategies in the Madison, Wisconsin Area. In her current role, she is responsible for overseeing the development of new products and managing a budget of $1 million for outside services, alongside a $2.1 million budget for intellectual property spending.
Previous Experience at Spectrum Brands
Cassandra Maktabi has extensive experience at Spectrum Brands, Inc., where she worked in various roles from 2012 to 2020. She began as an Associate New Product Development Manager from 2012 to 2014, then progressed to New Product Development Manager from 2014 to 2018, and later served as Senior New Product Development Manager from 2018 to 2020. Her tenure at the company spanned eight years, during which she developed significant expertise in product innovation and management.
Education and Expertise
Cassandra Maktabi earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed her undergraduate studies from 2005 to 2010 and her graduate studies from 2011 to 2013. Additionally, she has a background in business, having pursued a certificate during her time as a graduate student.
Professional Development and Training Initiatives
Cassandra Maktabi has organized training sessions focused on Voice of Consumer and Quality Function Deployment. She implemented workshops for 45 cross-functional participants, enhancing collaboration and innovation within the organization. Furthermore, she runs three cross-functional, virtual ideation sessions each quarter, emphasizing both divergent and convergent thinking to foster a robust innovation pipeline.
Sustainability and Competitive Analysis
In her role, Cassandra Maktabi participates in the business unit's sustainability strategy, developing processes to explore technologies that align with sustainability claims based on consumer insights. She also conducts competitive analysis in the intellectual property space across six distinct categories, providing quarterly updates and identifying new technologies as necessary.