Product Management Roles and Hierarchy - A List of All Product Management Roles
It’s a bit of a dirty word, isn’t it? It suggests a definite split between classes, a forced division of power.
Still, that’s one way of looking at it in a social sense.
But in the heady world of business, especially tech, hierarchy is vital.
Why?
Because tech companies live or die on the strength of their products and that means the product management team has to be firing on all cylinders (pardon the cliche).
But that’s not easy.
Why?
Because a product management team isn’t made up of just one or two people. It’s a tightly structured department comprising hard-working professionals with a shared goal: bringing the best product the company is capable of to market.
There’s a clear hierarchy in product teams. But, what exactly does each role involve? What’s expected of them? And — because we’re all curious about each other’s money — how much do they earn?
Junior Product Manager / Associate Product Manager
This is the first rung on the ladder to the top of the product-management food chain (to mix metaphors a little).
As you might have worked out by the name, a Junior Product Manager position is for newcomers to a company.
It’s an entry-level role usually filled by graduates with some experience or those with a beneficial background in other industries.
But just because a Junior Product Manager is product management on a smaller scale doesn’t mean it’s easy to work. They still need to bring ideas to the table and offer valuable input whenever the opportunity arises.
Main responsibilities
A Junior Product Manager may be assigned to work on a small feature or minor area of a product’s overall development, though they’ll still receive leadership from a senior product manager.
They may be expected to prioritize tasks and collaborate with team members at different levels.
They’ll be involved with a development team and take some responsibility for its progress too, aiming to prove themselves suitable for a senior role in the future.
Average salary
In the US, a Junior Product Manager’s base salary is typically around $37,000, though it may be significantly higher depending on the scale of the tech company. In Europe, it hovers around the €26,000 mark.
Product Manager
The next step up from Junior Product Manager, a Product Manager will take more responsibility and enjoy greater independence in their day-to-day tasks.
Generally, a technical Product Manager will lead product development teams’ work and has a tighter grip on the specifics of proper prioritization.
Good communication and collaborative skills are fundamental, even more so than with Junior Product Managers (where both attributes will strengthen if they’re weak, to begin with).
The Product Manager also serves as a conduit between the product’s developers and other key stakeholders, helping to keep the product on track.
Main responsibilities
A good technical Product Manager has an in-depth understanding of a product’s purpose, USP(s), and value to customers. The customer journey is an important aspect of their work, and they’ll help to keep the product team focused on satisfying user needs.
Product Managers are goal-oriented and help devise strategies that advance the product along its journey to market effectively.
Performing well in a technical Product Manager role will demonstrate the individual’s strengths and candidacy for a role further up the hierarchy. They will be overseen by Senior Product Managers and/or Product Owners.
Average salary
US-based Product Managers may expect to earn a great salary, from around $68,000 and up. European Product Managers typically pull in competitive salaries starting at approximately €57,000.
Product Owner
As a job title, Product Owner is a little less explanatory than the previous two.
Basically, a Product Owner takes responsibility for establishing, prioritizing, and overseeing the work performed by the team to ensure the final product achieves its potential.
They act as the client’s voice and collaborate with stakeholders to keep them updated on progress (and share stakeholders’ expectations/concerns with the development team).
Main responsibilities
Their work involves collating requests for product features, scheduling upcoming releases, and — in Agile environments — coordinating sprints.
A good Product Owner has the skills to pinpoint user needs and understand expectations at a deeper level than Product Managers. They will take a more direct role in directing products to align with the original vision and intention, as well as representing the company at its very best.
A Product Owner essentially represents the end-user and ensures their needs are met. They should serve as an ambassador for products in an external and internal capacity, too, while being the main contact for major product-related queries.
In short, the Product Owner is a critical link between the ‘client’ (this can be an internal client) and the team responsible for bringing the product to fruition. Any problems or decisions that must be made to that end will involve the Product Owner in one way or another.
Average salary
Product Owners in the US can earn as much as $99,000 and above, while their European counterparts may secure around €63,000 per year.
Senior Product Manager
Anyone stepping into a Senior Product Manager role has experience in the field. They’ve likely worked their way up from a more junior role, so years of training and skill development are usually part of the road to this position.
In truth, the Senior Product Manager performs the same job as a Product Manager — so where does their seniority come into play?
Main responsibilities
Well, typically speaking, a Senior Product Manager will look after a portfolio of products, meaning they are looking after multiple products at once.
Senior Product Managers are usually tasked with enhancing the value of existing products, too, maximizing the profitability of investments already out there on the market.
They should have an eye for innovation and a natural flair for knowing what consumers want.
They will likely liaise with the Product Owner to ensure their product portfolio aligns with the client’s and users' needs as best it can. And they’ll communicate with the Product Lead too, as well as being responsible for Junior Product Managers and Product Managers.
Senior Product Managers collaborate with marketing teams to ensure the most accurate, compelling, and exciting message is conveyed in preparation for the launch (and beyond).
Average salary
Senior Product Managers may earn upwards of $120,000 in the United States. And those in Europe? Around €78000.
Product Director
Product Directors benefit more from good people skills than those in the roles we’ve looked at so far.
They’re less involved with the day-to-day tasks related to the development of products. Instead, they focus more on the overall strategy and leading product managers at lower levels.
Main responsibilities
The Product Director must have a strong background in product management and understand the product job responsibilities of those across the development team. They’ll attend meetings on a regular basis, interacting with those from inside and outside the company.
Another aspect of the Product Director’s work is researching and understanding competitors.
Creating products that not only compete with similar ones but actually blow them out of the water is vital to make a powerful market impact.
They’ll study the current status of competing products available and identify exactly why theirs is such a valuable addition to the mix.
The Product Director will know the product roadmap inside out, and play a direct role in planning it. They’ll be as comfortable with strategizing as they are with monitoring progress and success in a holistic way.
Product Directors should be inspiring and natural leaders.
They will have a sense of authority and experience but must have an approachable attitude too. Why? Because other members of the development team, and those across other departments, will seek them out frequently.
This might be to pick their brains or update them on the latest progress, but in any case, the Product Director can’t afford to intimidate those at lower levels so much that they actually avoid interacting with them.
Average salary
A US-based Product Director could earn a huge salary, starting from around $150,000. That’s an incredible income in exchange for what may be intense work, particularly when a product approaches its launch date. European Product Directors, on the other hand, can pull in around €110,000.
VP
The VP is a common fixture in bigger tech companies with a sizeable portfolio of products and several layers of management.
In smaller businesses and startups, the Head of Product may have less experience but is still the most senior product-development expert.
Main responsibilities
The Head of Product is similar to the Product Director role, with much of the work involving managing those other Product Managers taking a hands-on approach.
The Head of Product may have a responsibility for managing the team’s overall budget and representing executives.
Their work can also require them to represent the business to the public, perhaps when providing the media with in-depth information on an existing or forthcoming product.
Average salary
A Head of Product in the US could receive a salary of up to $180,000 or thereabouts, and in Europe will earn somewhere in the region of €95,000.
Chief Product Officer
Finally, let’s talk about the Chief Product Officer.
The Chief Product Officer (CPO) plays a critical part in a product’s development, becoming deeply involved in the vision, strategy, marketing, and more.
They should be something of a visionary and have extensive leadership skills, particularly when motivating and managing other product-management seniors.
Main responsibilities
The CPO will collaborate with the manufacturing and distribution teams, overseeing all aspects of the product’s progression from its original concept through to its post-launch success. Studying the market, competitors and reviewing strategies relevant to the product’s release is also another element of the CPO’s duties.
They have a responsibility to ensure all products offer real value, are sustainable, and generate revenue for the company.
Average salary
They may be able to earn as much as $300,000 in the US and around €100,000 across Europe.
Product Lead
A Product Lead is one of the more senior roles that still has a hand in the actual development and technical responsibilities for a product. Product Leads are key members of cross-functional product development teams and they will be responsible for interacting and coordinating between departments. They need to work closely with Senior Product Managers and Product Owners to keep the product on target throughout the development process.
Anyone looking to become a product lead needs to be flexible, knowledgeable, and comfortable managing multiple teams. While the role is still mostly focused on the product rather than management, it is still a leadership role. You will be expected to deliver against strategy and have one eye on the bigger picture too.
Main responsibilities
The actual responsibilities of a Product Lead depend on the company’s needs and the project at hand. Three of the most common definitions of this role look like this:
The senior product manager is responsible for a complex product that is made up of several individual components or apps (each having its own product manager).
A senior product professional in charge of driving the development of a new product for a large company.
An experienced product manager that is responsible for driving product strategy, managing and mentoring other product managers, and more.
The Product Lead role isn’t unlike the Senior Product Manager or VP, except they’re focused more on the hands-on aspect of development rather than intensive management. Product Leads may come from more of technical background and bring remarkable knowledge of a product and its audience to the company.
Average salary
Product Leads in the US can earn an average of $148,246 per year, while those working in London can expect an annual salary of around £77,500.
Head of Product
The Head of Product (also referred to as VP of Product) is typically responsible for managing the product management group as a whole. As a member of the company’s leadership team, the Head of Product is responsible for defining and driving high-level initiatives that support the business’s goals.
Main responsibilities
The main responsibility of a Head of Product will be to guide improvement within the teams they work with. They should be making sure that everyone working under them is a strong player. Managing products is very different from managing people, and knowing who has the skills to move up in your organization can be a big challenge.
The Head of Product is often closely involved in marketing efforts to ensure the customers understand the full range of the product’s benefits. They may also be involved in the design and engineering process. Those who take up the Head of Product role have the ability to significantly change the direction of product management at a company and shape its Product Culture.
A great Head of Product will make the effort to interact with customers as well as internal teams. They also need to be able to speak with authority to engineering teams while making sure they don’t step on the toes of the Head/VP of Engineering. To do this, you should make sure you have experience managing an engineering team at some point in your career, especially if you’re not familiar with coding. You don’t need to learn how to code, but if you have managed an engineering team, you’ll get the idea enough to speak with confidence as Head of Product.
The ideal candidate for a Head of Product role will have a great mix of hard and soft product management skills, including strategic thinking, flexibility, marketing, and all the typical traits you need to work with product development.
Average salary
With such a wide range of skills under their belt, it’s no surprise that a Head of Product can pull in between $227,490 and $285,690 in the US.
Principal Product Manager
A principal product manager (PPM) is a senior product manager who doesn’t have any people-management responsibilities. This is a perfect role for those who are incredibly technically-minded but struggle with managing people.
A PPM will be highly experienced with solid track records of successful execution, oversight, and ownership of various product management processes.
Main responsibilities
Exact responsibilities can change depending on the company and project they’re working on, but typically a PPM will be responsible for aligning stakeholders, representing the voice of customers (VOC), and extracting insights from performance data.
The number one priority for a Principal Product Manager is developing and communicating the product strategy. This requires them to define goals that align with business objectives and a product vision for the teams to work towards. They will also create a detailed list describing the specific internal efforts that are required to achieve the product vision. All of this will be compressed into a detailed, high-level roadmap that will be shared between the marketing, design, and engineering teams.
You could say that a PPM acts like the glue between the development teams, the stakeholders, and the customers. They work together with product leaders, product marketing managers, and product development managers to create plans of action that align with strategic initiatives. They will then take these plans and talk to stakeholders to ensure they’re aligned with the current objectives.
On top of this, a PPM is responsible for leading internal discussions and ensuring these discussions end in some form of tangible outcome. They can do this by using insights taken from performance data and leveraging their experience to come up with potential solutions to potential issues. Again, this will all be communicated to the stakeholders to ensure alignment.
A crucial part of the Principal Product Manager’s role is to ensure the customer is represented throughout development. A PPM should be working closely with marketing and research teams to develop a strong understanding on specific pain points. This gives customers the chance to influence new products or features based on real usage.
Average salary
A Principal Product Manager will earn an average of £96,000 a year in the UK and over $150,000 a year in the US.
AI Product Manager
As far as job titles go, AI Product Manager is a relatively new but incredibly sought-after one. In a nutshell, AI PMs operate similarly to traditional product managers. AI Product Managers are required to have a data-first mentality to help them approach AI initiatives differently.
AI product management's key aspects include additional input, problem mapping, and communication.
Main responsibilities
The responsibilities of an AI Product Manager are similar to a traditional product manager but obviously more focused on artificial intelligence. They are required to lead products from conception to release, including any problem mapping, creation of timelines/roadmaps, performing experimentation, customer feedback analysis, and much more.
AI PMs should be creative thinkers with great people management skills. They will need to communicate with a wide range of internal and external people, so communication skills are essential.
Average salary
The average salary for an AI Product Manager depends on variables such as location and experience and is often higher for AI PMs willing to lead larger teams.
As of February 2023, Payscale lists the median wage for artificial intelligence product managers as US $150,746, with a range of around US $123,000 to US $177,000.
Glassdoor currently lists the UK average AI Product Manager salary as £56,415.
Tips for building a great product team
To build a great product team, we need a wide range of ideas coming in. You want to build a culture of experimentation and risk-taking to encourage innovation and creativity. This means that you need to start by getting the right people for your team. During the hiring process, you need to be looking to hire inclusively to bring in a range of perspectives and ideas.
As a Product Manager, you’re required to foster collaboration with your teams. This includes facilitating communication throughout the team and ensuring that each member is clear on their role within the project, so they know who to work closely with.
Of course, there can be downsides to building a new team. You need a team that is passionate about their work and are willing to go the extra mile. However, passion can tend to trigger conflict.
While conflict can be harmful, you can use it as a growth opportunity. Conflict-solving skills can turn issues into constructive conversations that help us achieve a common goal. If a conflict arises, try to convert it into an opportunity for learning and growth. Use communication tools to ensure everyone stays on the same page.
Finally, one of the best tools you have at your disposal to build a great product team is you. You will lead the team into projects, and you will be the one responsible for energizing them and facilitating ideas. If you have strong leadership skills that can inspire teams — even during tough sprints — you are guaranteed to have a great product team behind you.
Malte Scholz
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