As you discover more about product management the question of progression may come to mind. Growing in this career can happen in various ways. Some grow within an organization and stay for years while others will move on to another company or even start their own. Understanding the career trajectory will give you a general idea of what it takes to succeed and grow as a PM. The below diagram is a good place to start.
šØ Important Note: The IC paths, levels, and years of experience may vary by company in addition to expectations, but the progression of responsibilities remains consistent. The early part of your career will focus on launching new features and/or products. As you progress to the mid-level you will will pivot towards strategy. Once you start moving towards the senior level organizational excellence will be your main area of focus.
Individual Contributor Path š©āš¼
Associate Product Manager
Role
This is where you learn the foundations of being a Product Manager. An Associate Product Manager's day-to-day is similar to a product manager, but on a smaller scale. An ASP will support the Product Manager by conducting market research, gathering data, identifying important features and opportunities to present to the Senior PM. Usually this person will work on small features of a mature product instead of the entire product. In this role the PM will be your mentor by helping you learn the frameworks and strategies to excel as a PM. Your goal in this role should be to learn as much as you can and to deliver impact.
Years of Experience: 0-4
How to move up: Learn the basics of product management. Be able to communicate, analyze, show your time management and decision-making skills.
Product Manager
Role
A Product Manager will be more focused on strategy and high level product decisions. Since, you will be taking ownership of the entire product, people will come to you to guide them throughout the different levels of the product lifecycle. A PM will be responsible for making decisions due to their overall knowledge of the product. In addition, they will need to meet the demands of internal and external stakeholders (e.g. customers and leadership). Being in this role you are a constant communicator across all the teams.
Years of experience: 3-8
How to move up: Ship impactful work with minimal noise. Make sound decisions and have seamless cross-functional communication skills.
Senior Product Manager
Role
As a SPM you will have more interactions with executive leadership, legal departments, and high-ranking teams. Hence, the decisions that are made have a higher impact because they are more visible. As an APM you are working on smaller features of a mature product, as a PM you are working on larger features of a mature product, but as a SPM you will be working with major features and functions of existing and new products. An SPM oversees the entire product development lifecycle from discovery to delivery. In addition, this person will set the long-term vision and product strategy.
Years of experience: 5+
How to move up: After the SPM role you have two choices. You can move into a Principal Role which is an Individual Contributor Role (IC) or you can become a people manager and move into a Director Level role. If you would like to move into an IC role you will need to prove that with your vision you can set a strategy and prioritize the work of your teammates. If you choose to become a director the same skills apply along with being able to demonstrate that you can empower and motivate your teammates to execute.
Principal Product Manager
Role
This is the highest position that you can rank as a PM without directly managing people even though in this role you will be working with a team of PM's to ship work through your strategy and coaching insights. A PPM will need to define and communicate the product vision, goals, and strategies to align them with the team(s) they work with. In addition, they will determine the metrics to measure success of the product and find ways to advance the teams and products.
Years of experience: Industry Expert and 3+ years mentoring and guiding other PM's with strategy, vision and coaching insights.
How to move up: Prove that you can ship multiple products successfully. Be able to communicate effectively across cross-functional teams both internally and externally.
Managerial Path šø
Director of Product
Role
This is a management position where you are responsible for product managers that span across multiple products. As a Director you transition from managing the product to managing the people. This does not mean you aren't involved in the product. This means you oversee the entire product lifecycle. Your responsibilities include: defining product requirements, creating a vision and aligning the product with the business strategy.
Overall, this is a strategy and people management role. This means building high performance teams, mentoring product managers, defining and communicating the company's product strategy, serving as a liaison between the product teams and the company's stakeholders, and helping product managers stay focused on their priorities.
Years of experience: 10+ years
How to move up: Show that you can mentor, set objectives, establish goals, motivate, communicate, and develop people. A proven track record of leading and building high performance teams with exceptional leadership. Along with analytical, creative, communication and strategy skills.
VP/Head of Product
Role
As a VP/Head of Product you are at the front-line of representing the customer, setting the product strategy, bringing the company together and seeing the future. Establishing a deep knowledge of the product portfolio and being able to predict the future is vital for success in this role.
As a VP of Product you are the communication reinforcer, continually bringing the organization together to meet deliverables. Above all, you will drive execution, adoption, engagement, and build for scale.
Years of experience: 10+ product experience (added bonus of 5+ managing teams)
How to move up: Lead with influence, cultivate empathy, build trust, handle pressure and be positive yet straightforward in the toughest of circumstances. Problem solving skills and exceptional strategy skills will be imperative for this role.
CPO and Beyond
Role
The CPO will be responsible for the strategic direction of the products in the product portfolio. This will include the product vision, innovation, design, development, project management, program management, product marketing, customers and sales. The strategy of the CPO will need to align with the business goals so it's the CPO's job to make sure all cross-functional teams are aware of the direction and possible pivots. They are directly responsible for the entire strategy and execution of the product. A CPO's responsibilities begin in the discovery phase of product innovation, continue through development and marketing, and extend past the product's release.
Years of experience: 10-15
How to move up: Understand customer and business needs creating a strategy to align and fulfill them. Be an empathetic master of influence through exceptional communication and collaboration skills.
Final Words š
Thinking about your career path early is essential to not miss out on future opportunities and promotions. Understanding each levels responsibilities and requirements to move up in Product Management will determine the speed of progression in your career. Keep in mind that how quickly you move up is not consistent at each level.
At the beginning of your career you may move up every two or three years. Once you start advancing, promotions will become more challenging to achieve as the bandwidth of work and responsibilities increase.
Overall, your career progression most likely won't be a linear path and more often than not you'll experience a zigzag pattern. This is okay and is considered normal for the industry standard. Please don't worry about how quickly you move up as long as you have the vision of where you are headed and what it takes to achieve it you'll continue to progress.
Next Steps š
1. How can I learn Product Management
2. Landing your first PM job