Product Manager Job Titles

When you think of working in product management, you probably think of becoming a Product Manager. However, there are multiple job titles within the field of product management. 

Some product management job titles show seniority or experience, such as Associate Product Manager, an entry-level or junior position, or Chief Product Officer, a more senior position. There are also product management job titles that show specialization, such as Technical Product Manager or Product Marketing Manager.

We’ll discuss the various job titles in product management below to give you a better understanding of the many career paths available within the field. 

What is a Product Manager?

A Product Manager manages a specific product, including physical products, software programs, and other digital products. Product Managers are often called the “CEO of a product,” and manage its design, development, and appeal to customers. 

Product Managers need a strong combination of business skills, design skills, and tech skills. 

Because Product Managers oversee all the parts of a product, they are required to have three core skill sets: coding, user-driven design, and project management. Product Managers often work with development teams, marketing teams, design teams, stakeholders, and users to ensure the success of a product. 

Product Managers provide the “what” and “why” behind a business’s products, using research and user-driven design principles. 

Product Manager Skills

Product management as a field combines a lot of skill sets, including coding, design, project management, and soft skills. You may also be expected to have skills within the industry you’re working in, including other technical skills, such as proficiency in Microsoft Excel, SQL, budget management, user research, data analytics, and machine learning. 

The three primary skill sets required for a Product Manager are software engineering, user experience (UX) design, and project management. Product Managers must also have excellent soft skills, including communication, leadership, time management, conflict resolution, and resource management. This is because a Product Manager typically leads and liaises the various teams that create, develop, and market a product.

In order to understand the possibilities of a product, a Product Manager must understand the code that builds it. They serve as a liaison between the customer and the development team, which requires skills in conducting user research and communicating how to incorporate user feedback into the product. Product Managers also need project management skills. Project management helps Product Managers decide the how and when of a product. 

Product Manager Career Path

Product management job titles typically reflect your level of experience, such as an Associate Product Manager, or a specialization, such as Growth Project Manager. Many companies, especially startups, use more creative job titles, such as Product Guru, Product Genius, or Product Hero. 

Here, we’ll discuss some of the most popular specialization job titles in product management. This can provide a better understanding of some of the possibilities of the career path.

Technical Product Manager

A Technical Product Manager is a Product Manager with a very strong technical background. Every Product Manager needs technical skills, whereas a Technical Product Manager specializes in them. Often, they are someone who started in development or engineering before pivoting to a product management role. One way of understanding the distinction is that a Product Manager must understand coding, while a Technical Product Manager must know how to code expertly. 

Technical Product Managers must have technical expertise because their primary focus is on the technical side of the product. They often lead the development team more directly than a traditional Product Manager. In this role, there is less focus on marketing and sales and more focus on building the product.

Technical Product Managers earn higher-than-average salaries at around $130,000 a year. 

Mobile Product Manager

A Mobile Product Manager specializes in the management of products built for mobile devices, such as smartphone apps or wearable healthcare tech. This is a relatively new role within product management, but one that is growing and changing at a rapid rate. 

The responsibilities of a Mobile Product Manager are similar to those of a Product Manager, including overseeing design, leading cross-functional teams, and creating the product roadmap and strategy. 

In addition to the typical skills required for Product Managers, Mobile Product Managers need to have a strong understanding of mobile technology, such as React, the mobile product market, and mobile UX design. They also have cross-industry job potential since mobile apps and services are being integrated into every industry. 

Mobile Product Managers earn an average salary of around $120,000 per year. 

Product Marketing Manager

Product Managers can come from a lot of other career fields, including software engineering, design, and project management. However, Product Managers must also understand marketing and sales. In fact, many Product Managers come from a marketing or sales background. 

A Product Marketing Manager oversees the marketing of a product throughout the product’s “Life Cycle.” Their responsibilities aren’t focused on building a product but rather marketing it. It is their responsibility to let people know that the product exists and to encourage them to buy it. Another common responsibility of a Product Marketing Manager is leading the product’s marketing team. 

Product Marketing Managers are required to have a different skill set than other types of Product Managers. They typically must be excellent communicators and storytellers, as they are often in charge of content marketing and press releases. They must also be able to perform excellent asset development, product development, and market research.

Product Marketing Managers typically earn around $105,000 a year. 

Data Product Manager

A Data Product Manager is responsible for the data management of a product, from collecting, organizing, and sharing data amongst a product team. Data Product Managers manage the data for a product across its “product lifecycle” to maintain the best product possible. They typically have a strong background in data science, machine learning, data analytics, or business analysis. 

At larger companies, Data Product Managers will lead a team of Data Scientists. However, at smaller companies, especially startups, the Data Product Manager will often perform the duties of both a Data Scientist and a Product Manager at the same time. Regardless of the size of the company they’re at, a Data Product Manager is considered the authority on a product’s data. 

Many current Product Managers predict that data and machine learning will only continue to grow in importance within the field of product management and for Product Managers. This makes data an excellent way to carve out a specialized niche within the field of product management.

Data Product Managers earn higher-than-average salaries of around $130,000 a year. 

Growth Product Manager

Growth Product Manager is a newer specialized role that is increasing rapidly in demand. According to Google Trends, the demand for Growth Product Managers has increased by over 400 percent in the last five years. 

A Growth Product Manager specializes in growing a product rather than building it. A traditional Product Manager manages the “Life Cycle” of a product, while a Growth Product Manager focuses on improving its business metrics, or making it grow. Some specialties of Growth Product Managers include analytics, engineering and design, marketing, customer success and sales, and user research. 

Most commonly, Growth Product Managers “own” a particular metric instead of the whole product. Some common metrics that are owned by Growth Product Managers include monetization, conversion, activation, retention, and acquisition. They need to have excellent communication and diplomacy skills since they’re working with multiple teams with often overlapping priorities.

The typical salary for a Growth Product Manager is around $108,000. 

Learn the Skills to Become a Product Manager at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers business, design, and coding classes live online and in-person classes at their state-of-the-art campus in Midtown Manhattan. Training at Noble Desktop offers aspiring Product Managers a huge head start since they specialize in the three core job skills: coding, user-driven design, and project management. 

All of Noble Desktop’s courses are taught by expert instructors, have guaranteed small class sizes, and feature a “free retake” option, meaning you can “retake” any course for free for up to one year to continue developing your skills. Noble Desktop uses a unique approach to career training: their expert instructors teach a “micro-lecture” and then immediately guide students through applying what they’ve learned through real-world, hands-on projects. This unique approach guarantees that you’ll learn the skills you need to launch a new career as a Product Manager. 

Hiring managers report that certificates and certifications move a resume to the top of the pile. Noble Desktop offers certificate programs in the three core skill sets: software engineering, user-driven design (UX), and project management. Earning certificates in these core skill sets can help you launch a new career as a Product Manager. 

Noble Desktop’s Software Engineering Certificate provides the technical experience needed by a Product Manager. This certificate program is divided into two parts: front end development (what you see) and back end development (how it works). In the first part, expert instructors guide students through coding in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. In the second part, expert instructors guide students through the fundamentals of coding in Python, Django, and querying with SQL. Professional Product Managers often recommend learning SQL as an additional skill. This certificate program will give you a head start. Graduates earn a New York State Licensed Certificate in Software Engineering, which is shareable on LinkedIn. 

Product Managers are advocates for the user: they know how to use research and data to make sure the product meets the user’s needs. To do this, you’ll need skills in user experience (UX) design. Noble Desktop’s UX & UI Design Certificate provides comprehensive training in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. Students are guided through hands-on, real-world projects to learn user-driven design principles, user research, product prototype building, creating product case studies, and visual designs. This certificate program also trains students in using Figma and Sketch for design and prototyping. Graduates earn a New York State Licensed Certificate in UX & UI design, which is verifiable and shareable on Linkedin. 

Project management is a very hot career path on its own and one of the core skill sets of becoming a Product Manager. You might think of a Product Manager as handling the “what” and “why” and project management as handling the “how” and “when.” Noble Desktop’s Project Management Bootcamp project management courses are taught by PMP-certified Project Managers. Students are guided through real-world projects to develop skills in the Project Life Cycle, project management terminology, project selection and scheduling, resource management, risk management, and Agile Frameworks. 

If you’d like to read more about becoming a Product Manager, you might check out this Product Management Learn Hub. Combing these certificates on your resume is a fantastic way to launch a new career as a Product Manager.