What Is a Product Manager? (Job Description Examples and Salary)

What Is a Product Manager? (Job Description Examples and Salary)


Product managers are responsible for managing the product lifecycle and leading a product development team. They have a series of responsibilities such as managing their teams' workload, helping the team prioritize what matters the most and launching products to market quickly and under budget. They also establish a vision, create a plan for the product team, define what the product team delivers and create a project timeline and schedule for implementation. Product managers use product management software and task management software to stay organized and productive.
The role of a product manager is to develop products through market research and combine those findings with general requirements, specifications, timetables, pricing and plans to complete development and marketing strategies. The product roadmap is a key tool for this purpose and keeps teams aware of updates throughout the product life cycle. Product managers are often required to do the following: know customer needs through research and market data, develop product lines and appraise new ideas for market viability, assess competition by comparing products, create product marketing communications objectives, work with the sales director to create product sales strategies, work with customers and sales to evaluate sales call results, create long- and short-term product sales forecasts and analyses for management, review inventory levels and production schedules for product availability, bring new products to market with return-on-investment analysis, market new products with sales, advertising and production teams, determine product pricing based on market research, production costs and anticipated demand, schedule and assign operational requirements to follow up on work results, manage the product team, and continue professional and technical education. The base salary for a product management position ranges greatly depending on position, region and industry, but can increase to over $1 million for a CPO or similar executive position.