Product Manager Job Description

Product Managers play a vital role in a company. Although each PM in various industries may have different daily tasks and means of completing the tasks, the main goal is the same: ship great products.

With a responsibility this great, how can a company attract capable Product Managers who understand the changing demands of time and roll with the punches to make products that are truly useful?

One key is to create a Product Manager job description that’s concise and that clearly reflects what the company needs from a professional who will be in charge of their product’s success.

In this article, we will review the Product Manager Job Description to understand what is expected of a PM in an organization.

What is a Product Manager?

A Product Manager is responsible for helping define the purpose of the product, managing its creation, and ensuring that it meets customer needs. In short, a Product Manager’s job is to ensure that a product is successful. This is why they are popularly called the “CEOs of the product.”

These professionals are creative thinkers who understand how customers want to use the product and how it can be improved. 

Aside from being creative, a PM has to have strong communication and collaboration skills since one of the PM’s major responsibilities is to communicate well with different teams and stakeholders to gather feedback, set deadlines, and coordinate resources.

From a practical perspective, this could translate differently across industries and companies which is why many say that Product Management is one of the most dynamic jobs one can find. If you’re interested to know what a day might look like for a PM, read: The Typical Day of a Product Manager.

Typical Requirements to Become a Product Manager

What’s great about becoming a Product Manager is that you can come from different backgrounds, skills, and experiences. A candidate doesn’t necessarily have to be a holder of a particular degree. Similarly, candidates don’t necessarily have to know how to code.

For instance, Meta/Facebook, one of the top companies in the tech sector, is offering a Rotational Product Management (RPM) Program that’s specifically designed for those who have zero experience in Product Management. The minimum requirements are:

• Obtain work authorization in the country of employment at the time of hire and maintain ongoing work authorization during employment
• Experience building connections with team members through effective communication and collaboration and delivering results in a goal-oriented environment
• Experience breaking down problems and making decisions based on data

There was no mention of a specific bachelor’s degree or a hard skill the right candidate must possess. The requirements will be majorly dependent on the company and its needs. But, typically most companies look for: 

Years of Experience

Definitely, it is possible to become a PM even if the candidate has zero years of experience. This is especially true with startups that are focusing more on candidate potential. 

More experienced PMs commonly opt to work for a larger corporation which specifically defines a minimum of years of experience. Logically, wisdom in all processes of Product Management as well as industry knowledge come through experience so it’s no surprise that bigger companies have a minimum for this requirement.

The number of years of experience will depend on what type of PM a company is looking for with regard to level. For example:

• Entry-level Product Managers – 0 to 3 Years
  • Rotational PM
  • Associate PM
  • Product Manager
• Mid-level Product Managers – 3 to 6 Years
  • Senior PM
  • Product Portfolio Manager
• Leadership Level – 8 to 10 Years
  • Group Product Manager
  • Director of Product
  • VP of Product

Skill

It was already mentioned that a Product Manager would need a range of different skills to be great at the job. However, there are cases when a fixed skill is determined in a company’s Product Manager job description. This is true in the case of organizations that offer more technical products or services.

For example, Google also has a program similar to the RPM Program of Meta/Facebook. It’s called the Google APM Program. But, instead of the minimum requirements being mostly soft skills, the program requires candidates to:

• Be currently enrolled in or graduated from a degree program in Computer Science or a related field. 
• Have gone through an internship and/or teaching assistant experience in software development or related fields.

Again, a specific set of hard skills is not mandatory to become a PM. Technical skills, as well as other hard skills, will give you an advantage but they are not always mandatory.

Aptitude

Aptitude is one’s natural ability to do something. In the PM world, it can translate as talent. There are people that are natural at Product Management while there are some that take a while to get the hang of it. 

But why do companies check aptitude in the first place? The simple answer is companies want to see if a candidate is a good fit with how the company does things, how the company works, and the type of culture the company has.

Job Responsibilities of a Product Manager

The ambiguity in identifying the responsibilities of a Product Manager stems from the fact that these responsibilities vary from one organization to another. Additionally, the different levels of Product Management expand the functions PMs play in the company. But, it’s very helpful, especially to those who want to break into Product Management, to know what the main expectations are:

1. Initiate User and Market Research

User and Market research is one of the most crucial responsibilities of a Product Manager. For one, the research contributes to having a better understanding of market variables, such as user concerns, market competition, and product quality. Second, market research helps the PM better converse with the marketing team.

Some of the ways PMs can do their research is to conduct interviews with customers, identify who they should consider as competitors, and what the current trends in the market are. 

2. Identify and Represent User Needs

Many PMs would spend time reading, responding to inquiries, and gathering feedback from customers. It works in determining user needs. By building connections with users, they get much more familiar with the demands and perspectives of both their customers and prospects.

3. Plan and Define the Product Strategy

Product strategy is the blueprint for the creation of a product. It is the collection of ideas and options that a Product Manager uses to define the purpose of their product, such as customer needs and business goals. Defining a product strategy helps a PM determine which features and functions are most important for the final product.

4. Work with Cross-Functional Teams

Another major challenge and responsibility for a Product Manager are to work with cross-functional teams to develop and launch products that customers enjoy. These teams might include the finance, engineering, legal, marketing, sales, and support teams. All of them have distinct functions, and PMs must help plan and communicate strategies with them so that they can successfully market a good product.

5. Understand the Demand Product Features and Qualities

It’s important for Product Managers to understand the types of features and qualities expected from a product. That said, they often face difficult decisions and trade-offs to select the best feature to deliver to their target consumers.

6. Oversee the Creation and Launching of New Products or Features

As the name suggests, Product Managers are responsible for managing the creation, launching, and scaling of new products or features. Product Managers turn strategy into pre-planned work by overseeing product phases and deciding what to produce and when to launch it. When collaborating with teams, they adhere to the product vision to make sure that each phase of the product life cycle is effectively carried out.

7. Keeping Track of the Market to Create Competitive Analysis

By taking a strategic approach to market analysis, PMs can help the team develop competitive analysis and ensure that their products are well-positioned in the market. Product Managers can also use research and analysis to identify opportunities for improvement or new features that customers might be willing to pay for.

Today, the reality is that a lot of companies still have a difficult time writing Product Manager Job descriptions because the role is a bit young and there are some overlaps with other positions in terms of tasks. What you can do, as a PM candidate, is to know the main responsibilities PMs have (listed above) and clarify the Product Manager Job Description during your PM interview. 

Conclusion

A Product Manager Job Description helps clarify the kind of Product Manager a company wants. For companies, it’s important to have a clear breakdown of the right Product Manager candidate’s main responsibilities within your organization.

As for PM job seekers, reading this article is a great starting point. You have to plan for your next step which is to prepare for Product Manager interviews. How do you do this? We have some suggestions:

1. Take the PM Exercises self-paced PM interview prep course.
2. Review by reading, answering, and giving feedback to possible PM interview questions. 
3. Find a Product Manager partner to conduct mock interviews with.

FAQs

What does a Product Manager do all day?

Product Managers are responsible for creating, planning, and managing a product. They drive the vision and execution of products across an organization by gathering details, speaking with relevant stakeholders, and researching. These are just the common tasks a PM has as they will be different within every organization. To know more about what a PM does all day, read: The Typical Day of a Product Manager.

What skills are required for a Product Manager role?

The PM role requires a combination of soft skills and hard skills. PMs should have strong business acumen and excellent communication skills to work with different teams. They should also be able to manage stakeholders, including customers, investors, and management.

What should I do to become a Product Manager?

There are many ways to become a Product Manager. What’s great is that there is no one-size-fits-all way to get the role. You can come from a marketing background and still be qualified to become a PM. To know the specific steps on how to become one, read: How to Become a Product Manager.

What degree should I have to become a Product Manager?

Product Managers are responsible for the success of any product they work on. As such, it’s essential to have a degree that will allow you to be successful in this role. For example, Business, Marketing, or a Computer Science degree.

Having a related degree will help but most companies won’t mind if you have a degree that seems unrelated to Product Management. Although a challenge, it’s even possible to become a PM without a degree.