Everything you always wanted to know about being a Product Manager (but were afraid to ask).
With the advent of digital technology, Product Managers are on a roll! These experts in digital product creation are an essential part of any company looking to develop or improve its digital offering. This profession is therefore in high demand in the tech world, as much in start-ups as in large groups looking to gain agility. In this article, you'll find everything you've always wanted to know about the Product Manager job (but never dared to ask) : junior-to-senior salary, role, career advice...
I - What Is a Product Manager?
II - How Much Can a Product Manager Earn?
III - How to Become a Product Manager?
What Is a Product Manager?
Missions of a Product Manager in a Company
As the product's conductor, the PM is responsible for understanding user needs, prioritizing them and delivering a solution that is continuously improved... He is at the crossroads of technical and business issues, and focuses his strategic choices around the needs of his users.
Depending on seniority, the Product Manager full stack has the following missions in particular:
- Builds and manages the product backlog
- Edits user stories
- Pilots sprints
- Makes sure ceremonies run smoothly
- Tests the product, reports anomalies, and ensures development quality
- Defines solution paths and tests them with the Product Designer
- Implements learning loops
- Practicing market and techno watch
- Gathers, analyzes and communicates progress indicators
- Discovers user needs
- Validates (or invalidates) user appetence for certain features
- Constantly evaluates and prioritizes new opportunities
- Iteratively builds the Product vision
- Defines the product roadmap
- Builds and tracks Product metrics over time to feed a feedback loop
What Is the Position of the Product Manager in a Company?
The Product Manager plays an essential role within a company. He or she is constantly seeking to improve or create new digital products in order to continually bring value to customers. Present from conception to end of product life, the Product Manager is notably responsible for formulating the vision, building a roadmap, defining features... He or she determines the what, when, how and why of product development. Depending on the company's organization, the PM may work as part of a product team made up of technical developers and product designers. Finally, he or she also liaises with the marketing and sales teams, and any other entity in contact with the customer.
Product Manager Skills
It's recommended for a Product Manager to have knowledge of webmarketing, management and tech/data as well as a business-oriented outlook.
How Much Can a Product Manager Earn?
Junior Product Manager Salary Per Year
A Product Manager with up to 1.5 years' experience earns on average 44,900€ gross per year. A profile with between 2 and 4 years' experience is paid around 51,600€.
Senior Product Manager Salary Per Year
A Product Manager with between 5 and 9 years' experience earns on average 64,200 € gross per year. A senior Product Manager with 10 to 15 years' experience can expect to be paid around €70,200 per year. Finally, the most experienced profiles, with more than 15 years' experience, earn around €73,500 annually.
What Are the Differences in Remuneration Between Start-Ups And Large Companies?
Product Managers working in large companies are generally better paid than those instart-ups. But the difference in remuneration is highly variable, especially for the most junior and most senior staff. For example, Product Managers with between 3 and 9 years' experience working for "major accounts" earn around 4 to 10% more than those with the same number of years' experience, but working in start-ups.
.This gap widens to reach 23% between a junior PM (between 0 and 2 years) in a startup and a junior PM in a "major account". Finally, the most senior PMs evolving in large companies earn 16% more than those working in startups.
What Is the Evolution of a Product Manager's Salary?
In the product manager development prospects, Head of Product, VP and Chief Product Officer (CPO) positions are in charge of strategy on a larger scale. These highly responsible positions aspire to higher salaries: between €60,000 and €110,000 gross annually, depending on the number of years of experience.
If this salary range is wide, it's because it depends very much on the company and the size of the teams managed.
What's the Pay Difference Between Product Manager, Product Marketing Manager, Product Designer or Product Leader?
It's difficult to compare the remuneration of a Product Manager with a Product Designer or a Product Marketing Manager. Nevertheless, here are the estimates for each role, according to our LPC 2023 Barometer:
Gross annual salaries in the Product Management professions (source: baromètre LPC 2023)
How to Become a Product Manager
What Training Do You Need to Become a Product Manager?
At Thiga, our Product Management training courses are tailored to PMs' level of experience, from the most junior to the Lead Product Manager. What's more, the skills acquired during the apprenticeship are validated by a certification Product Manager.
What Experience Do You Need to Start Your Career as a Product Manager?
There's no typical Product Manager career path, although many profiles started out as digital project managers.
To learn more about product professions, download our book on Agile Product Management
