Product Manager Job Description And Insights: Qualifications, Types And Responsibilities

Product Manager Job Description: A product manager is a professional in a company who takes responsibility for the thorough management of a product from its design as per customer requirements, and production to its marketing and further improvements. Thus, a product manager builds and sustains specific product or products of a company or business for the larger gain of making profits through them.

The major product manager job description includes working out customer wants, helping in designing a good product, and then selling it. Product managers are product strategists for both physical and digital products who specify the adequate operational requirements of the products and then feature their releases.

A person needs certain qualifications such as a management degree, communication, leadership and analytical skills, product development experience, and many more. We shall understand these aspects better in this article.

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Product Manager Job Description: Key Takeaways

A product manager is responsible for the design, production, and marketing of a product throughout its lifecycle.
The job description of a product manager varies from industry to industry and changes as the companies grow.
Several skills along with specific qualifications and certifications are needed to land a product management job in a successful firm. However, the right skills without any master’s degree are enough to build one’s career as a product manager.
The product manager job profile is a highly paid job in India with its annual basic pay range lying between Rs. 10 Lakh to Rs. 40 Lakh.

Product Manager Job Description: A Detailed Insights

A product manager is a professional job profile associated with product management in companies and businesses. The companies can be both digital product-selling businesses or typical product-selling businesses. In both cases, a product manager manages the product design, production, and marketing.

The product manager role sets the vision for a product based on inputs from the stakeholders, market research, customers, and their insights. They work with the development and other teams to produce and deliver products that meet the market’s needs, align with the set vision, and perform well.

The job description of a product manager changes as companies mature. Initially, a product manager is hired for the operational management of a product then the need for roadmaps and business cases arises as a company visions to launch multiple products.

As complex propositions and multiple markets come into account, the product manager’s job description focuses on specialist functions that fragment product activities. It needs coordination and is more product-focused.

The Different Types of Product Managers

Based on their responsibilities, work functions, and roles, there are different types of product managers. Some most common ones are as follows:

Sales Manager: The sales manager is responsible for supervising the sales team of a company in association with the products.
Marketing Manager: The marketing manager performs market research to understand customer requirements.
Project Manager: A project manager plans, designs, develops, and manages a product project to attain the desired results.
Business Development Manager: A business development manager implements growth strategies to grow a business by using networking, marketing, sales, forecasting, etc.
Brand Manager: They are responsible for overseeing the marketing of a particular brand to upscale the sale and its market value.

What are the Key Responsibilities of a Product Manager?

The presence of a product manager in a company is said to boost its profitability by 34%. This is specifically because of the key responsibilities that a product manager fulfills. These are given as follows:

A product manager sets the roadmap and product strategy and manages the product throughout its lifecycle.
Maintain and manage the traceability of requirements from the stakeholders around releases.
Prepare a business case for required investments, get approval and propose a marketing plan with a budget.
Prepare market requirements and product requirements documents.
Maintain relations with third parties to partner and with the internal stakeholders.
Use expertise in business products, marketing, technology, and competition.
Develop product messaging, perform demos, and develop client relationships.
Set prices and lead the digital product team.
Monitor product performance and make improvements.
Brief the press and analysts, manage channel and support.
Run MVPs and market launch trials, research competitor and commission markets.
Product promotion to the sales team via newsletters, webinars, sales training sessions, etc., and training a technical sales team.
Manage marketing projects, and collect sales and customer feedback.
Represent customer opinion in senior management meetings, and evangelize the product externally and internally.
Establish key relations with business stakeholders, lead the business, and deliver regular (say, monthly) profit forecasts, volume, and revenue.

The Changing Role of Product Management

The job of a product manager varies greatly from industry to industry.

At one end of the spectrum, we have B2B (business-to-business) companies selling products to a large number of customers. In such cases, it may take years to develop a product and customers generally have particular requirements.

The product management skills needed here vary too since each product acts as its own little business requiring broader marketing skills. Generally, it incorporates activities such as face-to-face selling, telly calling, etc. which requires a deeper understanding of markets to appease customers.

Product management here requires political skills as a consensus between varied conflicting parties has to be established.

On the other hand of the spectrum, we have digital products producing companies. The job of a product manager becomes much easier here as it is impeller to cater to the requirements of the customer in this case which generally remains the same.

The products include Software as a Service (SaaS) which means all web-based products. This role is often referred to as Digital Product Manager or Software Product Manager.

Furthermore, as digital startups grow into multi-national companies scaling their products in multiple markets, software becomes a much-needed part of technical products. Thus we see that numerous companies require a complete set of all the product management skills.

Who is a Software Product Manager?

A software product manager is a professional role in digital products-producing companies. They provide Software as a Service (Saas) products to their clients.

The vital skills of a Software Product Manager, also called a Digital Product Manager, include expertise in design, data analytics, UX (user experience), customer insights, lean development with MVPs (Minimum Viable Products), and the skill of enhanced social media marketing.

Qualifications of the Product Manager

Certain qualifications are required to become a product manager in a company. Most prominent of these include:

Have a Bachelor’s Degree: A degree in business, a bachelor’s in the science of marketing, or a course in communications, statistics or economics help build a foundation in varied disciplines associated with product management.
Boot Camp as an Alternative: If one wishes to avoid a four-year product management course, one can enrol in a product management and product design boot camp to learn the right skills for product management. A boot camp is an intensive course that teaches in-demand skills in a short period and thus acts as an alternative to traditional long-term degree courses.
Gain Work Experience: In addition to education and skills, it is important to use your knowledge by practical involvement in product management and associated activities. Look for opportunities in your current organization or via internships to demonstrate and practise your skills. You can share your experience in your resume.
Earn a Certification: Product management certifications are not necessary to establish your career as a product manager. However, they are instrumental in bolstering your skills and credentials by showcasing a commitment to continued learning.

What is the Salary of a Product Manager?

The Product manager job description is considered to be a successful career in India. The salary of a product manager varies from industry to industry and company to company.

In India, the average salary of a product manager is around Rs. 20,00,000 per year with the base pay range lying between Rs.10 Lakh to Rs. 40 Lakh annually.

Additionally, the average additional cash compensation of a product manager is around Rs. 2 Lakh annually with the additional cash compensation range lying between Rs. 80,000 to Rs. 4,00,000 per year.

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Product Manager Job Description FAQs

Q1. Is an MBA required to become a product manager?

Ans: No. It is not a mandatory requirement to have an MBA degree to get a job as a product manager. The right skills with a basic qualification are enough to kick-start a successful career in product management. However, an advanced degree in management sure helps in securing a product management job in larger firms.

Q2. What is the basic pay of a product manager in India?

Ans: A product manager in India has a basic pay range between Rs. 10 Lakh to Rs. 40 Lakh per year. However, the annual basic pay range of a product manager varies from industry to industry and company to company.

Q3. How can I become a product manager?

Ans: There are a number of requirements to become a product manager. One needs to get a Bachelor’s degree, if possible a Higher Degree, certifications, product management experience, communication and analytical skills, etc. Knowing the right skills is the most prominent requirement to become a product manager.