Technical product manager is a professional who has additional technical skills along with the product management concepts. They work on technical aspects of the product along with framing smart strategies for product development life cycle.Â
They act as a translator who conveys the business requirements into technical format to ensure communication with cross teams. In this blog, we will learn about the role of technical product manager along with job description and eligibility factors.Â
Who is the Technical Product Manager?
A technical Product manager is a professional having a strong technical background completely focused on the technical side of the product. A technical manager works with cross teams such as engineering teams to collaborate more on specifications of the product.Â
Technical Product manager comes with high skill and knowledge in technical proficiency. A technical product manager looks after the technical aspects of the product making sure all functionalities and features are up to the point. Any tech person in the product management team can become a technical product manager. All you need is a technical background and a good level of expertise.
Why Is Technical Product Manager Role Crucial?
Technical Product manager plays an important role in the product development life cycle. The main responsibility of the Technical product manager is product vision, product roadmap, and features of the product. They must ensure that the usability and implementation of the product details align with the business goals.
Technical product managers are different based on their knowledge. They have a comparatively higher knowledge of product technologies, architecture and software development life cycle. They translate business requirements into technical specifications while working with developers, and designers to high quality products. They bridge the gap between stakeholders having very limited knowledge of the technical specification of the product and highly technical teams.Â
Responsibilities of Technical Product Managers
Let us go through some of the major responsibilities of the product managers on a daily basis.Â
- They are responsible to align product goals with business objectives and customer needs.Â
- They focus more on technical feasibility of the product along with a well planned product roadmaps.Â
- Technical product managers convert the business requirements for a product or services into the technical documentation used by the engineering teams.Â
- They work closely with different teams such as QA, data scientists, designers, developers, and other stakeholders to deliver the product.Â
- They are responsible for managing the complete product development life cycle including ideation, design, development, launch, management and more.Â
- They make sure updates and maintenance are up to the point to ensure smooth progress in product life cycle.Â
- Technical Product managers prioritise product backlogs using data, feedback and technical inputs to fix bugs and ensure feature updates.Â
- Technical product managers make sure they are updated on latest industry trends and emerging technologies in the market.Â
Difference Between Product Manager Vs Technical Product Manager
Let us find out how product managers and technical product managers different on many criterias.Â
| Product Manager (PM) | Technical Product Manager (TPM) |
| The main focus of Product manager is managing business needs, user experience, and product market fit | The Technical product manager ensures feasibility, system design, and product functionality. |
| They require technical knowledge from basic to moderate level. | They must have a medium to strong understanding of technical concepts and frameworks. |
| Their main responsibilities are defining product vision, user stories, customer feedback | They have to translate product requirements into tech specs, evaluate tech risks |
| The product manager collaborates with marketing, sales, design, and stakeholders | The Technical product manager collaborates with Engineering, QA, DevOps, and other technical teams |
| They generally have a background in business, marketing, or UX | They often have background in engineering, computer science, or IT |
| They focus on customer/user pain points | They focus on technical bottlenecks and system-level issues |
| Some of the popular tools used by Product managers are Jira, Trello, Figma, Google Analytics | Some of the frequent tools used by Technical Product managers are Jira, GitHub, Postman, Swagger, technical dashboards |
Job Description for Technical Product ManagersÂ
There are some qualification criteria which product managers must possess before applying for a Technical product manager role.Â
The technical product manager role is specific to technical background along with the core product management skills. Candidates must have a minimum number of experience and skills working in technical specific roles along with product management.Â
However, the exact job description depends on the requirements of the organisations. Let us check a simple example of the job description of a technical product manager.
We’re looking for a highly driven Technical Product Manager to lead the development and optimization of our smart home appliance line, including smart thermostats, connected lights, and intelligent kitchen gadgets. You will be responsible for driving product strategy, coordinating with hardware and software teams, and ensuring a seamless user experience for end-users (homeowners, families, and tech-savvy consumers).
As the technical product manager, you’ll work closely with the engineering team, industrial designers, and a senior product manager to manage the complete product backlog and technical roadmap. You will evaluate user stories, usage data, and hardware-software interactions to ensure a high-performing and intuitive experience. This includes identifying usability issues like delayed responses, sensor calibration errors, or device pairing problems.
You will also be responsible for overseeing product lifecycle management, working from prototype to production, ensuring products meet both regulatory standards and customer expectations. You’ll handle coordination between cloud architecture, firmware updates, mobile app integration, and third-party IoT ecosystem compatibility (like Alexa, Google Home, etc.).
Beyond technical expertise, your role includes project management, stakeholder communication, and go-to-market execution for new products and features. Your ability to communicate complex technical issues in a simple, actionable way will be crucial in aligning cross-functional teams and delivering results.
You should be proficient in IoT systems, embedded software, and user-centered design principles, and have prior experience managing smart hardware products from ideation through launch. Strong communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills are a must.
Core Technical Skills of a Technical Product Manager
Let us check some of the major core skills of a technical product manager below.
1. Programming LanguageÂ
Technical product managers are familiar with the programming language like Python, Java, Javascript, SQL or other. They have a high level of understanding of one of these high level programming languages which also facilitates communication with the development teams.Â
Along with programming languages they have a strong grasp on popular frameworks such as React, Angular, Flask, and more which also allows technical feasibility and proper understanding of the framework to be used in the product.Â
2. Cloud Computing Infrastructure
They are familiar with cloud computing including cloud services, infrastructures, platforms, and other platforms such as AWS, Azure, GCP, and more which helps product managers help design scalable, reliable and efficient products.Â
With Hands – on experience of cloud computing, storage and database helps in making the product scalable, efficient and flexible.Â
3. Data analysisÂ
Fetching important insights from data is a crucial skill which includes data collection, preprocessing, extraction, analysis together they help in making informed data driven decisions. Also knowledge of SQL, Excel and data visualisation tools help product managers in taking more dig on insights and effective presentation.Â
4. Security and Compliance
Technical product managers also ensure that the product embeds all the best practices and follows all privacy guidelines to ensure data protection and integrity.Â
Core Non-Technical Skills of Technical Product ManagersÂ
There are certain non-technical skills which all technical product managers must be familiar with apart from code and technical goodies.
1. Communication & Collaboration
Communication holds a very important place in the roles and responsibilities of a TPM. It is used to bridge the gap between product team and development team where technical Product manager mends the gap by communication and conveying all major complex technical topics.Â
They also connect with stakeholders having very little exposure in tech to help them understand the working and functionality of their product.Â
2. Leadership
Technical product managers must be helpful and ready to help nature where anyone looking for guidance or decisions can take help from these professionals. Product managers must make sure that they keep their complete team on the same page for smooth and faster development.Â
Also Read:
- Using AI in Project Management: Tools, Benefits, and Future Trends
- Product Concept: Definition, Types And Examples
- Product Launch Strategy: A Comprehensive Guide for Success
- What is a Product Feature? Plus tips, templates, and examples
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Technical Product Manager FAQs
Q1. Who is a technical product manager?
Ans: A technical Product manager is a professional having a strong technical background completely focused on the technical side of the product. A technical manager works with cross teams such as engineering teams to collaborate more on specifications of the product.
Q2. What is the need of technical product managers?
Ans: The main responsibility of the Technical product manager is product vision, product roadmap, and features of the product. They must ensure that the usability and implementation of the product details align with the business goals.
Q3. What are the major skills of a technical product manager?
Ans: Technical product managers must have a proper blend of technical as well as non-technical skills which includes knowledge of programming language, cloud infrastructures, data analysis, security, communication, leadership and more.
Q4. What is the difference between PM and TPM?
Ans: Product manager (PM) focus on the strategy, planning and requirements for the product development while Technical Product Manager (TPM) ensures proper technical feasibility, execution, security and maintenance.
