What is a product development manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Sachin Tuli

A product development manager oversees the creation and launch of new products. They work with cross-functional teams of engineers, designers, marketing, and sales, to ensure products meet customer needs and remain on time and within budget. The product development manager also conducts market research to assess consumer trends and identify potential opportunities. They develop roadmaps, set timelines, and manage product development. They collaborate with stakeholders to ensure that products align with the company's overall objectives.

What's a day at work look like for a Product Development Manager?

Sachin Tuli

Director, International Business Major, Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The pandemic accelerated ongoing shifts with work-from-anywhere and use of remote meeting technologies. With mass adoption at all levels, these trends are likely to persist to some degree across fields and industries. There will likely be less travel for a number of years, but concurrently we may see more cross-team and cross-national collaboration and coordination. From an international business perspective, firms do plan to continue their globalization efforts and we know that graduates themselves increasingly seek potential global opportunities and mobility when choosing which organizations to work for.

ScoreProduct Development ManagerUS Average

Salary

8.0

Avg. Salary $113,437

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.5

Growth Rate 10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 8.15%

Black or African American 3.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.67%

Unknown 5.32%

White 74.58%

Gender

female 37.79%

male 62.21%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress Level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.5

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a Product Development Manager?

Pros

Opportunities to be creative and innovative
High earning potential
Constantly learning new skills
Opportunities for career growth and advancement
Opportunities for international travel

Cons

Long hours and tight deadlines
Pressure to meet performance targets and deliverables
Risk of product failure or underperformance
Difficulty in maintaining work-life balance
Limited job security in some industries

Key steps to become a product development manager

Explore product development manager education requirements

Most common product development manager degrees

Bachelor's

72.8 %

Master's

13.8 %

Associate

9.1 %

Start to develop specific product development manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Product Development	11.02%
Project Management	9.08%
Lifecycle Management	6.57%
Product Management	5.83%
R	4.96%

Complete relevant product development manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New product development managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a product development manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real product development manager resumes.

Research product development manager duties and responsibilities

Used PLM tools to track, manage, and organize the development process.
Design front-end UX for e-tailor website, manage customer service tracking and CRM solutions.
Manage the entire development and implementation process for a $750K SaaS solution for education.
Lead acquisition of StudyinBritain.com, expanding client base to schools in the UK and Ireland.

Prepare your product development manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your product development manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a product development manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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Build a professional Product Development Manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Product Development Manager resume.

Apply for product development manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a product development manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average product development manager salary

The average Product Development Manager salary in the United States is $113,437 per year or $55 per hour. Product development manager salaries range between $84,000 and $152,000 per year.

Average Product Development Manager Salary

$113,437 Yearly

$54.54 hourly

How do product development managers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Product Development Manager reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2023

Cons

high expectations, constantly evolving technology, broad range of topics to learn (product management specifics, industry, technology, software development methods

Pros

Solve tough problems, work on agile teams, outlet for creativity,

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020