Different Types of Product Managers
Last updated
Last updated
There are various types of Product Managers, each with a unique focus depending on the company's size, industry, and product stage. Understanding these differences can help you tailor your approach and skills to your specific role. A PM in a large tech company might focus more on a single product feature, while a PM in a startup might also need to wear multiple hats and handle business and marketing aspects.
Different types of Product Managers can work alongside each other, each having their own set of roles and responsibilities; this is different from a company having multiple PMs working on different products. A fitness SaaS company like Peloton may have multiple Product Managers dedicated to different core products and features, some with standard PM titles and others with specialized titles.
The company could also have a Growth Product Manager specializing in optimizing and testing the sales funnel. This role would involve improving the pricing page, checkout experience, onboarding flow, and initial customer experience.
Additionally, a Data Product Manager could be assigned to work with a Data Science team, focusing on developing data-driven products. Their responsibilities may include improving search results, structuring data for analysis (data pipeline), and building complex reports.
One of the challenges of understanding different PM roles is dealing with role ambiguity. It's also important to balance strategic and tactical responsibilities, which can vary depending on the PM role.
Research job descriptions to find different Product Manager roles. How do the responsibilities differ? Alternatively, if you know multiple people who are Product Managers, you can ask them about their responsibilities to understand how they differ.
Product Management Career Paths [ | ]
Technical Product Managers [ | ]
Growth Product Managers [ | ]
Data Product Managers [ | ]
Platform Product Managers [ | ]
Mobile Product Managers [ | ]