Product Manager
We are seeing a large increase in the number and variety of Product Manager jobs in the market. The launch of a new product signifies a crucial time for any organisation and getting the right product management team in place, can make or break its success.
If you are looking for a Product Manager job role or would like to find out how to become a Product Manager, what skills you need, and what salaries are on offer, you will find a complete guide below.
If you’re an employer looking to recruit a Product Manager, please see our product recruitment services page, and the full overview of our services to employers. If you need to hire and would like our services, contact us today.
We place over 100 product manager candidates within London based companies each year. With the rise of flexible working over the last 2 years, we are extending our recruitment services to candidates across the UK, Europe and North America.
Salary
In today’s market, a salary of £60,000 to £80,000 would be expected at Product Manager level. Traditionally, those Product Managers’ working within London could expect a salary at the higher end of this scale, but with the rise in demand from candidates for flexible working, employers are tending to level out this playing field.
If an employer requires a Product Manager with specific niche experience and knowledge, the candidate will often be able to negotiate a salary at the higher end of this scale.
Other factors that could affect the salary of a Product Manager role are:
- The size of the employer
- The growth objectives of the employer
- The business sector
- The employers people budget and financial security
- The overall benefits package. Employers can enhance the salary through equity, pensions, and other benefits.
Example Job Description
A typical Product Manager job description will read something like the below:
The Product Manager will have full autonomy over developing the products lifecycle as well as scaling and adapting the product to maximise growth.
The Product Manager will report directly to the Head of Product and will work alongside a team of designers, developers, and analysts. The key driver is to increase engagement and improve the relevance of ongoing content.
The Product Manager will:
- Work with customers and stakeholders to understand needs and build business cases
- Understand the opportunities, requirements and customer problems for each new product release and on-going growth optimisations
- Build the product strategy and roadmap
- Testing and delivering new features and optimisations that positively enhance the business KPIs and improve customer experience
- Work collaboratively with developers to release best in class products that users love
- Roll out product trials and product launches
- Driving innovation in the market
- Consistent UX throughout all products
- Creating high quality user stories and acceptance criteria i.e. data driven mindset
The Product Manager must have:
- A track record delivering great product portfolios
- Experience with AB and multi-variant testing
- Experience using data and analytics tools to prioritise your roadmap
- Excellent stakeholder management skills
- Experience in new product development and the innovation cycle
- Have a passion for digital, agile, software product management
Product Manager skills
Creating a job description is a difficult task for a product management role – each business will have different requirements depending on its size, how established the business is, the budget, and what product the business sells, from software, a service to a tangible product. Saying this, businesses looking to fill a product manager vacancy, are more than likely looking for these skills:
Customer First Approach
Evidence of combining product experience and knowledge with market insight to deliver a product roadmap that has met and exceeded the actual needs of customers – rather than the perceived needs.
Agile Working
Defined as ‘bringing people, processes, connectivity and technology, time and place together to find the most appropriate and effective way of working to carry out a particular task. It is working within guidelines (of the task) but without boundaries (of how you achieve it).’This is an important team management skill, creating the right environment for success.
Problem Solving
The ability to foresee pain points and roadblocks within the product roadmap and creating a plan to overcome these in a timely and cost-effective way.
Coaching
Evidence of taking teams on a journey, from understanding the business vision and buying into the product direction completely. Businesses will want to see candidates who have showcased influencing skills and can give proven examples of coaching teams towards success.
Lifecycle Experience
Becoming increasingly popular is the requirement for candidates to have ‘full stack’ experience and taking products through the whole product lifecycle, from research and development to maturity.
Technical Product Manager jobs
A Technical Product Manager role has similar responsibilities to a Product Manager. The difference in this case, is that a Technical Product Manager requires enhanced engineering and design skills, focusing more on the product itself, how it is built and its development. On the other hand, a Product Manager focuses more intensely on the customer, ensuring first and foremost that the product is customer centric.
Example Job Description
A typical Product Manager job description will read something like the below:
The Product Manager will have full autonomy over developing the products lifecycle as well as scaling and adapting the product to maximise growth.
The Product Manager will report directly to the Head of Product and will work alongside a team of designers, developers, and analysts. The key driver is to increase engagement and improve the relevance of ongoing content.
The Product Manager will:
- Work with customers and stakeholders to understand needs and build business cases
- Understand the opportunities, requirements and customer problems for each new product release and on-going growth optimisations
- Build the product strategy and roadmap
- Testing and delivering new features and optimisations that positively enhance the business KPIs and improve customer experience
- Work collaboratively with developers to release best in class products that users love
- Roll out product trials and product launches
- Driving innovation in the market
- Consistent UX throughout all products
- Creating high quality user stories and acceptance criteria i.e. data driven mindset
The Product Manager must have:
- A track record delivering great product portfolios
- Experience with AB and multi-variant testing
- Experience using data and analytics tools to prioritise your roadmap
- Excellent stakeholder management skills
- Experience in new product development and the innovation cycle
- Have a passion for digital, agile, software product management
Product Manager skills
Creating a job description is a difficult task for a product management role – each business will have different requirements depending on its size, how established the business is, the budget, and what product the business sells, from software, a service to a tangible product. Saying this, businesses looking to fill a product manager vacancy, are more than likely looking for these skills:
CUSTOMER FIRST APPROACH
Evidence of combining product experience and knowledge with market insight to deliver a product roadmap that has met and exceeded the actual needs of customers – rather than the perceived needs.
AGILE WORKING
Defined as ‘bringing people, processes, connectivity and technology, time and place together to find the most appropriate and effective way of working to carry out a particular task. It is working within guidelines (of the task) but without boundaries (of how you achieve it).’This is an important team management skill, creating the right environment for success.
PROBLEM SOLVING
The ability to foresee pain points and roadblocks within the product roadmap and creating a plan to overcome these in a timely and cost-effective way.
COACHING
Evidence of taking teams on a journey, from understanding the business vision and buying into the product direction completely. Businesses will want to see candidates who have showcased influencing skills and can give proven examples of coaching teams towards success.
LIFECYCLE EXPERIENCE
Becoming increasingly popular is the requirement for candidates to have ‘full stack’ experience and taking products through the whole product lifecycle, from research and development to maturity.
Technical Product Manager jobs
A Technical Product Manager role has similar responsibilities to a Product Manager. The difference in this case, is that a Technical Product Manager requires enhanced engineering and design skills, focusing more on the product itself, how it is built and its development. On the other hand, a Product Manager focuses more intensely on the customer, ensuring first and foremost that the product is customer centric.
FAQs
- What is a product manager?
- A product manager regularly assesses the competitor and customer landscape to identify a customer need and creates a product or develops a feature within an existing product to fulfil that need. A product manager will define the vision of that product, prioritising features, and capabilities, and defines the success criteria for that product.
- How much are product managers paid in the UK?
- Product Managers could expect to be paid between £60,000 to £80,000 depending on the size of the business, its growth plans, and the specific domain requirements within the particular role.
- Are Product Managers in demand UK?
- Yes, arguably a Product Managers job is one of the most in demand jobs currently. This is seen across all sectors, including tech, adtech, eCommerce, agriculture and more.
- What does a product manager do exactly?
- A Product Manager will need to combine their product experience and knowledge with market insight to deliver a product roadmap that has met and exceeded the actual needs of customers – rather than the perceived needs. A Product Manager needs to foresee pain points and roadblocks within the product roadmap and create a plan to overcome these in a timely and cost-effective way.
