The different types of product managers
Last updated: May 2024
People often say that no two product manager roles are the same. And this is true — they often differ by industry, offerings, customers, and product strategy. For someone just getting started in this career, scanning all the different job titles might feel exciting, but also overwhelming. How do you figure out the right fit for you? Here is the good news: With so many different types of product manager roles available, you have an opportunity to discover one that matches your unique skills and interests.
Product managers really, really love our software — find out why.
Whether you are just getting started professionally or looking to expand your career into product management, use this guide to gain a solid understanding of several related career paths you can take.
Use the links below to skip ahead:
Responsibilities of a product manager
Even though we are focusing on some of the different product management roles that exist today, let's ground this guide by discussing a few key areas product managers are responsible for. Their scope of work is certainly broad — as you will see later on. But in general, these are a product manager's main focal points:
Setting strategy: Articulating the business case of a given initiative or feature and then connecting it back to the product's vision and goals.
Evaluating ideas: Crowdsourcing, developing, and curating ideas that will deliver value to customers.
Prioritizing features: Determining which features will create the most value, but require the least effort.
Defining releases: Translating product strategy into planned work by defining what to build and when to launch it.
Building strategic roadmaps: Helping cross-functional teams visualize how the product will achieve business goals and initiatives.
Reporting on progress: Developing a complete view of the team's progress toward goals to understand how a product is performing.
You can learn more about the core responsibilities above in this guide.
