Topic:
Learn the key concepts, skills, mindsets, and frameworks that will make you a great fit for the Technical PM role.
What you'll learn:
You will learn about Technical…
A technical product manager is a business leader who takes a technology-focused approach. This role aligns the technical and business aspects of a product by conducting customer surveys, reviewing competitors’ products and analyzing market trends. Technical product managers then leverage this data to create product roadmaps and strategies, improve product features, lead product training sessions and execute other tasks.
Because of their specialized skill sets, technical product managers display extensive education and training. Students can major in a wide range of fields, including business, marketing, engineering and computer science. After finishing their undergraduate careers, many students also achieve their master’s degree in business administration or a similar concentration later on.
Top candidates will supplement their education with three to five years of relevant work experience. Incoming professionals can break into product development by starting as product analysts before transitioning to product manager roles after three years. Cultivating a well-rounded portfolio allows aspiring technical product managers to develop confidence and adapt quickly to agile project management situations.
To excel in their positions, technical product managers must know the ins and outs of their products. If a candidate doesn’t already have a strong technical background, they should be willing to learn about the various features of a product. Each product decision is backed up by customer feedback and market trends, so these professionals must also feel comfortable conducting research on similar products, guiding surveys and refining products after collecting info through A/B testing and other methods.
The ideal technical product manager can then combine all their research and insights to inform their overall product strategy. As a result, these managers must possess strategic thinking, which allows them to chart product roadmaps and visualize how to convert product visions into realities. If a candidate can complement these abilities with teamwork and other key soft skills, they’ll be able to thrive as a technical product manager.
Technical product managers often enter their positions with thorough training and prior experience, so they are compensated with six-figure salaries. According to Built In’s salary tool, technical product managers in the U.S. make an average base salary of $118,147. Top performers can also receive an additional cash compensation of $14,943 and nudge their total compensation to $133,090. As technical product managers travel deeper into their careers, they can go on to pursue salaries up to $290K.
Raise your daily performance by learning product management skills through Udemy’s online courses.
Explore more exciting opportunities for your career with Udacity’s online product management certifications.