How To Become An Associate Product Developer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an associate product developer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Associate product developers manage the daily activities in the product development department, including sourcing, costing, product management, and sample follow-up. They handle time and action calendars for appropriate categories/brands and troubleshoot quality, production, price, and lead times issues. They also negotiate pricing, terms, and deliveries with customers as well as damages and discounts as necessary.

Associate product developers are mainly responsible for developing new products and overseeing the developed product's marketing duties. They then use the vast array of skills at their disposal to create a manufacturing reference database within the organization. They perform all these duties to maintain and source relationships with manufacturers and vendors in a bid to encourage the vendors to purchase the products.

To become an associate product developer, it is advisable to have a bachelor's degree in business, specialized sales and merchandising, marketing, or a relevant field. They are expected to have some proven work experience and the ability to work under pressure and in a fast-paced environment. Some employers also require strong analytical, communication, and presentation skills. Associate product developers earn an average salary of approximately $67,000 annually, or $32 per hour.

ScoreAssociate Product DeveloperUS Average

Salary

5.2

Avg. Salary $66,986

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate 19%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.13%

Asian 14.16%

Black or African American 4.72%

Hispanic or Latino 11.21%

Unknown 4.88%

White 64.90%

Gender

female 59.47%

male 40.53%

Age - 34

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 - 34

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an associate product developer

Explore associate product developer education requirements

Most common associate product developer degrees

Bachelor's

79.1 %

Master's

9.8 %

Associate

8.8 %

Start to develop specific associate product developer skills

Skills	Percentages
Product Development	9.71%
Project Management	6.60%
PowerPoint	6.12%
Product Design	5.74%
PLM	5.53%

Complete relevant associate product developer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New associate product developers 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 an associate product developer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real associate product developer resumes.

Research associate product developer duties and responsibilities

Lead expert team that prove feasibility of manufacturing green elastomeric nonwovens by reactive extrusion.
Develop several advance SQL scripts, many of which require complex joins, cursors, and other programming methods.
Develop prototypes utilizing rapid prototyping and general machinery methods.
Work with manufacturing department for rapid prototyping and design modifications.

Prepare your associate product developer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your associate product developer resume.

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