What does an associate product manager do?
An associate product manager is someone who assists the product development teams in the development of new product features. The duties of an associate include formulation of product strategies, collection of quantitative product data, and interpretation of consumer feedback. The requirements to qualify for the position include a bachelor's degree in computer science, marketing, business management, or a related field, the ability to maintain strong customer relations, and excellent communication skills.
Associate product manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real associate product manager resumes:
- Manage e-commerce packaging program, displays and packaging.
- Lead a cross-functional team to launch the diabetes monitoring product.
- Manage seven brand categories in the livestock feed and pet feed industries
- Manage POS analysis to build sales tools, identify trends, and report performance.
- Manage cross-functional teams to develop and produce new product for Chinese, UK and European markets.
- Manage the department of a medical diabetes blood glucose manufacturing leader of visual blood glucose test strips.
- Work in an agile environment using JIRA.
- Work with highly skil developers, QA engineers and product managers across different teams.
- Work with stakeholders to understand requirements, translate them into JIRA tickets, and prioritize them.
- Assist product manager with fit reviews, BOM creation, standards development, and approval comments.
- Define localization template for eBay UK, AU, JP and DE, and for future international sites.
- Prioritize projects and tasks of an international team of software engineers, QA engineers, designers, and editors.
- Establish new procedures of BOM's, SKU configurations and shipping methods for the new Brazilian market product launch.
- Analyze KPIs and financial reports: budget, commercial policy, price, net sales and investment level; suggest improvements.
- Collect and disseminate product KPIs with analysis for senior management.
Associate product manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Associate Product Managers are proficient in Product Management, Project Management, and User Stories. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Creativity.
We break down the percentage of Associate Product Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Product Management, 9%
Supported Product Management team, writing product requirement documents and managing customer feature requests and feedback.
- Project Management, 6%
Developed innovative product ideas using agile project management and tested them with the market using Pragmatic Marketing principles.
- User Stories, 5%
Translate product strategy into actionable user stories and acceptance criteria.
- Market Research, 5%
Evaluated multiple product features through qualitative/quantitative market research with an outside consulting agency to determine the top product attributes and positioning.
- PowerPoint, 4%
Designed self-running PowerPoint presentations to train Tech Data's inside sales force, resellers and HP field representatives.
- Customer Service, 4%
Key elements included analyzing financial feasibility, forecasting call volume and designing and administering training to customer service representatives.
Most associate product managers use their skills in "product management," "project management," and "user stories" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential associate product manager responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for an associate product manager to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what associate product managers do because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." Additionally, an associate product manager resume shows how associate product managers use analytical skills: "acted as product expert to answer category team questions, suggest brand based marketing copy, and analyze product performance. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform associate product manager duties is communication skills. Associate product managers responsibilities require that "managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process." Associate product managers also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "coordinate new product development activities with finance, marketing communications, sales, purchasing, manufacturing and service as required. "
Creativity. This is an important skill for associate product managers to perform their duties. For an example of how associate product manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an associate product manager: "manage business, creative & product development and production of baby, seasonal product, and fancy pal pet carrier categories. ".
Interpersonal skills. For certain associate product manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "interpersonal skills." The day-to-day duties of an associate product manager rely on this skill, as "managers must deal with a range of people in different roles, both inside and outside the organization." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what associate product managers do: "utilized interpersonal skills to build strong relationships with other functional areas to assist in timely product development and launch. "
Organizational skills. Another crucial skill for an associate product manager to carry out their responsibilities is "organizational skills." A big part of what associate product managers relies on this skill, since "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." How this skill relates to associate product manager duties can be seen in an example from an associate product manager resume snippet: "assisted in the development and production of three distinct sleepwear brands assumed responsibilities of product development manager through various organizational changes. "
The three companies that hire the most associate product managers are:
- Masco52 associate product managers jobs
- Change Healthcare47 associate product managers jobs
- Oracle43 associate product managers jobs
Compare different associate product managers
Associate product manager vs. Product lead
A product lead is responsible for monitoring the development of new products and services of an organization, starting from brand conceptualization to official market release and distribution. Product leads identify effective product management by conducting data analysis and evaluating market statistics of customer demands. They coordinate with the clients on their specifications and requirements, including the budget limit and timely deliverables. A product lead manages the brand promotion on media platforms, creating content that adheres to the target audience.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, associate product manager responsibilities require skills like "powerpoint," "jira," "market trends," and "competitive analysis." Meanwhile a typical product lead has skills in areas such as "architecture," "cloud," "continuous improvement," and "c++." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Product leads earn the highest salaries when working in the hospitality industry, with an average yearly salary of $129,039. On the other hand, associate product managers are paid more in the start-up industry with an average salary of $91,911.The education levels that product leads earn slightly differ from associate product managers. In particular, product leads are 5.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an associate product manager. Additionally, they're 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Associate product manager vs. Product director
The duties of a product director depend on one's place or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around overseeing the product development operations to ensure smooth flow and efficiency, devise strategies to improve processes, gather relevant data such as sales and customer feedback, and coordinate with different departments in developing new products and services. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage departments to meet goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations, including its mission and vision.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that associate product manager responsibilities requires skills like "user stories," "powerpoint," "customer service," and "strong analytical." But a product director might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "software development," "product vision," "scrum," and "saas."
Product directors may earn a higher salary than associate product managers, but product directors earn the most pay in the internet industry with an average salary of $155,810. On the other hand, associate product managers receive higher pay in the start-up industry, where they earn an average salary of $91,911.product directors earn higher levels of education than associate product managers in general. They're 5.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Associate product manager vs. Pricing manager
Pricing managers are employees who oversee the pricing needs of the organization. They identify the best pricing schemes for the company's product or service offerings. To do this, pricing managers analyze industry trends and current events. They study the target market and their spending behavior. They also coordinate with different departments, such as the production department to get the cost of production and the human resources department to get overhead costs. They also factor in different operational costs. Once they get this data, they determine the best pricing for the goods. Pricing managers also have a say in company tie-ups and client proposals to ensure that the company will not get the losing end of the stick with such partnerships.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from associate product manager resumes include skills like "project management," "user stories," "powerpoint," and "product development," whereas a pricing manager is more likely to list skills in "analytics," "strategic pricing," "visualization," and "sql. "
Pricing managers make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $110,227. On the other hand, associate product managers are paid the highest salary in the start-up industry, with average annual pay of $91,911.pricing managers typically earn similar educational levels compared to associate product managers. Specifically, they're 3.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Associate product manager vs. Web manager
Web Managers are responsible for managing websites for organizations. Their duties include managing website upgrades, testing for website performance, implement a strategy to increase web traffic and subscribers, troubleshooting website issues, and responding to security breaches. They create content audits as well as ensuring the website has brand strategy alignment. A Web Manager ensures website compliance with all regulations and keeps abreast of the best practice of the industry. They must possess good problem-solving skills and knowledge in search engine optimization.
Types of associate product manager
Updated January 8, 2025
