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Category manager vs senior product manager

The differences between category managers and senior product managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a category manager and a senior product manager. Additionally, a senior product manager has an average salary of $133,868, which is higher than the $102,035 average annual salary of a category manager.

The top three skills for a category manager include strategic sourcing, category strategy and supplier performance. The most important skills for a senior product manager are product management, cloud, and product strategy.

Category manager vs senior product manager overview

Category ManagerSenior Product Manager
Yearly salary$102,035$133,868
Hourly rate$49.06$64.36
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs108,424119,025
Job satisfaction54
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age3939
Years of experience1010

What does a category manager do?

Category managers are usually employed in the retail industry. They are primarily responsible for the sales enhancement of a specific group of products. The managers are involved in pricing, marketing, inventory, and vendor management. Their daily tasks include meeting with suppliers to talk about the plans, conducting orientation to the market research company, and updating category reports. Qualified applicants must have a degree in business administration or a related field as well as relevant job experience in a related job.

What does a senior product manager do?

A senior product manager oversees the workflow and workforce involved in product and service development, ensuring a high return for its investments. They are primarily responsible for assessing and providing recommendations, producing review and reference documents, and obtaining feedback from consumers and high-ranking company personnel. Furthermore, as a senior product manager, they must lead a group of product managers, motivating and supervising them in their joint effort to accomplish goals according to the company's standards and policies.

Category manager vs senior product manager salary

Category managers and senior product managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Category ManagerSenior Product Manager
Average salary$102,035$133,868
Salary rangeBetween $74,000 And $138,000Between $98,000 And $182,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNevadaCalifornia
Best paying companyMcKinsey & Company IncRoku
Best paying industryManufacturingStart-up

Differences between category manager and senior product manager education

There are a few differences between a category manager and a senior product manager in terms of educational background:

Category ManagerSenior Product Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of Georgia

Category manager vs senior product manager demographics

Here are the differences between category managers' and senior product managers' demographics:

Category ManagerSenior Product Manager
Average age3939
Gender ratioMale, 55.7% Female, 44.3%Male, 68.5% Female, 31.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between category manager and senior product manager duties and responsibilities

Category manager example responsibilities.

  • Lead team to manage predominantly seasonal fashion apparel by reacting to trends with appropriate buys and proactive exit strategies.
  • Manage and create purchase plans and OTB's.
  • Design and manage all BTL plans for the brands.
  • Manage multiple sources of data to mine for business voids and opportunities at both macro and micro levels.
  • Deliver profit and sales forecasts, manage merchandising budget, and used IRI data to produce optimal product mix.
  • Lead a high performance jewelry merchandising team in a digital commerce environment through television, e-commerce, and social media.
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Senior product manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage and lead pipeline visualization project team to successful presentation at annual customer event.
  • Research reimbursement and payment/coding policies with manage care plans and Medicare for new services.
  • Manage customer CRM implementations, upgrades and customer relationships (at all client levels) with sales team as SME.
  • Manage the PLM and PDM product quality data metrics to review process successes and deficiencies enhancing existing product delivery work cycles.
  • Lead SaaS application visibility and performance monitoring in hybrid enterprise to accelerate adoption of cloud.
  • Manage requirements capture, engineering and QA schedules, feature stability and iterative feature revisions.
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Category manager vs senior product manager skills

Common category manager skills
  • Strategic Sourcing, 8%
  • Category Strategy, 8%
  • Supplier Performance, 5%
  • Supplier Relationships, 4%
  • Customer Service, 4%
  • Cost Savings, 4%
Common senior product manager skills
  • Product Management, 11%
  • Cloud, 6%
  • Product Strategy, 4%
  • User Stories, 4%
  • Product Vision, 4%
  • Product Roadmap, 4%

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