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What is a data product manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted experts
Dr Rick Baldwin,
Sachin Tuli

A data product manager focuses on product data management, including collecting, organizing, storing, and sharing data within an organization. He/She identifies ways to leverage data flow throughout an entire product lifecycle and uses that data to develop and perfect a feature or product. Furthermore, he/she creates presentations to summarize and communicate key messages to senior management, stakeholders, and colleagues. Additionally, he/she sets and reviews metrics and user feedback to continuously improve the product. Also, he/she conducts market assessments, user interviews, and testing.

For this job, you need at least a bachelor's degree in information management or a related discipline. You must have two or more years of experience in a relevant role. You must possess communication, leadership, problem-solving, organization, analytical, and management skills. Likewise, you must be proficient in Microsoft Office, SQL, and data extraction tools. Data product managers make about $111,140 in a year. Their salary ranges from $71,000 and $175,000.

What general advice would you give to a data product manager?

Dr Rick BaldwinDr Rick Baldwin LinkedIn profile

Associate Professor of Practice, Prairie View A&M University

To begin their career, I suggest that the graduate pursue their career as an entrepreneur. Based on the career interest, actually develop a business plan to launch this career as a business. I would use this as a platform in beginning the career as entrepreneur, consultant, or as an employee of a marketing organization.
ScoreData Product ManagerUS Average
Salary
8.1

Avg. Salary $117,599

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
7.5

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
3.1
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 8.15%

Black or African American 3.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.67%

Unknown 5.32%

White 74.58%

Gender

female 35.79%

male 64.21%

Age - 38
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 - 38
Stress level
7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance
3.5

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Data product manager career paths

Key steps to become a data product manager

  1. Explore data product manager education requirements

    Most common data product manager degrees

    Bachelor's

    71.8 %

    Master's

    17.3 %

    Associate

    7.7 %
  2. Start to develop specific data product manager skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Product Management14.09%
    BI11.75%
    QA9.24%
    Regression8.78%
    Product Roadmap6.15%
  3. Complete relevant data product manager training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New data product managers 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 a data product manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real data product manager resumes.
  4. Research data product manager duties and responsibilities

    • Manage translation and QA testing of data warehouse software.
    • Align with customer need for market fundamentals, GIS layers, and infrastructure asset trackers by managing portfolio of custom datasets.
    • Manage horizontal UX prototyping resource needs, implementing effective collaborative expectations and cross-product timeline allocation strategies.
    • Contribute to and attend scrum activities (stand-ups, poker planning, sprint planning, sprint review, retrospective).
  5. Apply for data product manager jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a data product manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first data product manager job

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Average data product manager salary

The average data product manager salary in the United States is $117,599 per year or $57 per hour. Data product manager salaries range between $87,000 and $158,000 per year.

Average data product manager salary
$117,599 Yearly
$56.54 hourly

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How do data product managers rate their job?

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Data product manager reviews

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A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2023
Cons

high expectations, constantly evolving technology, broad range of topics to learn (product management specifics, industry, technology, software development methods

Pros

Solve tough problems, work on agile teams, outlet for creativity,


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A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020
Pros

Its not a specific job, As a product manager your job responsibilities cover many different areas and that's what i love about it.

Cons

all other teams think that they are doing a task for you instead of thinking that they are part of a team on a project


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A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2019
Cons

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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