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The differences between development managers and product owners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a development manager and a product owner. Additionally, a development manager has an average salary of $110,678, which is higher than the $97,070 average annual salary of a product owner.
The top three skills for a development manager include project management, customer service and patients. The most important skills for a product owner are user stories, acceptance criteria, and product backlog.
| Development Manager | Product Owner | |
| Yearly salary | $110,678 | $97,070 |
| Hourly rate | $53.21 | $46.67 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 111,137 | 129,990 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 10 |
A development manager is responsible for assisting existing clients or potential clients of the services they need. A development manager serves as the initial point of contact for the clients to answer their inquiries and concerns before proceeding with a contract. Development managers usually arrange meetings with clients, analyze business opportunities, improve marketing initiatives to attract clients, research the industry's latest trends, create proposals, and assist in training new staff members. A development manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills to handle staff performance and build professional relationships with clients.
Product owners are at the forefront of an organization's development cycle. They have various duties and responsibilities, which include ensuring that the value of products created by the development team is maximized, creating a vision and defining the goals for development projects, and working closely with all stakeholders. As the product owner, you are responsible for ensuring that the development team maintains a consistent vision and overseeing the product backlog. You are also expected to supervise the actual product development stages and anticipate the needs of clients.
Development managers and product owners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Development Manager | Product Owner | |
| Average salary | $110,678 | $97,070 |
| Salary range | Between $76,000 And $159,000 | Between $71,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld | ORIX USA |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a development manager and a product owner in terms of educational background:
| Development Manager | Product Owner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between development managers' and product owners' demographics:
| Development Manager | Product Owner | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 60.5% Female, 39.5% | Male, 64.3% Female, 35.7% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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 Percentage | 10% | 10% |