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Digital program manager vs product manager

The differences between digital program managers and 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 digital program manager and a product manager. Additionally, a product manager has an average salary of $111,729, which is higher than the $100,853 average annual salary of a digital program manager.

The top three skills for a digital program manager include digital transformation, digital marketing and project management. The most important skills for a product manager are product management, QA, and product strategy.

Digital program manager vs product manager overview

Digital Program ManagerProduct Manager
Yearly salary$100,853$111,729
Hourly rate$48.49$53.72
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs144,134125,678
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age3939
Years of experience1010

What does a digital program manager do?

Digital program managers are executive professionals who are responsible for managing the digital products of an organization across a variety of different functions and disciplines. These managers are required to partner with product owners so that they can understand the owner's objectives and develop digital project portfolios that help them meet those objectives. They must facilitate the planning and management of digital products to ensure that they are delivered on-time and within budget. Digital program managers must also prepare project status reports for executive management to review.

What does a product manager do?

A product manager is responsible for ensuring product development, providing the best marketing strategies, and effectively handling the sales and marketing team. Product managers' duties include monitoring the market trends and conditions, identifying business opportunities and plan initiatives, and collaborating the product launch process with the appropriate departments. A product manager is also responsible for generating ideas on improving product features, determining timetables and reasonable pricing, and analyzing product sales. A product manager must have excellent strategic and decision-making skills to contribute to its growth and profitability.

Digital program manager vs product manager salary

Digital program managers and product managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Digital Program ManagerProduct Manager
Average salary$100,853$111,729
Salary rangeBetween $71,000 And $142,000Between $81,000 And $152,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyMetaMeta
Best paying industryTechnologyRetail

Differences between digital program manager and product manager education

There are a few differences between a digital program manager and a product manager in terms of educational background:

Digital Program ManagerProduct Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of Georgia

Digital program manager vs product manager demographics

Here are the differences between digital program managers' and product managers' demographics:

Digital Program ManagerProduct Manager
Average age3939
Gender ratioMale, 62.2% Female, 37.8%Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7%
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 digital program manager and product manager duties and responsibilities

Digital program manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage schedule milestone dates in company database; supervise full-service vendor in updating Smartsheet schedule.
  • Interface with key internal and client stakeholders to define and lead digital and CRM initiatives.
  • Own entire worldwide marketing budget, prioritize spends and ensure best ROI (units & mix).
  • Provide level of effort estimations and resource requirements in partnership with BA, UX, development and QA project resources.
  • Generate complete SEO/analytic reports identifying specific aggregates, require metrics and investigate reporting discrepancies with JIRA as required.
  • Task with the ongoing improvement and optimization of these e-commerce capabilities.

Product manager example responsibilities.

  • Lead collaborative efforts within the PMO, vendors, customers, and internal stakeholders.
  • Manage developers accountable for coding, database development, UI implementation, and system architecture.
  • Manage inventory service levels / overstocks /defective inventory and supplier buy-in opportunities to maximize ROI.
  • Lead customization of the company's administrative SaaS software solution by defining features and functionality for internal/external stakeholder teams.
  • Lead weekly meetings between engineering, sales/marketing, and QA departments to facilitate communication, collaboration and resolution of product issues.
  • Handle design and specification of administration system requirements to efficiently manage, operate, and support client API configurations and sessions.
  • Show more

Digital program manager vs product manager skills

Common digital program manager skills
  • Digital Transformation, 19%
  • Digital Marketing, 15%
  • Project Management, 13%
  • Program Management, 9%
  • Digital Content, 3%
  • KPIs, 3%
Common product manager skills
  • Product Management, 11%
  • QA, 5%
  • Product Strategy, 5%
  • Project Management, 4%
  • Market Research, 4%
  • User Stories, 4%

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