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The differences between functional leads and product managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a functional lead, becoming a product manager takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a functional lead has an average salary of $113,422, which is higher than the $111,729 average annual salary of a product manager.
The top three skills for a functional lead include ERP, client facing and enterprise solutions. The most important skills for a product manager are product management, QA, and product strategy.
| Functional Lead | Product Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $113,422 | $111,729 |
| Hourly rate | $54.53 | $53.72 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 33,917 | 125,678 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 43 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 10 |
Functional leads are professionals who analyze business requirements and provide system design while implementing system solutions for various business initiatives. These professionals must work with clients and internal stakeholders to identify and understand the functional or business requirements. They must analyze and solve complex system problems so that they can improve the organization's overall Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) development and support process. Functional leads must also facilitate a team to design document control procedures that can significantly reduce process cycle time and cost.
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.
Functional leads and product managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Functional Lead | Product Manager | |
| Average salary | $113,422 | $111,729 |
| Salary range | Between $85,000 And $149,000 | Between $81,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sunnyvale, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Retail |
There are a few differences between a functional lead and a product manager in terms of educational background:
| Functional Lead | Product Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between functional leads' and product managers' demographics:
| Functional Lead | Product Manager | |
| Average age | 43 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.1% Female, 31.9% | Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 24.9% White, 52.1% 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 | 8% | 10% |