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What is an online product manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted expert
Sachin Tuli
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an online product manager. For example, did you know that they make an average of $51.08 an hour? That's $106,247 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 33,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

What's a day at work look like for an online product manager?

Sachin TuliSachin Tuli LinkedIn profile

Director, International Business Major, Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The pandemic accelerated ongoing shifts with work-from-anywhere and use of remote meeting technologies. With mass adoption at all levels, these trends are likely to persist to some degree across fields and industries. There will likely be less travel for a number of years, but concurrently we may see more cross-team and cross-national collaboration and coordination. From an international business perspective, firms do plan to continue their globalization efforts and we know that graduates themselves increasingly seek potential global opportunities and mobility when choosing which organizations to work for.
ScoreOnline Product ManagerUS Average
Salary
7.8

Avg. Salary $106,247

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 36.19%

male 63.81%

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

Online product manager career paths

Key steps to become an online product manager

  1. Explore online product manager education requirements

    Most common online product manager degrees

    Bachelor's

    81.0 %

    Master's

    12.1 %

    Associate

    4.6 %
  2. Start to develop specific online product manager skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Product Management25.44%
    User Experience12.60%
    Customer Feedback7.05%
    Product Backlog6.78%
    Product Development6.62%
  3. Complete relevant online product manager training and internships

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

    • Manage scope and provide data to upper-management by preparing ROI analyses and short-term and long-term product sales forecasts.
    • Lead cross-functional team in pioneering the application/game download ecosystem with the implementation of Java games and generating significant new revenue stream.
    • Calculate ROI ratios and measure financial performance to budget.
    • Utilize SQL to support data-driven analysis and decision processes to inform project prioritization, assess feature effectiveness, and troubleshoot issues.
  5. Apply for online product manager jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for an online 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 online product manager job

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Average online product manager salary

The average online product manager salary in the United States is $106,247 per year or $51 per hour. Online product manager salaries range between $64,000 and $173,000 per year.

Average online product manager salary
$106,247 Yearly
$51.08 hourly

What am I worth?

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How do online product managers rate their job?

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Online product manager reviews

profile
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,


profile
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


profile
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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