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What does a product development specialist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read
Quoted expert
Dr. Gail Hudson Ph.D.

A product development specialist's role is to facilitate the development of efficient and high-quality products in a company. Their responsibilities typically revolve around performing research and analysis to create business plans, devising strategies to optimize procedures, overseeing the workflow and the performance of the workforce, and establishing guidelines as needed. Furthermore, as a product development specialist, it is essential to coordinate and maintain an active communication line with the rest of the workforce, all while implementing the company's policies and goals.

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Product development specialist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real product development specialist resumes:

  • Manage workflow from initial sketch through final product placement.
  • Create, update and manage SKU's in PLM (product life cycle management) software.
  • Lead expert team that prove feasibility of manufacturing green elastomeric nonwovens by reactive extrusion.
  • Manage design control including FMEA risk analysis, surgeon clinical input documentation, design verification and validation activities.
  • Create PowerPoint presentations for business development, as well as internally for management and development meetings.
  • Supervise staff of 3 in GMP compliant facility.
  • Maintain accurate and up to date BOM's.
  • Assist in vendor and supply qualification for GLP and GMP supplies.
  • Perform print approvals for packaging items and create color standards for QA.
  • Support customers and service to install and maintain secure asp SQL database application.
  • Provide services to customers seeking to purchase custom doors and windows for their homes.
  • Perform sensory evaluations of products manufacture and ensure compliance with USDA, HAACP and FDA.
  • Implement a new cloud base PLM system; create guidelines for new processes and training manuals.
  • Develop design criteria for new products as well as design verification procedures and safety testing for QA.
  • Support customers and service with installation and support of IIS and SQL servers for cardiac monitoring system.

Product development specialist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 26% of Product Development Specialists are proficient in Product Development, Project Management, and R. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Analytical skills, and Communication skills.

We break down the percentage of Product Development Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Product Development, 26%

    Partnered with sales/merchandising teams in China and US to formulate product development needs and merchandising strategy to achieve overall profit targets.

  • Project Management, 9%

    Manage multiple complex projects simultaneously utilizing project management best practices.

  • R, 5%

    Analysed collected data in R and Python for patterns and possible solutions to developing problems.

  • SQL, 5%

    Developed Risk Tools and various reports using Excel/VBA, OpenLink, FEA and SQL for the Natural Gas group.

  • Product Quality, 4%

    Developed both preliminary and final product quality specifications.

  • Cost Savings, 4%

    Developed and implemented sourcing strategies for assigned commodities, achieving $37K in cost savings.

"product development," "project management," and "r" are among the most common skills that product development specialists use at work. You can find even more product development specialist responsibilities below, including:

Detail oriented. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a product development specialist to have is detail oriented. Their role and responsibilities require that "market research analysts must pay attention to minutiae to evaluate data." Product development specialists often use detail oriented in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "review all development samples and create detailed reports to communicate revisions and updates to vendors both local and overseas. "

Analytical skills. Many product development specialist duties rely on analytical skills. "market research analysts must evaluate large amounts of data and information related to market conditions.," so a product development specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways product development specialist responsibilities rely on analytical skills: "develop database programs, server scripts, and functionality in java, visual basic, c/c++ and conduct functional testing. "

Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of product development specialists is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday product development specialist duties, as "market research analysts must be able to clearly convey information when gathering material, interpreting data, and presenting results to clients." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "leverage communication skills by teaching and developing other departments to align quality standards with those of product development team. "

See the full list of product development specialist skills

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Compare different product development specialists

Product development specialist vs. Marketing coordinator

A marketing coordinator supports the marketing department on deciding strategies and business efforts to develop the brand image and boost customer satisfaction. Marketing coordinators' duties include assisting in advertising campaigns, scheduling promotional events, monitoring sales status, researching current market trends, maintaining a record of existing and potential clients, and contributing ideas to improve the brand's profitability. A marketing coordinator must have excellent critical thinking and writing skills to help with the creation of social media advertisements and marketing content. It also requires impressive time-management and multi-tasking skills, especially on meeting deadlines and making adjustments on the initial plans as needed.

The annual salary of marketing coordinators is $22,494 lower than the average salary of product development specialists.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between product development specialists and marketing coordinators are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like product development, project management, and facebook.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, product development specialist responsibilities require skills like "r," "sql," "product quality," and "cost savings." Meanwhile a typical marketing coordinator has skills in areas such as "digital marketing," "customer service," "marketing campaigns," and "email campaigns." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

The education levels that marketing coordinators earn slightly differ from product development specialists. In particular, marketing coordinators are 3.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a product development specialist. Additionally, they're 1.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Product development specialist vs. Marketing internship

Marketing interns are usually marketing students or fresh graduates who are interested in getting actual work experiences before taking on a full-time job. They usually have an interest or academic background related to marketing. They assist marketing teams in most of their daily activities, sit in their meetings, record minutes of these meetings, take note of action plans, and attend other events related to marketing. They also assist in preparing collateral and other marketing materials, join brainstorming sessions, or any other activity that will help enrich their experience.

Marketing internship positions earn lower pay than product development specialist roles. They earn a $40,560 lower salary than product development specialists per year.A few skills overlap for product development specialists and marketing interns. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "facebook," "powerpoint," and "market research. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that product development specialist responsibilities requires skills like "product development," "project management," "r," and "sql." But a marketing internship might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "digital marketing," "marketing campaigns," "press releases," and "twitter."

Average education levels between the two professions vary. Marketing interns tend to reach similar levels of education than product development specialists. In fact, they're 4.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for product development specialists in the next 3-5 years?

Dr. Gail Hudson Ph.D.Dr. Gail Hudson Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Director, College of Business Internship Program, Arkansas State University

As I mentioned above, technology and social media will continue to be necessary. As marketers, students will need to be able to use the technology and have the analytics to support their decisions. This may require working outside the structure of software as well. Google Analytics, Social Media Management, Excel, and Coding are all essential skills.

Product development specialist vs. Marketing consultant

A marketing consultant is responsible for utilizing their extensive retail expertise to develop strategies on how to strengthen client base and achieve better sales. Furthermore, a marketing consultant must perform research and analysis to determine opportunities for financial gains, devise plans to improve client satisfaction, assess the competition, look out for any risks, and develop its brand and image. They should also ensure that all steps taken adhere to the policies and regulations of the organization.

On average, marketing consultants earn lower salaries than product development specialists, with a $227 difference per year.product development specialists and marketing consultants both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "product development," "facebook," and "powerpoint," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a product development specialist is likely to be skilled in "project management," "r," "sql," and "product quality," while a typical marketing consultant is skilled in "customer service," "web content," "media sales," and "digital marketing."

When it comes to education, marketing consultants tend to earn similar degree levels compared to product development specialists. In fact, they're 2.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Product development specialist vs. Marketing assistant

A marketing assistant's general responsibility is to support the marketing programs and campaigns by sharing recommendations and useful insights to improve the brand's image. Marketing assistants' duties also include reaching out to other personnel for necessary files needed on promotional advertisements, assist the team in creating designs and developing content, publishing brochures for potential clients, analyzing sales reports, and researching the current market trends. A marketing assistant should have excellent organizational and time-management skills to meet deadlines and perform various tasks as required.

Marketing assistants average a lower salary than the annual salary of product development specialists. The difference is about $31,378 per year.While their salaries may vary, product development specialists and marketing assistants both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "product development," "facebook," and "powerpoint. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A product development specialist uses "project management," "r," "sql," and "product quality." Marketing assistants are more likely to have duties that require skills in "customer service," "marketing campaigns," "email campaigns," and "press releases. "marketing assistants reach lower levels of education compared to product development specialists, in general. The difference is that they're 5.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of product development specialist

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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