What does a Product Director do?
The duties of a product director depend on one's place or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around overseeing the product development operations to ensure smooth flow and efficiency, devise strategies to improve processes, gather relevant data such as sales and customer feedback, and coordinate with different departments in developing new products and services. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage departments to meet goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations, including its mission and vision.
Product director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real product director resumes:
- Lead the overall site ISO implementation.
- Manage Salesforce integration to SaaS platform and client systems.
- Lead SaaS application visibility and performance monitoring in hybrid enterprise to accelerate adoption of cloud.
- Utilize SQL to support data-driven analysis and decision processes to inform project prioritization, assess feature effectiveness, and troubleshoot issues.
- Interact with FDA, CDC, and other external agencies as required to introduce novel molecular products into the market.
- Spearhead transformation of the organization to modern best practices, ISO & lean manufacturing.
- Research and analyze existing IP data sets for empirical analysis.
- Develop formal product documentation, specs, establish instructions for manufacture and QC procedures.
- Accelerate development through OEM partnering and outsourcing.
- Develop myocardial injection catheter for biologic material delivery for early phase animal work.
- Restore compliance with FDA regulations while creating requisite paper trails to strengthen accountability.
- Integrate regional business cooperation and develop next generation products with OEM affiliates.
Product director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Product Directors are proficient in Product Management, Product Strategy, and Project Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Creativity.
We break down the percentage of Product Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Product Management, 10%
Interfaced with global customers and managed relationships with key stakeholders throughout the product management process.
- Product Strategy, 6%
Conducted market research and compiled data into product strategy framework for executive decision making.
- Project Management, 6%
Directed Emergency Medical Services project management for the State of California for field hospital set-up and disaster management.
- Product Roadmap, 5%
Identified and implemented new communication forums and financial analysis to inform product roadmap prioritization and ensure successful execution.
- Product Design, 4%
Developed product design and system modification recommendations and prepared product and/or system specifications in support of those recommendations.
- Software Development, 4%
Directed software development and quality assurance testing.
Common skills that a product director uses to do their job include "product management," "product strategy," and "project management." You can find details on the most important product director responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a product director to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what product directors do because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." Additionally, a product director resume shows how product directors use analytical skills: "use a/b testing and quantitative analysis to improve conversion rates. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling product director duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process." According to a product director resume, here's how product directors can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "research new trends and product lines through competitive shopping, trade shows and communication with sales teams and sales managers. "
Creativity. product directors are also known for creativity, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to product director responsibilities, because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." A product director resume example shows how creativity is used in the workplace: "participated in all aspects of brand initiatives including media creative, consumer promotion, new product development and launch. "
Organizational skills. For certain product director responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "organizational skills." The day-to-day duties of a product director rely on this skill, as "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what product directors do: "implemented program/project management disciplines to institutionalize organizational sei capability maturity model integration (cmmi) level 2 capabilities. "
The three companies that hire the most product directors are:
- Meta58 product directors jobs
- Highmark48 product directors jobs
- Evolent Health46 product directors jobs
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Compare different product directors
Product director vs. Vice president, product management
A vice president of product management is responsible for handling the overall operational decisions of product deliverables, creating strategic procedures for product marketing strategy, and ensuring that the outputs provide the highest customer satisfaction. The vice president of product management monitors the department's budget, allocating adequate resources to every team to support operational promotions and research on current market trends. They also adjust product management approaches to meet the company's goals and objectives and identify opportunities to increase revenues and profitability.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between product directors and vice president, product management. For instance, product director responsibilities require skills such as "software development," "kpis," "market trends," and "jira." Whereas a vice president, product management is skilled in "analytics," "cloud," "digital transformation," and "product lifecycle." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Vice presidents, product management earn the highest salaries when working in the start-up industry, with an average yearly salary of $176,856. On the other hand, product directors are paid more in the internet industry with an average salary of $155,810.On average, vice presidents, product management reach higher levels of education than product directors. Vice presidents, product management are 6.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Product director vs. Senior product marketing manager
A senior product marketing manager develops marketing projects and programs for new products, aiming to attract consumers and increase the brand value, which will translate into sales. They primarily have administrative duties such as making decisions, establishing schedules and guidelines, setting budgets and goals, delegating responsibilities among teams, and monitoring their progress, solving issues and concerns when any arise. They also lead the efforts to conduct market research and analyses, create marketing materials, and streamlining project requirements, all while implementing standards and regulations.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, product director responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "project management," "product design," "software development," and "product vision." Meanwhile, a senior product marketing manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "cloud," "integrated marketing," "marketing campaigns," and "sr." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Senior product marketing managers earn a lower average salary than product directors. But senior product marketing managers earn the highest pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $134,623. Additionally, product directors earn the highest salaries in the internet with average pay of $155,810 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Senior product marketing managers tend to reach similar levels of education than product directors. In fact, they're 2.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Product director vs. Director, product marketing
A Director of Product Marketing directs the marketing activities of one or more products or product lines within the organization. They develop strong relationships with key customers.
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 director is likely to be skilled in "project management," "product design," "software development," and "product vision," while a typical director, product marketing is skilled in "cloud," "competitive landscape," "marketing campaigns," and "sales enablement."
Directors, product marketing make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $146,919. On the other hand, product directors are paid the highest salary in the internet industry, with average annual pay of $155,810.Most directors, product marketing achieve a similar degree level compared to product directors. For example, they're 2.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Product director vs. Associate product manager
An associate product manager is someone who assists the product development teams in the development of new product features. The duties of an associate include formulation of product strategies, collection of quantitative product data, and interpretation of consumer feedback. The requirements to qualify for the position include a bachelor's degree in computer science, marketing, business management, or a related field, the ability to maintain strong customer relations, and excellent communication skills.
Types of product director
Updated January 8, 2025
