How to hire a product line director

How to hire a product line director, step by step

Here's a step-by-step product line director hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a product line director job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new product line director
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a product line director do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the product line director you need to hire. Certain product line director roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect product line director also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents product line director salaries for various positions.

   Type of Product Line Director	Description	Hourly rate
   Product Line Director	Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers plan programs to generate interest in products or services. They work with art directors, sales agents, and financial staff members.	$45-98
   Vice President Product Development	A vice president for product development is responsible for leading the product development team in the execution of development activities to enhance the product's brand image in the market and achieve the sales performance target. Vice presidents for product development monitor the product development techniques from the conceptualization to the final execution and market release... Show more	$52-124
   Director Of Product Development	A Director of Product Development supervises and implements product development policies, initiatives, and objectives. They conduct market research to determine consumer needs and identify competitors.	$48-94

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Project Management
   • Service Line
   • Oversight
   • Business Development
   • Business Plan
   • Program Management
   • Product Development
   • Patient Satisfaction
   • Strategic Plan
   • Product Offerings
   • Strategic Direction
   • Direct Reports
   • Product Portfolio
   • Financial Performance

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead cross-functional team in pioneering the application/game download ecosystem with the implementation of Java games and generating significant new revenue stream.
   • Utilize SQL to support data-driven analysis and decision processes to inform project prioritization, assess feature effectiveness, and troubleshoot issues.
   • Provide statistical analysis and technical responses to customer RFQ.

   More product line director duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your product line director job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A product line director can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, product line directors' average salary in south dakota is 41% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level product line directors 54% less than senior-level product line directors.
   • Certifications. A product line director with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a product line director's salary.

   Average product line director salary

   $138,939yearly

   $66.80 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level product line director salary

   $94,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average product line director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$189,477	$91
   2	Arizona	$146,792	$71
   3	New Jersey	$146,370	$70
   4	Michigan	$144,425	$69
   5	Texas	$135,426	$65
   6	North Carolina	$134,882	$65
   7	Pennsylvania	$126,454	$61
   8	Florida	$126,349	$61
   9	Massachusetts	$126,174	$61
   10	Illinois	$123,592	$59
   11	Hawaii	$121,198	$58
   12	Oklahoma	$120,036	$58
   13	New Hampshire	$117,865	$57
   14	Indiana	$117,188	$56
   15	New York	$114,516	$55
   16	Colorado	$108,581	$52
   17	Ohio	$107,487	$52
   18	Georgia	$102,312	$49

   Average product line director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Stanford Health Care	$175,826	$84.53	8
   2	Genentech	$164,818	$79.24	67
   3	Finisar	$164,799	$79.23
   4	Akamai Technologies	$161,341	$77.57	4
   5	Rivian	$156,040	$75.02	10
   6	Intel	$153,002	$73.56	6
   7	Applied Materials	$152,929	$73.52	40
   8	Trim Systems Operating Corp	$150,415	$72.31
   9	ZF Group	$147,861	$71.09	2
   10	Genesys	$147,776	$71.05	50
   11	Tektronix	$147,400	$70.87
   12	Broadcom	$146,860	$70.61	8
   13	Renesas Electronics	$144,891	$69.66
   14	Haws	$144,250	$69.35
   15	Hoffmann-LA Roche Inc	$144,013	$69.24	6
   16	Krones	$140,834	$67.71
   17	Airgain	$140,477	$67.54
   18	NOV	$139,513	$67.07	8
   19	Standard Chartered	$139,078	$66.86	26
   20	Cross River	$138,900	$66.78

4. Writing a product line director job description

   A job description for a product line director role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a product line director job description:

   Product line director job description example

   Infinera is the global supplier of innovative networking solutions. Our customers include the leading service providers, data center operators, internet content providers (ICPs), cable operators, enterprises, and government agencies worldwide, including: 9 of the top 10 Tier 1 service providers and 6 of the top 7 ICPs.
   
   The product manager will be part of the Infinera PLM team developing optical product solutions, with a functional expertise in Layer 0 DWDM Optical networking and transmission technology.
   
   Responsible to define upcoming product/solution releases and roadmap based on interaction with sales, R&D and lead customers. Infinera's optical solution consists of a multitude of
   
   product elements such as optical line amplifiers, traffic cards, switches and filters together with supporting Software elements. The product manager will take subject matter ownership of specific products in our overall offering.
   
   Another aspect of the role is sales support and business development supporting market introduction of above products.
   Responsibilities
   Delivers key contributions to define and drive Infinera's optical business and future evolution Interacts with all key stake holders in R&D, supply chain, and sales Interacts with optical component vendors, standard organizations and MSA bodies Interacts with lead customers Identifies and defines applications with highest value, including support of RFP process Enables and supports Infinera sales and during market introduction phase Develop and deliver content for sales and marketing materials and conduct Sales TrainingDefine product requirements that shapes Infinera's value proposition Evaluates return-of-invest scenarios and business cases Evaluates Competitor benchmarks and Infinera Solution values versus the benchmarks
   
   Experience and requirements
   8 or more years of experience as a Product Manager, System Architect of similar technology position in the optical communication industry Experience in customer interaction Experience on optical networking architectures across DCI, communication service provider (CSP), cable MSO, wireless, and/or other optical segments is required.Ability to address problems and topics outside of direct experience, abstract and understand and communicate content, natural problem solver Ability to work independent and self-organized Ability to work in a distributed team and in international environment Ability to work flexible and deviate from initial plans, outcome focused Ability to contribute to and shape business with fundamentally new technology / architecture Very good communication and networking skills.Strong presentation skills (including management and customer presentations, conference talks and plenum discussions) Requires Travel
   
   **
   Please note that Infinera has adopted a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy to safeguard the health and well-being of our employees. As a condition of employment, our employees are required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, unless a reasonable accommodation for a medical/disability or religious basis is approved or as otherwise required by law. Candidates are not required to and must not furnish proof of vaccination or request an accommodation during the application process. Candidates will be required to do so only after a job offer has been extended and prior to their start date if they accept the job offer. A person is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 if the person has received one dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine or two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and two weeks have passed since receiving the final dose of the vaccine.
   
   #LI-JP1
   #LI-Remote
   Infinera is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Infinera complies with all applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment.

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5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find product line directors for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   To find product line director candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as swipe files, exit five, marketinghire, american marketing association.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting product line directors requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new product line director

   Once you've selected the best product line director candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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