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The differences between product managers and product directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a product manager and a product director. Additionally, a product director has an average salary of $148,910, which is higher than the $111,729 average annual salary of a product manager.
The top three skills for a product manager include product management, QA and product strategy. The most important skills for a product director are product management, product strategy, and project management.
| Product Manager | Product Director | |
| Yearly salary | $111,729 | $148,910 |
| Hourly rate | $53.72 | $71.59 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 125,678 | 125,200 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 10 |
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.
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 managers and product directors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Manager | Product Director | |
| Average salary | $111,729 | $148,910 |
| Salary range | Between $81,000 And $152,000 | Between $104,000 And $212,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Internet |
There are a few differences between a product manager and a product director in terms of educational background:
| Product Manager | Product Director | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between product managers' and product directors' demographics:
| Product Manager | Product Director | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7% | Male, 72.4% Female, 27.6% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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 | 10% | 10% |