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The differences between regional product managers and product leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a regional product manager, becoming a product lead takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a product lead has an average salary of $118,828, which is higher than the $111,928 average annual salary of a regional product manager.
The top three skills for a regional product manager include product management, product line and market research. The most important skills for a product lead are product management, project management, and architecture.
| Regional Product Manager | Product Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $111,928 | $118,828 |
| Hourly rate | $53.81 | $57.13 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 168,499 | 95,557 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 46 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 10 |
Regional product managers maintain strong client relations to identify incremental revenue opportunities and ensure a competitive advantage. They support bidding situations and selling through exclusive authorized dealers, general contractors, and agents. Most of them analyze and review business reports, including inventory levels, sales results, and customer satisfaction. They may evaluate ROI before executing customer solutions based upon the feasibility. These managers must have analytical skills to gather information from various sources, leadership to directly correlate with a person's ability to lead others toward an accomplishment, and creativity.
A product lead is responsible for monitoring the development of new products and services of an organization, starting from brand conceptualization to official market release and distribution. Product leads identify effective product management by conducting data analysis and evaluating market statistics of customer demands. They coordinate with the clients on their specifications and requirements, including the budget limit and timely deliverables. A product lead manages the brand promotion on media platforms, creating content that adheres to the target audience.
Regional product managers and product leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Regional Product Manager | Product Lead | |
| Average salary | $111,928 | $118,828 |
| Salary range | Between $77,000 And $162,000 | Between $86,000 And $163,000 |
| Highest paying City | North Brunswick, NJ | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a regional product manager and a product lead in terms of educational background:
| Regional Product Manager | Product Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between regional product managers' and product leads' demographics:
| Regional Product Manager | Product Lead | |
| Average age | 46 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 77.6% Female, 22.4% | Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% 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 | 7% | 10% |