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The differences between release managers and product owners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a release manager, becoming a product owner takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a release manager has an average salary of $109,886, which is higher than the $97,070 average annual salary of a product owner.
The top three skills for a release manager include release management, project management and software development. The most important skills for a product owner are user stories, acceptance criteria, and product backlog.
| Release Manager | Product Owner | |
| Yearly salary | $109,886 | $97,070 |
| Hourly rate | $52.83 | $46.67 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 38,547 | 129,990 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 10 |
A release manager is responsible for supervising project releases across various platforms by closely coordinating with technology and project teams, ensuring the stability and efficiency of outputs according to clients' specifications and business needs. Release managers handle the delivery management procedures from conceptualization to production, maintaining budget requirements and adherence to timetables. They also perform quality check processes to identify possible defects and inconsistencies with the deliverables and adjusting initial project plans as needed.
Product owners are at the forefront of an organization's development cycle. They have various duties and responsibilities, which include ensuring that the value of products created by the development team is maximized, creating a vision and defining the goals for development projects, and working closely with all stakeholders. As the product owner, you are responsible for ensuring that the development team maintains a consistent vision and overseeing the product backlog. You are also expected to supervise the actual product development stages and anticipate the needs of clients.
Release managers and product owners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Release Manager | Product Owner | |
| Average salary | $109,886 | $97,070 |
| Salary range | Between $81,000 And $147,000 | Between $71,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | ORIX USA |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a release manager and a product owner in terms of educational background:
| Release Manager | Product Owner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between release managers' and product owners' demographics:
| Release Manager | Product Owner | |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.4% Female, 38.6% | Male, 64.3% Female, 35.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | 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 | 11% | 10% |