How to hire a senior director, product management

How to hire a senior director, product management, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior director, product management hiring guide:

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

What does a senior director, product management do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your senior director, product management job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a senior director, product management for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a senior director, product management to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a senior director, product management that fits the bill.

   The following list breaks down different types of senior directors, product management and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Senior Director, Product Management	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Director, Product Management	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.	$59-112
   Product Lead	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... Show more	$41-78
   Product Director	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... Show more	$50-101

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Product Management
   • SR
   • Product Strategy
   • Market Research
   • Analytics
   • ROI
   • Product Line
   • Cloud Security
   • Cloud
   • Product Roadmap
   • Product Vision
   • Cloud Computing
   • User Experience
   • Lifecycle Management

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead redesign on the UI and navigation.
   • Develop and manage client email campaigns, PPC management, SEO, and affiliate marketing.
   • Create and lead internal education program with goal of reducing time spend on development and QA testing.
   • Conduct integration, technology and programmer partner contract negotiations, manage both internal and external resources for product UI development.
   • Define vision for next generation cloud and SaaS platform to capitalize on market opportunity and provide platform to re-invent existing product.
   • Implement initiatives tracking, reporting and monitoring KPIs.

   More senior director, product management duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the senior director, product management job description is a good way to get more applicants. A senior director, product management salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a senior director, product management in Kentucky may be lower than in Washington, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level senior director, product management. Additionally, a senior director, product management with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average senior director, product management salary

   $169,685yearly

   $81.58 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior director, product management salary

   $123,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average senior director, product management salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$204,948	$99
   2	Washington	$201,757	$97
   3	Oregon	$199,304	$96
   4	Rhode Island	$180,833	$87
   5	District of Columbia	$173,417	$83
   6	Hawaii	$158,382	$76
   7	New York	$156,590	$75
   8	Massachusetts	$155,589	$75
   9	Utah	$155,139	$75
   10	Pennsylvania	$155,051	$75
   11	North Carolina	$147,456	$71
   12	Nebraska	$147,001	$71
   13	Illinois	$146,374	$70
   14	Texas	$145,430	$70
   15	Colorado	$145,386	$70
   16	New Jersey	$144,307	$69
   17	Arizona	$142,094	$68
   18	Iowa	$141,969	$68
   19	Maryland	$139,915	$67
   20	Arkansas	$137,545	$66

   Average senior director, product management salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	eBay	$229,533	$110.35	46
   2	Google	$229,248	$110.22	341
   3	PayPal	$220,571	$106.04	44
   4	Mayo Clinic	$217,392	$104.52	5
   5	Pure Storage	$214,974	$103.35	23
   6	PlayStation	$210,874	$101.38	16
   7	Scribd	$208,027	$100.01	5
   8	Adobe	$205,970	$99.02	92
   9	LinkedIn	$205,106	$98.61	30
   10	Coty	$203,825	$97.99	8
   11	Palo Alto Networks	$203,110	$97.65	131
   12	F5	$202,542	$97.38	17
   13	VMware	$202,394	$97.30	1
   14	Gilt	$201,319	$96.79
   15	Yahoo	$198,274	$95.32
   16	Sharecare	$197,745	$95.07	51
   17	Intuitive Surgical	$197,117	$94.77	22
   18	Activision Blizzard	$195,855	$94.16	2
   19	PitchBook Data	$194,651	$93.58	10
   20	VF	$193,974	$93.26	15

4. Writing a senior director, product management job description

   A good senior director, product management job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a senior director, product management job description:

   Senior director, product management job description example

   WEX is an innovative payments and technology company looking to forge the way in a rapidly changing environment, with a goal to simplify the business of doing business for our customers, freeing them to spend more time, with less worry, on the the things they love. WEX Global Fleet is a highly innovative and fast-paced division of WEX Inc., focused on delivering fleet solutions-at great scale and value-to our global clients. We are seeking a self-driven and motivated professional to join the Global Fleet Product Management Team. As a Senior Director of Product Management, you will have the opportunity to lead a team of product managers to drive forward the development of EV and mobility product offerings.
   
   WEX is an industry leader in helping commercial fleets and businesses manage their fuel and fleet expenses through its suite of payment and technology solutions. With electric vehicles (EVs) expected to be nearly 20% of new commercial vehicles sales globally by 2030, commercial fleets are embracing the reality of operating fleets of mixed combustion and electric vehicles- and WEX is on a journey to help them best manage this complexity with the right set of payment, reporting, and software tools. Join a team of passionate fleet industry and product leaders in building the next phase of WEX's Global Fleet product evolution and help drive the electrification of transportation. Reporting to the Global Head of Product - Fleet and Mobility, you will lead our Electric Vehicle products, with a specific focus on developing an EV strategy that enables broad adoption and new product innovation.
   What you'll do
   
   Define and lead with a global focus the end-to end product vision, strategy, roadmap and priorities for WEX's core EV product teams to help fleet customers transition to EV and optimize customers' mixed fleets operations Cultivate cross-functional partnerships with technology, business, sales, marketing, compliance, risk, and operations leaders as well as external partners to launch new EV products with global reach and drive business outcomes Define EV product commercialization strategy including Go-To-Market strategy and pricing Drive EV revenue and growth targets The voice of the customer Develop and support the growth of Product Managers
   
   Experience you'll bring
   
   10+ years of Product Management experience, including Product leadership experience Experience managing Product ManagersProven methodologies for developing great products, customer-led innovation, rapid experimentation, prototyping and measuring outcomes Ability to understand how data, technology, and product capabilities enable strategy and vision Demonstrated experience delivering on time and within budget Consistent track record of leading and scaling products that delight customers and produce business outcomes Demonstrated success in creating a vision to inspire, prioritizing key deliverables, defining and building roadmaps, and managing internal and external partnerships Ability to partner effectively with internal matrix leaders, specifically technology, sales, marketing and business, as well as external partners Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, and the ability to influence key stakeholders Ability to effectively engage with customers during events such as onboarding, troubleshooting, testing, sales, implementations, and other events Experience building global-ready or international offerings desired Experience launching new mobility products or EV products desired
   
   The base pay range represents the anticipated low and high end of the pay range for this position. Actual pay rates will vary and will be based on various factors, such as your qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role. Base pay is one component of WEX's total compensation package. Most sales positions are eligible for commission under the terms of an applicable plan. Non-sales roles are typically eligible for a quarterly or annual bonus based on their role and applicable plan. WEX's comprehensive and market competitive benefits are designed to support your personal and professional well-being. Benefits include health, dental and vision insurances, retirement savings plan, paid time off, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, disability insurance, tuition reimbursement, and more. For more information, check out the "About Us" section.
   
   Salary Pay Range: $169,000.00 - $225,000.00

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right senior director, product management for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with senior directors, product management they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit senior directors, product management who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior director, product management job on Zippia to find and attract quality senior director, product management candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as swipe files, exit five, marketinghire, american marketing association.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting senior directors, product management 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.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates 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 senior director, product management

   Once you've decided on a perfect senior director, product management candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new senior director, product management first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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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