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The differences between senior directors, product management and product development managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a senior director, product management and a product development manager. Additionally, a senior director, product management has an average salary of $169,685, which is higher than the $113,437 average annual salary of a product development manager.
The top three skills for a senior director, product management include product management, SR and product strategy. The most important skills for a product development manager are product development, project management, and lifecycle management.
| Senior Director, Product Management | Product Development Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $169,685 | $113,437 |
| Hourly rate | $81.58 | $54.54 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 173,327 | 166,871 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 10 |
A senior director of product management's role is to direct and oversee the product development operations in an organization, ensuring that all procedures adhere to the vision, mission, and goals of the company. Their responsibilities revolve around creating roadmaps and guidelines, coordinating with different departments to gather relevant data, setting budgets and objectives, devising strategies and finding new opportunities, and monitoring sales while putting customer feedback into consideration. Furthermore, as a senior director, it is essential to lead and encourage team members, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
A product development manager spearheads the development of new products within a company. Most of the time, their responsibilities revolve around conducting marketing research and analysis to determine consumers' needs, coordinating with the product development team to come up with new ideas, proposing business plans to the executives, and creating prototypes. A product development manager must also present a cost analysis, produce progress reports, and address inquiries and concerns. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the staff, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Senior directors, product management and product development managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Director, Product Management | Product Development Manager | |
| Average salary | $169,685 | $113,437 |
| Salary range | Between $123,000 And $233,000 | Between $84,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Nevada |
| Best paying company | eBay | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Media | Retail |
There are a few differences between a senior director, product management and a product development manager in terms of educational background:
| Senior Director, Product Management | Product Development Manager | |
| 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 senior directors, product management' and product development managers' demographics:
| Senior Director, Product Management | Product Development Manager | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.5% Female, 19.5% | Male, 62.2% Female, 37.8% |
| 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% |