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The differences between senior managers, product development and product owners 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 manager, product development and a product owner. Additionally, a senior manager, product development has an average salary of $128,407, which is higher than the $97,070 average annual salary of a product owner.
The top three skills for a senior manager, product development include project management, product development and product management. The most important skills for a product owner are user stories, acceptance criteria, and product backlog.
| Senior Manager, Product Development | Product Owner | |
| Yearly salary | $128,407 | $97,070 |
| Hourly rate | $61.73 | $46.67 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 192,651 | 129,990 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 10 |
A senior manager of product development is in charge of overseeing the efforts put into designing and manufacturing products, including quality control operations. Their responsibilities revolve around coordinating with different departments to gather data, performing research and analysis to assess existing procedures, and devising strategies to optimize processes. They may also set goals and schedules, produce progress reports, and spearhead the development of new products and services. Furthermore, as a senior manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
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.
Senior managers, product development and product owners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Manager, Product Development | Product Owner | |
| Average salary | $128,407 | $97,070 |
| Salary range | Between $95,000 And $172,000 | Between $71,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | Woonsocket, RI | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | California |
| Best paying company | Credit Karma | ORIX USA |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a senior manager, product development and a product owner in terms of educational background:
| Senior Manager, Product Development | Product Owner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between senior managers, product development' and product owners' demographics:
| Senior Manager, Product Development | Product Owner | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 64.6% Female, 35.4% | Male, 64.3% Female, 35.7% |
| 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% |