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The differences between senior product specialists and senior product managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a senior product specialist, becoming a senior product manager takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a senior product manager has an average salary of $133,868, which is higher than the $112,464 average annual salary of a senior product specialist.
The top three skills for a senior product specialist include product management, healthcare and powerpoint. The most important skills for a senior product manager are product management, cloud, and product strategy.
| Senior Product Specialist | Senior Product Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $112,464 | $133,868 |
| Hourly rate | $54.07 | $64.36 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 72,109 | 119,025 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 10 |
A senior product specialist is tasked with creating or improving products. In this role, they are instrumental in customizing, configuring, and creating new product solutions and subsequent deployment. Their responsibilities include leading all sales activities, identifying new markets, performing demonstrations for target customers, conducting market intelligence surveys to identify potential customers, creating sales proposals, negotiating sales agreements, developing drafts, sending out product development bulletins, and affecting production. They must also create and maintain relations with customers.
A senior product manager oversees the workflow and workforce involved in product and service development, ensuring a high return for its investments. They are primarily responsible for assessing and providing recommendations, producing review and reference documents, and obtaining feedback from consumers and high-ranking company personnel. Furthermore, as a senior product manager, they must lead a group of product managers, motivating and supervising them in their joint effort to accomplish goals according to the company's standards and policies.
Senior product specialists and senior product managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Product Specialist | Senior Product Manager | |
| Average salary | $112,464 | $133,868 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $153,000 | Between $98,000 And $182,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Roku | |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a senior product specialist and a senior product manager in terms of educational background:
| Senior Product Specialist | Senior Product Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between senior product specialists' and senior product managers' demographics:
| Senior Product Specialist | Senior Product Manager | |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.0% Female, 34.0% | Male, 68.5% Female, 31.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.0% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.8% Asian, 13.4% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | 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% |