How To Become A Software Product Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a software product manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Sachin Tuli

A software product manager is like a shepherd for a piece of software, except that software tends to be less cuddly than sheep. The software product manager guides the software through all phases of a project, from the first idea to the big roll-out, and ensures its success.

Obviously, a software product manager needs to know a lot about software and coding. They might be expected to be familiar with languages such as Java, processes, QA analysis, and more. The software product manager also needs to be comfortable working with people. They manage many different teams of programmers and communicate with higher-ups.

One doesn't become a software product manager overnight. Successful software product managers dedicate years to the study of computer science, often pursuing a master's degree. They also have extensive work experience in engineering and programming before finally working their way up to the position of software product manager.

What's a day at work look like for a Software Product Manager?

Sachin Tuli

Director, International Business Major, Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The pandemic accelerated ongoing shifts with work-from-anywhere and use of remote meeting technologies. With mass adoption at all levels, these trends are likely to persist to some degree across fields and industries. There will likely be less travel for a number of years, but concurrently we may see more cross-team and cross-national collaboration and coordination. From an international business perspective, firms do plan to continue their globalization efforts and we know that graduates themselves increasingly seek potential global opportunities and mobility when choosing which organizations to work for.

ScoreSoftware Product ManagerUS Average

Salary

7.9

Avg. Salary $110,785

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.5

Growth Rate 10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 8.15%

Black or African American 3.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.67%

Unknown 5.32%

White 74.58%

Gender

female 24.58%

male 75.42%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress Level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.5

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a software product manager

Explore software product manager education requirements

Most common software product manager degrees

Bachelor's

73.1 %

Master's

19.8 %

Associate

4.7 %

Start to develop specific software product manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Product Management	9.61%
Software Products	9.29%
Software Development	5.71%
Scrum	4.97%
User Stories	4.90%

Complete relevant software product manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New software product managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a software product manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real software product manager resumes.

Research software product manager duties and responsibilities

Manage a cross functional team including UX/UI, Java, QA counterparts.
Manage multiple aspects of product design and end user analysis for Java base medical practice management & HIPAA compliance tools.
Manage implementation of divisional intranet and CRM software.
Manage deployment and integration of industry leading SaaS billing and e-commerce processing systems.

Apply for software product manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a software product manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do software product managers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Software Product Manager reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2023

Cons

high expectations, constantly evolving technology, broad range of topics to learn (product management specifics, industry, technology, software development methods

Pros

Solve tough problems, work on agile teams, outlet for creativity,

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2022

Pros

Able to see ideation to fruition and achieve success together as a team.

Cons

If company is not supportive of new technology advancement.

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

Its not a specific job, As a product manager your job responsibilities cover many different areas and that's what i love about it.

Cons

all other teams think that they are doing a task for you instead of thinking that they are part of a team on a project

What is a software product manager and how to become one

What's a day at work look like for a Software Product Manager?

Software Product Manager career paths

Key steps to become a software product manager

Explore software product manager education requirements

Most common software product manager degrees

Start to develop specific software product manager skills

Complete relevant software product manager training and internships

Research software product manager duties and responsibilities

Apply for software product manager jobs

How Did You Land Your First Software Product Manager Job

Average software product manager salary

How do software product managers rate their job?

Software Product Manager reviews