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

What is a technical product manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted expert

Sachin Tuli

A technical product manager handles the strategy, development and execution of a company's technical products. They work with engineers, designers, sales teams, and customers to understand and meet consumer market needs. Technical product managers oversee the product life cycle from ideation to launch, ensuring that projects are delivered on time, on budget, and according to quality standards. They also conduct market research, analyze data and gather customer feedback. Technical product managers drive innovation and growth.

What's a day at work look like for a technical 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.

ScoreTechnical Product ManagerUS Average

Salary

8.1

Avg. Salary $120,052

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 24.17%

male 75.83%

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

What are the pros and cons of being a technical product manager?

Pros

Interesting and challenging work
High level of responsibility and autonomy
Potential for career advancement
Exposure to different industries and markets
Opportunity for travel and networking

Cons

Can be stressful when dealing with technical issues or product failures
Potential for conflict with other teams or departments
Requires strong communication and collaboration skills
Can involve a lot of meetings and paperwork
Can be a solitary role, as technical product managers often work independently

Key steps to become a technical product manager

Explore technical product manager education requirements

Most common technical product manager degrees

Bachelor's

68.8 %

Master's

20.2 %

Associate

6.0 %

Start to develop specific technical product manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Technical Product	10.25%
Product Management	7.45%
Cloud	6.19%
User Stories	4.50%
Project Management	4.20%

Complete relevant technical product manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New technical 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 technical product manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real technical product manager resumes.

Research technical product manager duties and responsibilities

Manage user interface design for PC products, working with designers and developers to create look and feel.
Manage the UI domain team encompassing user interface functionality, global behavior definitions, new user paradigms and concepts.
Task with product ownership; implement and improve the product operations following SDLC methodologies, managing and meeting the stakeholder expectations.
Design and lead implementation of web-base Java application for high volume transaction processing.

Prepare your technical product manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your technical product manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a technical product manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable technical product manager resume templates

Build a professional technical product manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your technical product manager resume.

Apply for technical product manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a technical 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 did you land your first technical product manager job

SuThitsar HlwanMoeThu

Technical Product Manager

After finishing my Master's Degree coursework, I started my career as a DBA and backend developer. My first job was a great learning experience where I got to dive deep into database management and backend development. I even got the chance to dabble in UI/UX design for a travel provider website, which was a fun way to expand my skills. Then, in my second job, I specialized more in backend development with Java Spring Boot and tried my hand at low-code development using Outsystems. These roles really solidified my technical expertise and gave me a good grasp of different development tools and techniques.
My career took an interesting turn when I became a Business Analyst at a software solution service provider company. This role shifted my focus towards understanding and empathizing with end-users, which was a game-changer. I managed and facilitated communication between customers and the development team, ensuring everyone was on the same page. This experience was crucial in shaping my approach to product management. When I joined ONOW Myanmar, I started as a Product Owner, working closely with a scrum team. After about a year and a half, the company restructured, and I moved into the Product Manager role. Now, I’m leading the development of a customized CRM product designed to support social enterprises and empower entrepreneurs and business owners. Being in management has always been my career goal, and this role allows me to blend my technical background with my passion for making a positive impact.

How do technical product managers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Technical product manager reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2023

Pros

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

Cons

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

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

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2019

Cons

Agendas

What is a technical product manager and how to become one

What's a day at work look like for a technical product manager?

What are the pros and cons of being a technical product manager?

Technical product manager career paths

Key steps to become a technical product manager

Explore technical product manager education requirements

Most common technical product manager degrees

Start to develop specific technical product manager skills

Complete relevant technical product manager training and internships

Research technical product manager duties and responsibilities

Prepare your technical product manager resume

Choose from 10+ customizable technical product manager resume templates

Apply for technical product manager jobs

How did you land your first technical product manager job

Average technical product manager salary

How do technical product managers rate their job?

Technical product manager reviews

Technical product manager jobs by state