How to hire a vice president, product management

How to hire a vice president, product management, step by step

Here's a step-by-step vice president, product management hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a vice president, product management job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new vice president, product management
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a vice president, product management do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the vice president, product management you need to hire. Certain vice president, product management roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a vice president, product management to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a vice president, product management that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of vice presidents, product management.

   Type of Vice President, Product Management	Description	Hourly rate
   Vice President, Product Management	Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers plan programs to generate interest in products or services. They work with art directors, sales agents, and financial staff members.	$61-125
   Product Lead	A product lead is responsible for monitoring the development of new products and services of an organization, starting from brand conceptualization to official market release and distribution. Product leads identify effective product management by conducting data analysis and evaluating market statistics of customer demands... Show more	$41-78
   Product Director	The duties of a product director depend on one's place or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around overseeing the product development operations to ensure smooth flow and efficiency, devise strategies to improve processes, gather relevant data such as sales and customer feedback, and coordinate with different departments in developing new products and services... Show more	$50-101

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Product Management
   • Analytics
   • Product Strategy
   • Cloud
   • Product Roadmap
   • Product Vision
   • Digital Marketing
   • Product Portfolio
   • User Experience
   • Digital Transformation
   • Product Line
   • Market Research
   • Project Management
   • Product Lifecycle

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead team to develop cloud base offerings (SaaS) to education, financial services, and government segments.
   • Manage UI design, documentation and customer support, along with licensing/distribution agreements, copyrights and trademarks.
   • Work on re-positioning product and investing in new programs connecting CRM to consumer acquisition.
   • Designate subject matter expert in IP prosecution and litigation activities.
   • Deliver an integrate and compelling suite of security products including cloud and mobile for consumers and businesses.
   • Establish corporate strategy and oversee legal including drafting of international venture funding, IP licensing, employee and strategic partnership agreements.

   More vice president, product management duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your vice president, product management job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A vice president, product management salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a vice president, product management in Ohio may be lower than in Alaska, and an entry-level vice president, product management usually earns less than a senior-level vice president, product management. Additionally, a vice president, product management with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average vice president, product management salary

   $183,231yearly

   $88.09 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level vice president, product management salary

   $127,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 18, 2025

   Average vice president, product management salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$215,474	$104
   2	Washington	$213,161	$102
   3	Arizona	$194,963	$94
   4	Connecticut	$173,803	$84
   5	Colorado	$171,847	$83
   6	New Jersey	$167,717	$81
   7	Illinois	$165,408	$80
   8	New York	$164,333	$79
   9	Missouri	$164,228	$79
   10	District of Columbia	$164,142	$79
   11	Massachusetts	$162,524	$78
   12	Texas	$161,254	$78
   13	Ohio	$149,384	$72
   14	Georgia	$148,504	$71
   15	Delaware	$144,571	$70
   16	Florida	$142,568	$69

   Average vice president, product management salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Okta	$229,752	$110.46	56
   2	Safeway	$219,050	$105.31
   3	VMware	$216,646	$104.16	1
   4	Palo Alto Networks	$215,572	$103.64	123
   5	Macy's	$214,649	$103.20	58
   6	Blue Apron	$213,106	$102.45
   7	Converse	$213,090	$102.45
   8	Rubrik	$212,631	$102.23	94
   9	Miami International Holdings	$205,553	$98.82
   10	Everlane	$204,486	$98.31
   11	Techstars	$202,948	$97.57
   12	WANdisco	$201,247	$96.75
   13	Weedmaps	$200,995	$96.63	16
   14	ResMed	$200,337	$96.32	17
   15	SiriusXM	$199,887	$96.10	7
   16	Klein Tools	$198,388	$95.38
   17	Kronos Incorporated	$197,740	$95.07
   18	Nutanix	$195,309	$93.90	12
   19	Talkdesk	$194,316	$93.42	8
   20	Mastercard	$194,111	$93.32	187

4. Writing a vice president, product management job description

   A vice president, product management job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a vice president, product management job description:

   Vice president, product management job description example

   Cloudera is searching for an experienced product leader with a proven track record of scaling and growing large-scale data warehousing products to lead our Cloudera Data Warehouse product management team. Cloudera helps the majority of the top 100 companies included in the Fortune 500 harness insights while enabling secure, centralized governance and compliance over the entire data lifecycle. Our Cloudera Data Warehouse team has worked incredibly hard over the last two years to launch and scale the first phase of their public cloud journey. We're now looking to accelerate our growth and need a single-threaded product owner for our Data Warehousing business.
   
   The Vice President, Product Management - Cloudera Data Warehouse will spearhead the product strategy, vision, and execution of our mission - working closely with our field, marketing, and engineering team to define success and win. You will play a pivotal role in defining product requirements, setting the go-to-market strategy, and tirelessly championing the needs of our customers. Given the breadth of data warehousing services available in CDP, this role requires coordination across many internal and external teams and will be visible at the highest levels of the company. You will need to understand each analytical engine in-depth and drive our investment strategy across the entire data warehousing portfolio from Apache Hive and Impala to HBase/Phoenix, and Solr. You'll work collaboratively with our customers, partners, software vendors, and operational stakeholders to prioritize roadmap features and lead the definition of new product capabilities through expertly crafted business requirements documents, working backwards documents (PRFAQs), and Product Requirement Documents (PRDs).
   
   If you are a passionate product leader who wants to develop a high-performing product management team and influence our product and engineering team's product culture, this is the job for you!
   In this role you will…
   Create a product strategy that appeals to the unique needs and requirements of both our on-premises and cloud-based data warehousing customers Works with executives to set high-level objectives and long-term strategies Define product requirements documents based on an intimate knowledge of the specific market segments, target customers, and product Drives execution of Cloudera vision through influencing and collaboration with peer and senior leaders across the company Manage the entire product life cycle from strategic planning to tactical execution Coach, mentor, and lead a team of experienced product managers Build cohesive cross-functional teams by connecting and communicating with leaders Drive sales by enabling business development and sales teams, leading calls with key customers and creating tools and processes to support our success Influence and partner with customers, vendors, and industry analysts to identify and create opportunities that drive innovation and business results for our Data Warehousing business
   
   What your bring to the table…
   10+ years in product management is required.A Bachelor degree in a related field is required.Possess 5+ years of industry experience in data warehousing, big data, or analytics Prior experience in building and leading high-performance teams.Strong technical acumen. Can dissect complicated technical problems, simplify experiences and innovate on behalf of our customers.Both technically deep and business savvy to interface with and lead teams of all levels and disciplines within an organization, from engineers to senior leadership Have an entrepreneurial spirit and be able to work independently and effectively in a results-oriented, efficient environment
   
   Bonus Points for…
   MBA or advanced degree in a related field preferred Previous experience managing Software-as-a-Service technology products and managed services Understanding of the Enterprise services space, particularly data management, data security, governance, and analytics Experience with building products and services for partners, resellers, managed services providers, and consulting companies Excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to influence others internally and externally Ability to analyze quantitatively, problem-solve, and scope business requirements Ability to deliver initiatives from conception through completion
   
   #LI-CP1

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find vice presidents, product management for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your vice president, product management job on Zippia to find and recruit vice president, product management candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as swipe files, exit five, marketinghire, american marketing association.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting vice presidents, product management requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new vice president, product management

   Once you've found the vice president, product management candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new vice president, product management. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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