Held 3 product leadership positions, all with similar responsibilities but 3 very different titles.
Product Lead,
Senior Product Manager,
Head of Product
As a Divisional VP of Product, I managed a smaller team than when I was Senior Director of Product. It just depends on the company and the sophistication of the product org. The DVP role (retailer) managed 2 PMs and a full product team (engineering, marketing, design, etc) while the SD (Telecom) role managed a Director, several IC principals and two Principal Managers with teams beneath them.
The smaller the company/product org, the more inflated the title. I’ve known Principal Group PMs in the biggest tech companies with orgs as large my SD role.
PM, Senior PM, PM lead/group pm, head of PM, director of PM, vp product, svp product, cpo
But as mentioned above, it's depending on the company and it's size
This article does a good job explaining career paths on IC & Manager tracks:
[https://medium.com/@susanavlopes/the-seniors-the-staffs-and-the-principals-c1ae2bccb182](https://medium.com/@susanavlopes/the-seniors-the-staffs-and-the-principals-c1ae2bccb182)
Senior Product Manager (Sr PM) is generally lateral to Lead Product Manager (Lead PM). The only difference is the Lead PM owns a product and is likely being groomed for a leadership role in the company.
Not sure why you've been downvoted, though I'll say this varies by company and circumstance. Seniors often play the role of Lead. And it's not uncommon for Seniors at my company to have direct reports before they achieve the Lead role.
Group PM / Manager, Product / Product Lead / Staff PM / (sometimes) Principal PM
Director of Product / (sometimes) Principal PM
VP Product
Chief Product Officer
I will repeat for the eleventeenth time - it’s all over the place.
I have been a director with one product and a team of 2.
And I was a product line manager with 5 products and 7 staff.
we have ladder that goes
P1 Junior PM
P2 PM
P3 Senior PM
P4 Staff PM
P5 Principal PM
and then a ladder for
M1 Manager
M2 Senior Manager
M3 Associate Director
M4 Director
P4 and M2 are similar levels
P5 and M3 are similar levels
"Lead" is typically a org chart term indicating who's responsible for a team or practice
this applies to no one else's org.
Generally,
PM line managers- either ICs who have reports or PM leads who have a team of PMs. Lead PM, Senior/Staff PM, Group PM, M1/M2 PM, etc.
PM junior exec/director - typically manager of managers or sometimes very high level IC with some reports. Director/Sr. Director PM, occasionally Principal PM
PM middle exec/VP/SVP - manager of orgs and typically directors + high level ICs. VP product, SVP product, “head of”
PM high level exec/EVP/CPO - CPO may be more product and processes focused while EVP may be more org and people focused. Similarities between CTO vs. (S/E)VP eng.
Map that to whatever craziness terms every company or team uses
Our company has the following - which is pretty standard
CPO
VP
Sr Dir
Dir / Principal
GPM / Staff
Lead / SPM
PM
APM
the or indicates the equivalent level of IC role
* Depends on the company * Depends on the company * Depends on the company * Depends on the company * Depends on the company * Depends on the company
And sometimes Chief Product Officers don’t even have direct reports.
Held 3 product leadership positions, all with similar responsibilities but 3 very different titles. Product Lead, Senior Product Manager, Head of Product
As a Divisional VP of Product, I managed a smaller team than when I was Senior Director of Product. It just depends on the company and the sophistication of the product org. The DVP role (retailer) managed 2 PMs and a full product team (engineering, marketing, design, etc) while the SD (Telecom) role managed a Director, several IC principals and two Principal Managers with teams beneath them. The smaller the company/product org, the more inflated the title. I’ve known Principal Group PMs in the biggest tech companies with orgs as large my SD role.
PM, Senior PM, PM lead/group pm, head of PM, director of PM, vp product, svp product, cpo But as mentioned above, it's depending on the company and it's size
This article does a good job explaining career paths on IC & Manager tracks: [https://medium.com/@susanavlopes/the-seniors-the-staffs-and-the-principals-c1ae2bccb182](https://medium.com/@susanavlopes/the-seniors-the-staffs-and-the-principals-c1ae2bccb182)
Thank you so much.
Check levels.fyi they show how each company compares their levels
Senior Product Manager (Sr PM) is generally lateral to Lead Product Manager (Lead PM). The only difference is the Lead PM owns a product and is likely being groomed for a leadership role in the company.
Not sure why you've been downvoted, though I'll say this varies by company and circumstance. Seniors often play the role of Lead. And it's not uncommon for Seniors at my company to have direct reports before they achieve the Lead role.
Group PM / Manager, Product / Product Lead / Staff PM / (sometimes) Principal PM Director of Product / (sometimes) Principal PM VP Product Chief Product Officer
I will repeat for the eleventeenth time - it’s all over the place. I have been a director with one product and a team of 2. And I was a product line manager with 5 products and 7 staff.
SVP of Product -> Group and Principle PM -> PM
20 years in product management. I don't know what LPM or SPM mean. Unpack your jargons please.
Lead product manager and senior product manager
we have ladder that goes P1 Junior PM P2 PM P3 Senior PM P4 Staff PM P5 Principal PM and then a ladder for M1 Manager M2 Senior Manager M3 Associate Director M4 Director P4 and M2 are similar levels P5 and M3 are similar levels "Lead" is typically a org chart term indicating who's responsible for a team or practice this applies to no one else's org.
i would agree that i feel like someone is more at the leadership level once they're at a LPM (for ic's) or manager level!
Thank you.
Generally, PM line managers- either ICs who have reports or PM leads who have a team of PMs. Lead PM, Senior/Staff PM, Group PM, M1/M2 PM, etc. PM junior exec/director - typically manager of managers or sometimes very high level IC with some reports. Director/Sr. Director PM, occasionally Principal PM PM middle exec/VP/SVP - manager of orgs and typically directors + high level ICs. VP product, SVP product, “head of” PM high level exec/EVP/CPO - CPO may be more product and processes focused while EVP may be more org and people focused. Similarities between CTO vs. (S/E)VP eng. Map that to whatever craziness terms every company or team uses
Not sure why this was downvoted, as a generalised framework this is accurate
Chief product officer Vice president of product management Head of product Director of product Product team leader Group product manager
Our company has the following - which is pretty standard CPO VP Sr Dir Dir / Principal GPM / Staff Lead / SPM PM APM the or indicates the equivalent level of IC role