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What is a Product Manager?

At most digital companies, software development represents a significant expenditure on the profit and loss statement. With a never-ending stream of good ideas from customers and internal stakeholders about what to build, Product Managers play a crucial role. They help senior leadership to:

  • Identify the best opportunities for business growth through new product development.
  • Evaluate the risks associated with potential product investments.

Key Responsibilities

Product Managers primarily assess two types of risk:

  • Demand Risk: Whether users will pay for or use a new feature or product.
  • Viability Risk: Whether this new feature or product is viable for the business.

They collaborate with lead engineers to evaluate technical feasibility and support product designers in assessing usability risks.

Moreover, Product Managers need a holistic view of how incremental improvements align with the broader product strategy, guiding the product towards a long-term vision that balances customer needs with business objectives.

Skills and Interactions

Given that these products are built using technology, Product Managers must possess enough technical understanding to work closely with developers. They need to be conversant in customer research, user experience, and design to effectively partner with designers. This role requires not only a grasp of product management processes and tools but also a deep understanding of product design and development processes.

A strong sense of commercial drivers—such as financial, sales, and marketing metrics—is also critical. In today’s data-driven environment, Product Managers increasingly need robust data analysis skills, drawing from diverse sources to inform their decisions.

Variability in the Role

The specific skills required of a Product Manager can vary significantly between businesses. In early-stage startups, Product Managers often focus on discovery work to find product-market fit and take on a broader range of tasks—as is typical in startup environments. Those in more established companies might concentrate more on optimising existing products rather than developing new ones from scratch. In larger organisations, Product Managers are likely to report to a senior product leader and work alongside colleagues in design, user research, data analysis, and product delivery.

Organisational Placement

The placement of the Product Management function can vary within an organisation. It might fall under the technology division led by the CTO, or under a VP of Product or Chief Product Officer who reports directly to the CEO. In smaller companies, the Product Manager may report directly to the CEO. Effective product management requires sufficient executive attention to ensure that strategic insights and cross-functional business contexts are integrated into product decisions.