Technical Program Managers vs Product Managers vs Product Managers – Technical vs Engineering Managers, A Technical Program Manager (TPM) Responsibilities –, There are a couple of types of TPMs, you can read more here –. 135,882 Technical Project Manager jobs available on Indeed.com. Both managerial positions are responsible for major parts of the project and are going to intersect, so they need to know what their duties are and how to work together other for the overall success of the project. Apply to Technical Product Manager, Product Manager, Associate Product Manager and more! In general TPM’s are responsible for delivering something within an acceptable time frame and with a certain quality bar. Related: 7 Must-Haves for Every Product Manager Resume. Product and project managers each perform unique functions. This is key, is to captivate the developers and the senior management that there is either a strategic value or there is more ROI in the effort that needs to be pursued. Your email address will not be published. The reason I chose a superhero image for this particular post is that PMs, EMs, TPM do most of their work in the background and at times developers who make up the largest part of the team do not see the value they provide. In most cases I see people not understanding the role and its needs and making the switch. A technical product manager is a product manager who also has a technical background. This is key, is to captivate the developers and the senior management that there is either a strategic value or there is more ROI in the effort that needs to be pursued. For more information reach out to me on linkedin. Project Management can be applied to all disciplines. This includes researching user pain points, defining metrics to optimize that will represent success, and identifying / outlining product solutions and requirements that will address pain points. Probably the most important competency is the ability to prioritize. Having said that, nothing is more important to an engineering manager other than building the service with the right architecture while insisting on the highest standards. What is a Technical Project Manager? Engineering Project Manager: Sees a product or device through its stages of research, development, design and manufacturing, from concept to finished product. stay tuned. For example if a TPM is more technically inclined and has the ability to do code reviews, do deep dive architectural discussions then yes. A project manager should have various technical skills and competencies. Product Managers are expected to define the Product Vision. effectively they need to captivate their organization’s internal folks to believe and buy into his/ her vision. A Technical Manager manages technical resources (developers, equipment, etc) to create technical outputs (e.g. But the responsibilities are very different. The title may be new but it’s been around for a while. Prioritization Technical Program Managers vs Product Managers vs Product Managers – Technical vs Engineering Managers. (UpKeep translates to having a highly scalable and reliable service that has not downtime). However, shorten our project management skills list to just seven basic areas – planning and scheduling, time management, risk management, cost management, quality management, contract management, stakeholder management. He leads the sprints, gathers requirements from the product managers. Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/TechnicalProgramManagement/. Interesting read: The Product Manager Interview: 164 Actual Questions and Answers, Goal: a) Architecture and upkeep the service, b) Hire and build the best possible team. Good read, however I had one query, What’s the goal for PM-T, you had goals for the other 3 roles, but none for PM-T OR are you saying that goals of PM-T are aligned with PMs? Both roles can be perceived as CEO like. At its essence, these PMTs as they are called are using their technical know how to solve problems customers face using technology. The average salary for a Technical Product & Program Manager is $106,608. Great Article Mario. To define the vision and strategy of a given product the Product Manager needs to understand both the product as well as what he believes his users would like to see. While the titles are similar, as Jennifer noted, there’s a difference between a product manager job description and a project manager job description, although both are leadership roles that are, in a sense, acting like the CEO of a particular aspect of the job. At times organizations like the sales and marketing teams might have a say. They understand their customers and how their customers interact with the product, they also have a deep understanding of the competitor landscape. In particular, I’m the person coming up with the requirements and actually breaking it down to sell to management as achievable milestones. Just recently I found myself doing both TPM and prioritization job as an engineer. So, you have to determine who really owns and is responsible for the product road map. A PM has this innate ability to make these calls and live by them. As of October 2019 I am seeing amazon hire more product managers who are technical. Responsible for all communication and is the sole face of the team. The project manager will be concerned with that project’s budget, resources, deadline, and quality. In Review – Product Manager vs Project Manager: While the titles are similar, as Jennifer noted, there’s a difference between a, Leading the team to deliver an end product, Leading the team to deliver a successful project, Working directly with project team and product team. At organizations like Microsoft, Product managers double as program managers and are also responsible for execution. Basically hiring, firing and performance and expectation management. An Engineering Manager also focus a lot of their time on hiring for their team especially in recent days when devs move around quite a bit. Rich Hsu – your question would need a new blog post. I wonder how easy it is to switch from one role to another? I also got another opportunity for TPM within the same company. The successful ones I have worked with seem to pay enormous attention to detail. Technical Program Managers vs Product Managers vs Product Managers – Technical vs Engineering Managers, Strategic Thinking and Competitive Analysis. They work closely with their TPMs often as an opposing force to get the value to their customer sooner. In general TPM’s are responsible for delivering something within an acceptable time frame and with a certain quality bar. Then, there are a couple of areas of conflict that can arise. A technical project manager IS a project manager, the only difference between the two is that the former possesses some technical skills relevant to the project. When in the mid-1990s. Engineering project managers also coordinate with various parties to ensure satisfaction upon project completion, from stakeholders to suppliers to contractors. ... Business Product Managers and Technical Product Managers (like me). Technical product managers bring a deep technical expertise to their role but still focus on the core best practices of product management. Thanks for the write-up! Visit PayScale to research technical product & program manager salaries by city, experience, skill, employer and more. Program Management: One Final Distinction. They will understand the many details of each project. Things that can be done vs things that cannot, these are by far the hardest decisions. A product manager is … Part of project management might also involve figuring out what all those tasks will be. Get stuff done. Enabling and driving the development team to launch various features. Before we start going into the details of what each role does, it is probably good to call out that in an Agile development environment the PM/PM-T & TPM & EMs all working in unison to achieve a common goal. Which Project Management Certification Is Right for You. Both project management and product management disciplines involve working directly with clients and collaborating with a team to deliver a product or service that meets their expectations. Quora Contributor. While the titles are similar, as Jennifer noted, there’s a difference between a product manager job description and a project manager job description, although both are leadership roles that are, in a sense, acting like the CEO of a particular aspect of the job. Here’s a screen shot of the whiteboard for your reference! Just ask any product manager (PM), or project manager (also PM), and they’ll tell you they’ve been referred to as the other more times than they can count. Of course, these roles can also vary greatly depending on the types of products or projects being executed in the organization. Note – Technical product managers or technical product owners fulfill a similar role as listed … Project manager job. Product Management vs. Ari Meisel describes project management: Project management is managing a lot of tasks that are going to help you achieve your goal. The marketing team? Product Managers do strategy, roadmap, metrics, product direction, product definition, monetization, customer requirements etc. For example, manufacturing product managers are responsible for tangible products and their delivery, while product managers leading software projects will have different types of teams to assist in the launch and delivery of the software. Technical Program Managers vs Product Managers vs Product Managers – Technical vs Engineering Managers. I am a SDET lead and have an opportunity to become SDET manager ( QA manager). If you’d like a brief walkthrough of the differences between project management and product management, visit our Product Management vs. Project Management page. How much does a Technical Product Manager make in the United States? What are some great books for learning how to prioritize tasks and sell to other people? Manages and guide the team to achieve the KPIs the team is responsible for. I am not going to go into a lot of details on what a TPM does because you can find all the information in the above posts. Product Managers think strategically. I am sure a lot of folks will benefit from this. This makes the technical project manager able to assess the length of a task based on his own experience. They also are responsible for leading the product team. Some features could have a direct ROI while others might be more strategic. To define the vision and strategy of a given product the Product Manager needs to understand both the product as well as what he believes his users would like to see. Of course, these roles can also vary greatly depending on the types of products or projects being executed … Sainath – For a medium level experienced person it would be fairly easy provided he / she has the skills. Communication with stakeholders A product manager has to convince the stakeholders to … The role of a project manager versus a product manager can be confusing, as many of their responsibilities can overlap. Thank you for reading this far. While the architecture and delivery are owned by the engineering manager. The development team reports to the engineering manager. They’re responsible for the strategy, the product roadmap, as well as the feature definition of the product. Product managers and project managers work closely together in high-performance organizations. In this post we are going to talk about the differences between Technical Program Managers vs Product Managers vs Product Managers – Technical vs Engineering Managers. Let’s take a look at how. Think about a scrum team as individuals each as cogs of a clock. Its a great read. The level of authority to make decisions vary by organization. Thank you for your efforts in putting up this article. Importance of Technical Skills in Project Management. ... Project manager vs product owner: it all comes down to the project … They’re responsible for the project plan as well as the requirements for the project. May have product owners under them who are responsible for engineering work-streams. A product manager is a professional role which is responsible for the development of products for an organization, known as the practice of product management. In contrary to the Waterfall approach Ken and Jeff presented the general idea, which is a flexible framework. Project Manager is a title given to one who practices Project Management. Goals would be similar but he/she would continue to show a good deal of technical competency. Of course, you would suspect that the product manager wants to own that, but sometimes the project manager does as well. Prioritization Technical Program Managers vs Product Managers vs Product Managers – Technical vs Engineering Managers. Could you give me some insight into which role would be better in terms of pay, growth and career opportunities in software market ? Product Managers vs. Project Managers: Understanding Core Similarities and Differences. For example, if you are a product manager who owns the sign in flow for your app, you might be looking at every other app out there that have a more efficient and effective sign in flow. Such companies view this role as a Technical Product Manager and thus expect familiarity with the underlying technologies used. The EM in conjunction with the technical architects on the team come up with coding standards, technologies that need to be used, architectural patterns, heuristics of the services and finally the vision for the microservice(s) as it evolves. Take it Further: Still unclear about the difference between the two roles? PMs Run A/B tests, they conduct surveys, focus groups when decisions are needed to be made. They also have an entire project team that they’re responsible for leading. As a project manager, you tend to align with the goals and project managers objectives, as defined by another – perhaps your immediate boss, or the company CEO, or even an important client. TPM’s often work closely with Engineering Managers and Team L… While the architecture and delivery are owned by the engineering manager. : a) Architecture and upkeep the service, b) Hire and build the best possible team. Technical Program Manager salaries at Facebook can range from $109,253 - $229,569. One of the key skills of a Product Manager is the ability to. As of 2018, this is a fairly new discipline and role, initially rolled out at AMZ’s Infrastructure teams and is slowly catching on both inside and outside AMZ. classic industry product job. The average Technical Product Manager salary in the United States is $84,117 as of October 28, 2020, but the salary range typically falls between $74,343 and $103,402.Salary ranges can vary widely depending on many important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, the number of years … For example, a product manager could be responsible for the next generation Xbox, while the product owners would focus on smaller components like Xbox Live, the controller, networking, etc. The PM-T does not need to be as technical as a TPM. Both must have good management skills to … Great write up. Technical Program Managers vs Product Managers vs Product Managers – Technical vs Engineering Managers. They’re responsible for the strategy and the process flow of the project. Who gets to talk to the product team? Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland introduced their innovative approach to the project management they did not change a general conception of a project. Apply to Technical Project Manager, Incident Manager, Senior Project Manager and more! If they run into roadblocks, the project manager is there to motivate the team and work through the problems. Today we’re talking about a product manager versus a project manager. They work closely with their TPMs often as an opposing force to get the value to their customer sooner. Read more about the discipline of product management on our blog. These product managers understand the company’s technology at a deep level and can interact with the development team to lead the strategy for the product. The job of a product and a project manager are different, though both are important managerial roles, as Jennifer Bridges, PMP, explains. It’s important for managers to understand the difference between these roles and be mindful of areas of overlap. He or she is able to provide product vision, create a roadmap, and bring a product to life. But the truth remains that you’re essentially working for somebody else’s vision. Everything detailed above still applies but in addition to that the Product managers are technical. Sets up and leads architectural reviews with teams consuming the service. For example, if you are a product manager who owns the sign in flow for your app, you might be looking at every other app out there that have a more efficient and effective sign in flow. . Depending on the organization PMs have varying levels of authority to make decisions on where they would like to take the feature or product they are responsible for. Mario Gerard. First of all, the product manager is responsible for leading the team to deliver the end product. The average salary for a Technical Project Manager is $93,360. This is generally backed up my numbers of what or how it would impact the product and it is ideally measured by releasing the product to a smaller set of the audience and then constantly measuring to see if the change had a positive significant impact and originally hypothesized. Project managers also need to know and understand the technical details of the project to help keep tasks flowing. It’s depending upon the complexity and the span of control and if it includes being responsible for the profit and loss statement or forecasting for the project. And both work with the broader product team and executive leaders. Primary Goal – Defining the Vision & Strategy of the Product. high-quality software) to meet the technical requirements of a particular product or project. The product manager also can work directly with the project manager as well as customer and the product team. A great deal of effort is also spent in coaching and honing the talent you already have. When aligned properly, they both can shine. Jul 30, 2018 | Careers & Networking for TPMs, Teams, Tools & Process | 9, In this post we are going to talk about the differences between Technical Program Managers vs Product Managers vs Product Managers – Technical vs Engineering Managers. Amazon also has the Program Manager job and it’s non-tech, basically business operations. Their are new collaboration technologies and techniques, as well as innovative ways to apply old techniques to foster this relationship. Competition does not always need to look like a product doing the same thing. Hello, would a senior TPM role at Amazon be a good stepping stone to becoming a product manager (technical or non-tech)? The term is frequently used outside IT, and can have a lot of other names that blend some kind of technical term with project term depending on what they emphasize: project engineer, project technical leader, project integration manager, technical project manager, and project manager can all mean the same, or different. The project manager can work directly with the product manager. They did not focus on a thorough explanation of every element and step of a p… Product managers are responsible for the “what” and the “why.” Technical Program Managers are responsible for the execution of the requirements defined by the PM. Here’s another useful way to understand the product management vs. program management distinction. A Technical Project Manager is responsible for providing project planning and management for established initiatives within a company. The product manager collaborates daily with cross-functional teams regarding the future of the product: Engineering, Sales and Marketing, Customer Success, etc. If it is a B2C type of Product the Product managers generally have goals to increase their DAU(Daily Active User Rate), MAUs (Monthly Active User Rate). A project manager on the other hand only coordinates with the product, technical, and engineering team to manufacture the product according to the requirements. I imagine that it is possible and has happened but how likely or frequent is such a transition? They care about the end result. At its essence, these PMTs as they are called are using their technical know how to solve problems customers face using. At a place like MS, you would own both the vision and the execution. Having the same person perform all the roles does justice to neither role, as the focus of Project Management is internal and tactical and the focus of Product Management is customer centricity. If you need a tool that can help you manage your product or your project, then sign up for our software now at projectmanager.com. Throughout the entire development stage, this person ensures that the project is in line with budget and time frames. Defining the Vision & Strategy of the Product. Competition does not always need to look like a product doing the same thing. What Is It Like To Be A Technical Project Manager In Silicon Valley? PMs, EMs, TPMs are the unsung heroes of every high performing team! Manage cross-team dependencies and deliver with quality at the promised date. Another key aspect to be a successful Product Manager is to be detail oriented. If his service is below the par in relevance to the other services either up or downstream then it’s going be like a Jenga crumbling down to its knees. Every day there are critical decisions that need to be made. The dev team? There is also a separate product life cycle for delivering that product that the product manager is responsible for managing. new collaboration technologies and techniques, , as well as innovative ways to apply old techniques, 7 Must-Haves for Every Product Manager Resume, Secrets to a Great Project Manager Resume, Career Spotlight: Healthcare Project Manager. And, there is a separate project life cycle the project manager is responsible for managing. If one does not do the function he/she is supposed to do then the output is going to be far less than perfect. Seniority generally depends on the scope, impact, and responsibilities of the TPM. I stumbled across your site when looking up TPM responsibilities. Generally embedded within a development team. This estimate is based upon 169 Facebook Technical Program Manager salary report(s) provided by employees or estimated based upon statistical methods. As a result, these roles often intersect in an organization, and sometimes produce more than a little conflict. At organizations like Microsoft, Product managers double as program managers and are also responsible for execution. Technical architects spend their time on computers developing new ways to bring a company's separate departments together, which allows for cohesion. Before we start going into the details of what each role does, it is probably good to call out that in an Agile development environment the PM/PM-T & TPM & EMs all working in unison to achieve a common goal. All PM's must interact with professionals and customers, as they report to each. Product managers and project managers are two of the most important roles in every technology company and are crucial to the future of tech. They are always inquisitive, they want to know everything inside out and make sure they are not missing out any information. The typical Facebook Technical Program Manager salary is $158,986. Pro-Tip: Whether you’re a product or a project manager, you’re going to have to work and collaborate at a top level with one another. I am an active blogger and podcast host. Depth vs Breadth vs SWAT Technical Program Managers, Cloud Computing for Managers – (TPM’s, PM’s, SDM’s), Interview Questions For A Technical Program Manager (TPM), The Product Manager Interview: 164 Actual Questions and Answers, Take It To The Next Level As A TPM - Technical Program Management, https://media.blubrry.com/mariogerard/content.blubrry.com/mariogerard/Ethan_Evns_Edit.mp3, Exponent’s Product Management Interview Prep Course: Review & Coupon Code, TPM Podcast with Visva Mohanakrishnan: Part II, TPM Podcast with Visva Mohanakrishnan: Part I. They sound similar but the roles are different. The project manager is responsible for leading the team to deliver a successful project. Yet they are often conflated and misunderstood. ANONd – Yes you can move between Product management and the TPM role. They ensure that projects are completed to specification, within an established time frame and budget. A project is broadly an accumulation of tasks which you need to accomplish to meet some kind of end goal. If there is a competitive product in the landscape then the product managers closely monitor the competitive space to make sure that the product they own has comparative features. Neel – I would definitely go the TPM route rather than a QA manager. Product and project managers see the same work through different lenses. Visit PayScale to research technical project manager salaries by city, experience, skill, employer and more. Check out my Udemy course  -> TPM – Industry Insights, I am a Principal Technical Program Manager (TPM) and have been in the tech industry for over 14 years. PMs often look into the ROI of what they expect their dev teams to be working on. This is generally backed up my numbers of what or how it would impact the product and it is ideally measured by releasing the product to a smaller set of the audience and then constantly measuring to see if the change had a positive significant impact and originally hypothesized. Related: Secrets to a Great Project Manager Resume. A project manager’s main role is tracking progress and organizing the workflow to provide on-time project completion. If it is a B2C type of Product the Product managers generally have goals to increase their DAU(Daily Active User Rate), MAUs (Monthly Active User Rate). I would like to let you know it takes me a week or more to write an article like this. As you can see from the above, there’s a bit of overlap, which can lead to potential areas of conflict. Product managers own the business strategy behind a product (both physical and digital products), specify its functional requirements and generally manage the launch of features. One of the things that go along with writing an article is to get a featured image. If you look closely at those 973 job descriptions, you’ll see that they are not all that different from the role and responsibilities of a regular ol’ product manager. An easy example would be to take something like AMZ’s Infrastructure offering or Microsoft’s Azure offerings, you need to be technical as the product you own and manage is technical in nature is its end users are developers. Technical Program Managers vs Product Managers vs Product Managers – Technical vs Engineering Managers, Primary Goal – Get stuff done. Things that can be done vs things that cannot, these are by far the hardest decisions. For example, many project managers are accustomed to working within the PMBOK or PMI guidelines for best project management practices. The reason for this is that the QA disciple is going away in all tech companies as developers are testing the code they deploy and own it completely. It’s common for people to confuse product managers and project managers — even within industries, like software, that employ both. Product managers … Both can, but as you can suspect, then it can get confusing if too many people are going to each and asking for input or providing status. At a place like MS, you would own both the vision and the execution. Whereas product managers might rely on lean manufacturing processes or lean software development methodologies, which can be wildly different ways of working with teams. Additionally, while both roles are technically geared for the delivery of products and projects, there are different processes and best practices required of both roles. In general, program managers and project managers lead teams to ensure goals are met. The project management triangle stayed untouched and according to it, projects consist of a scope, a time and a budget. First of all, who owns the product road map? They understand their customers and how their customers interact with the product, they also have a deep understanding of the competitor landscape. 10,908 Technical Product Manager jobs available on Indeed.com. Probably the most important competency is the ability to prioritize. PMs Run A/B tests, they conduct surveys, focus groups when decisions are needed to be made. It’s a three-dimensional thinking of keeping technology, people and the organization in mind. They can also work directly with the customer and the project team as well as the product team. They are the glue between the business side and technical … And then, who gets to talk to the product team or the customer? One of the key skills of a Product Manager is the ability to communicate effectively they need to captivate their organization’s internal folks to believe and buy into his/ her vision. Every day there are critical decisions that need to be made.