{"id":25238,"date":"2023-06-22T12:19:42","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T10:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/?p=25238"},"modified":"2023-06-22T12:19:42","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T10:19:42","slug":"principal-product-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/principal-product-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does a Principal Product Manager Do? A Beginner\u2019s Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Product management job titles are not always straightforward, but when trying to decide what might be the next step in your <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/product-manager-career-path\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PM career<\/a>, or when applying to jobs, it\u2019s crucial to know what&#8217;s behind each of them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The principal product manager title is one that tends to attract attention: it sounds important and has an air of assured authority. But what does it stand for, exactly?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read on to learn more:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong><a href=\"#what-is-a-principal-product-manager\">What is a principal product manager?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong><a href=\"#what-does-a-principal-product-manager-do\">What does a principal product manager do?<\/a><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><a href=\"#principal-product-manager-tasks\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Principal product manager tasks<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><a href=\"#principal-product-manager-skills\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Principal product manager skills<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong><a href=\"#what-is-the-average-principal-product-manager-salary\">What is the average principal product manager salary?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong><a href=\"#how-to-become-a-principal-product-manager\">How to become a principal product manager<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong><a href=\"#principal-product-manager-faqs\">Principal product manager FAQs<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong><a href=\"#final-thoughts\">Final thoughts<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-a-principal-product-manager\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. What is a principal product manager?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taking it straight from the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Playbook of Product Careers<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (fictional title), a principal product manager is someone who\u2019s had quite a few years of professional product experience under their belt (typically <strong>at least 8-10 years<\/strong>).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During that time, they\u2019ve accumulated enough breadth and depth of experience to make them feel comfortable <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/product-management-tools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">using most tools product managers are expected to master<\/a> at any given moment, and they can rely on experience when it comes to tackling the usual dilemmas facing them in daily life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the best case scenario, a principal product manager might have seen their career grow alongside their product\u2019s success. If there\u2019s one person who is the best informed about all aspects concerning a particular product, it should be the principal product manager. Think of them as the primary custodians of their product.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Typically, the figure of the principal product manager is usually found at larger organizations, or organizations with a large product department. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Principal product managers typically work with well-established products, products which are mature enough to warrant more than one PM working on them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"&quot;what-does-a-principal-product-manager-do\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. What does a principal product manager do?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another way of understanding this role is by looking at what kind of things are expected of them in their day-to-day job. Let\u2019s go through a few of them now.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"principal-product-manager-tasks\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Principal product manager tasks<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It might be useful to state this upfront: the principal product manager (PPM) lives at the highest rank of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indeed.com\/career-advice\/finding-a-job\/what-is-an-individual-contributor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Individual Contributor (IC)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> scale.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What does this mean? Because they\u2019re very senior contributors to the growth and life of a given product, PPMs <\/span><b>don\u2019t have line management responsibilities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While they might provide feedback to PMs, or even be in charge of onboarding or coaching them, they aren&#8217;t anyone\u2019s manager. This sets them apart from <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/group-product-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Group Product Managers (GPMs)<\/a>, who, being equally senior in terms of product management proficiency, have chosen a management track and do have direct reports and line management responsibilities. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, what are the tasks a principal product manager might be reasonably expected to perform? Here are two big ones:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Onboard or even coach <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/entry-level-product-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">entry-level product managers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Work closely with tech leads or heads of growth and design to ensure complete alignment between business goals and development work\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Malte Scholz, CPO of <a href=\"https:\/\/airfocus.com\/blog\/product-management-roles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Airfocus<\/a> explains<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You could say that a PPM acts like the glue between the development teams, the stakeholders, and the customers.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3 id=\"principal-product-manager-skills\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Principal product manager skills<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While many of the skills mentioned here are generally useful for anyone working in product management, principal product managers will find the following particularly relevant:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Data-based decision making (this includes ruthless prioritization)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Product Strategy and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/product-roadmap-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Roadmapping<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/stakeholder-management\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stakeholder management<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-the-average-principal-product-manager-salary\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. What is the average principal product manager salary?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Canada, the salary range is between<strong> CA$152\u2013273,000<\/strong> total annual compensation, according to Glassdoor. The base pay is typically CA$157,181, with an additional $39,062 of additional pay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Germany, principal product managers can expect compensation in the range of\u00a0 <strong>\u20ac101\u2013146,000 per year<\/strong>. The average base pay would be \u20ac106,172, and additional compensation would amount to \u20ac14,512.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Principal product managers in the U.K. get anywhere between <strong>\u00a374\u2013142,000\/year<\/strong>, which is a rather broad pay range. Average base pay is \u00a394, 839 and average additional compensation amounts to \u00a316,166.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, in the U.S., principal product managers make between <strong>$180-287,000\/year<\/strong> total compensation, of which an average of $155,827 would be base pay and $69,569 would be additional pay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-to-become-a-principal-product-manager\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. How to become a principal product manager<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are several ways of landing a PPM position, but by far the one requiring the least amount of explicit effort is to grow your current product management role. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re the first PM hired into a product team and you\u2019re in charge of growing an early stage product, your best chance of progression into a PPM role is tied to the success of your product.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the team grows, your organization might need to look at different ways to split work: this is typically where squads or product trios might be given a go. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And as organizational complexity increases, so does the need for someone to have a deep, overarching understanding of the product. It&#8217;s typically around that time that the need for a principal product manager arises.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"principal-product-manager-faqs\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Principal product manager FAQs<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What level is a principal product manager?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Different companies will assign different levels to their PPMs. And some companies will have lead product managers instead of PPMs, which is the closest comparable job title. Portfolio did a good job at summarizing what can be expected at each stage of a product manager\u2019s career:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26746\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26746\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-26746 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/product-roles-explained.png\" alt=\"A table showing the difference between different PM roles including principal product manager.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"611\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/product-roles-explained.png 1200w, https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/product-roles-explained-300x153.png 300w, https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/product-roles-explained-1024x521.png 1024w, https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/product-roles-explained-768x391.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26746\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/productfolio.com\/product-management-career-paths\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Productfolio<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From this table, it is apparent that regardless of the particular levels any given organization might have in place, the principal product manager position is a mid-level one, requiring years of experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What comes after principal product manager?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The short answer: it depends both on your ambitions and on the org chart of your place of work. Let\u2019s look at a snapshot of some high tech companies from the salary insight tool <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.levels.fyi\/\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Levels.fyi<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26747\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26747\" style=\"width: 1144px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26747\" src=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/product-manager-levels.png\" alt=\"Table showing product manager salary levels\" width=\"1144\" height=\"800\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/product-manager-levels.png 1144w, https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/product-manager-levels-300x210.png 300w, https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/product-manager-levels-1024x716.png 1024w, https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/product-manager-levels-768x537.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1144px) 100vw, 1144px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26747\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: <em>Levels.fyi<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As it is clear from this picture, companies can and do organize themselves in extremely different ways. <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At Amazon, a Principal Product Manager is squarely in the middle of the ladder, with Product Director being the next level to attain<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At Microsoft, the product management ladder comes with considerably more steps, and the following step after PPM is Group Product Manager<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google and Meta don&#8217;t use the designation of PPM at all (which is not to say it does not exist, it might simply have a different name)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Principal product manager vs senior product manager: What\u2019s the difference?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/senior-product-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">senior product manager <\/a>is typically one level below a PPM or a GPM. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a senior PM, the choice of whether to stay on the IC track or attempt a leap into management is still an open question. If you find yourself in this position and see the leeway to move up a ladder, you essentially need to decide on what to invest your time and energy on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you feel your talents would be best put to use by continuing to hone your <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/product-discovery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">product discovery<\/a> and product development abilities? If so, the IC track might be the most appropriate for you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have you had your share of \u201cdoing\u201d, and think the next logical step might be teaching and guiding others on how to do product management the right way? Then the management track might be what you are looking for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"final-thoughts\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6. Final thoughts\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Product management careers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are not necessarily linear nor easy to understand. While progression is definitely possible, there is an ongoing debate about what progression even means, or should mean.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Principal product managers are the perfect example of how the tech industry is creating dual career paths: they\u2019re at the very top of the Individual Contributor path and, as experienced product professionals, their skills are in high demand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Get started in this exciting area with CareerFoundry&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/short-courses\/become-a-product-manager\/\"><strong>free product management short course<\/strong><\/a>. It&#8217;s a great way to dip your toe in the area to see if it&#8217;s for you.<\/p>\n<p>Otherwise, learn more about the career path in these guides:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/data-product-manager\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn about being a Data Product Manager<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/technical-product-manager\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn about becoming a Technical Product Manager<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/entry-level-product-manager\/\">The Complete Entry-Level Product Manager Guide<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The principal product manager title is one that attracts attention: it sounds important. But what does it stand for, exactly?\u00a0Learn all about it in this guide for beginners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":26752,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-product-management"],"acf":{"homepage_category_featured":false,"cards_inner_programs_lists_right":"","cards_inner_programs_lists_left":"","related_plan_cards":""},"modified_by":"Matthew Deery","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25238"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39221,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25238\/revisions\/39221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}