⤴️ EVO10: Product Career Map
The many paths in and out of a Product career
Product Evolution is about helping Product professionals, Product teams, Product organizations and the products they develop to level up.
When it comes to the career growth of Product professionals, I found no satisfactory career map with career paths, level ups, lateral moves or skill areas that support performance in various Product Management roles, so I crafted one based on my experience, expertize and interactions with people performing at various levels.
This edition of the newsletter offers an overview of the elements of the Product Career Map, to make it easier for you to navigate it. Enjoy!
Keep on evolving,
Bülent
The 6 macro skill areas
Performing in Product roles is not only about mastering the Product craft better and better. It’s also about personal effectiveness, collaboration, leading teams, understanding context, and at some point it’s even about managing money and leading organizations.
For clarity, the 6 macro skill areas that you’ll find in the map are:
Product Craft (developing the product & having results with the product);
Self (personal effectiveness);
People & Team (collaboration and leading teams);
Strategy & Organization (leading organizations);
Context (navigating ecosystems);
Finances (managing money).
Deep dive skill areas
Each of the macro skill areas has 6 deep dive skill areas, as follows:
Product Craft: Product Delivery, Product Metrics, Product Discovery, Product Marketing, Product Insights and Product Strategy;
Self: Time, Energy, Intention, Attention, Information Flows and Priorities;
People & Team: Team’s Direction, Team’s Structure, Team’s Context, Team’s Processes, Team’s Performance and Team’s Stakeholders;
Strategy & Organization: Org Direction & Strategy, Org Structure & Roles, Org Processes & Systems, Org Culture & Incentives, Work Types & Setups and People Practices & Org Capabilities;
Context: Business Ecosystem, Tech Ecosystem, Work Ecosystem, Social Ecosystem, Political Ecosystem and Global Ecosystem;
Finances: Financial Analysis, Budgeting, Resource Allocation, Financing, Financial Portfolio Management and Valuation.
Let’s zoom into 2 of these deep dive skill areas: Product Craft and People & Team.
Product Craft
Mapped on the 6 dimensions of Product Development:
Product Delivery: Delivery Planning, Building, Testing, Integration, Deployment and Launch;
Product Metrics: Awareness, Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral and Revenue;
Product Discovery: Niche Discovery, Problem Discovery, Solution Discovery, Product Design Discovery, Adoption Discovery and Growth Discovery;
Product Marketing: Segmentation, Positioning, Brand, Pricing, GTM and Communication;
Product Insights: Market Insights, Competition Insights, Tech Insights, Customer Insights, User Insights and Organizational Insights;
Product Strategy: Product Vision, Strategic Directions, Business Strategy Fit, Product Goals, Strategic Initiatives and Product Roadmap.
People & Team
Mapped on the 6 dimensions of Team Development:
Team’s Direction: Shared Purpose, Leadership, Shared Assumptions of Value, Team Strategy, Team Objectives and Measurements;
Team’s Structure: Membership, Clear Roles, Team Agreements, Team Boundaries, Availability and Reporting Lines;
Team’s Context: Shared Values, Shared Beliefs, Rituals & Habits, Common Language, Team Dynamics and Trust;
Team’s Processes: Decision Making, Idea Generation, Meetings, Feedback, Change & Resilience and Collaboration;
Team’s Performance: Capabilities & Strengths, Knowledge Management, Team Learning, Results, Results Recognition and Results Transference;
Team’s Stakeholders: Organizational Context, Market Context, Stakeholder Communication, Stakeholder Relationships, Reputation & Visibility and Informal Networks.
Skill levels as color codes
The next element is represented by color coded circles linked to each role present on the Product Career Map.
For example:
A Jr. Product Manager needs a basic skill level in the areas of:
Product Craft - e.g. being able to apply foundational Product methods, work with basic Product tools, use core practices and techniques in the field,
Self - e.g. being able to minimally organize their time - work day, work week, their energy and so on,
People & Team - e.g. being able to collaborate with a variety of colleagues to get things done,
and Context - e.g. have a basic understanding of the business ecosystem, tech ecosystem etc in which they operate the product they manage).
Having even a basic skill level in the areas of Finances and Strategy & Organization is not usually required from a Jr. Product Manager to be able to perform in their role.
In contrast to a Jr. Product Manager, a Mid-level Product Manager needs a medium skill level in the area of Product Craft to perform in their role, even though the skill levels of the other areas can stay the same.
Transition type 1: Level Ups
The example above illustrates one of the two types of career transitions that you’ll find on the Product Career Map: the level up.
A level up happens when you upgrade 1+ skill areas that are relevant in the professional context you work in, so that you are able to perform in roles with more responsibility and impact.
You will also find on the map an example of a long career path that goes from an example of career start to an example of career climax via a Product career via 8 level up transitions:
Any role or Fresh grad to Jr. Product Manager through level up of Product Craft (from not developed to basic);
Jr. Product Manager to Mid-level Product Manager through level up of Product Craft (from basic to medium);
Mid-level Product Manager to Sr. Product Manager (for a medium complexity product) through level up of Self (from basic to medium) and of People & Team (from basic to medium);
Sr. Product Manager to Head of Product through level up of Strategy & Organization (from not developed to basic) and of Finances (from not developed to basic);
Head of Product to Director of Product through level up of Strategy & Organization (from basic to medium), of Context (from basic to medium) and of People & Team (from medium to advanced);
Director of Product to VP of Product through level up of Finances (from basic to medium) and of Strategy & Organization (from medium to advanced);
VP of Product to Chief Product Officer through level up of Finances (from medium to advanced) and of Self (from medium to advanced);
Chief Product Officer to Chief Executive Officer (of a large organization) through level up of Context (from medium to advanced).
There are 16 level ups represented on the Product Career Map, on multiple career paths.
Transition type 2: Lateral Moves
The second type of career transitions illustrated on the map is about lateral moves: moves that you can make between various career paths, given the roles require a similar skill level in the 6 macro skill areas.
Full list of lateral moves on the map (both ways can work):
Between Jr. Product Manager and Rookie Startup Founder;
Between Mid-level Product Manager and adjacent professions like: UX Designer, Product Marketing Manager, Business Analyst or Tech Lead;
Between Mid-level Product Manager and Jr. Product Consultant;
Between Sr. Product Manager and Mid-level Product Consultant;
Between Sr. Product Manager and Lead Product Manager;
Between Principal Product Manager and Sr. Product Consultant;
Between Head of Product and Group Product Manager;
Between Head of Product and Experienced Startup Founder;
Between VP of Product and Experienced Scaleup Founder;
Between VP of Product and General Manager of a small-medium business unit;
Between Chief Product Officer and General Manager of a medium-large business unit.
Career Paths
As you may have noticed in the list above, there are multiple career paths represented on the Product Career Map. Here’s a summary:
Main Career Path for most Product Managers: Any role (entry point) - Jr. Product Manager - Mid-level Product Manager - Sr. Product Manager (for medium complexity product)
Advanced IC (individual contributor) Career Path: Sr. Product Manager (for a high complexity product) - Principal Product Manager;
Product Leadership Career Path (from junior to senior leadership roles): Lead Product Manager - Head of Product / Group Product Manager - Director of Product - VP of Product - Chief Product Officer;
Entrepreneurial Career Path: Rookie Startup Founder - Experienced Startup Founder - Experienced Scaleup Founder;
Consulting Career Path: Jr. Product Consultant - Mid-level Product Consultant - Sr. Product Consultant;
General Management Career Path: GM small-medium business unit - GM medium-large business unit - CEO large organization.
Most lateral moves are a way of switching lanes between these career paths.
Most career paths besides the main one require certain prerequisites in order to be able to access them - with the highest requirements demanded by the GM path.
Of course, the Product Career Map illustrates only the skill level prerequisites and not the full range of prerequisites needed, like track record and results in previous roles.
Specializations or Variations
To keep things simple, the Product Career Map doesn’t detail specializations or variations like Technical Product Manager, Growth Product Manager, Product Owner or Platform Product Manager.
Usually these roles need specific skills various deep dive skill areas in the area of Product Craft, like Technical Product Manager and Product Owner needing skills in Product Delivery more than Product Discovery, by design of these specific roles.
Using the Product Career Map
For yourself:
Reflect on where you are now and what kind of role might be the next step for you;
Deep dive on the 6 macro skill areas: Which are your strengths, areas that you can rely on to perform? Which are the areas you want to develop? What specific 2-3 skills you want to develop next?
Connect with peers on a similar career path and at a similar level to exchange practices and approaches;
Find the proper help for where you are, for what you do, and for where you want to go next;
For others around you:
Help them reflect, deep dive, connect and find proper help.
Get the Product Career Map
The one-pager that you can zoom in and zoom out, explore, annotate and share with others.
Bülent Duagi is a Sr. Strategic adviser for Tech companies and a lifelong learner. He works at the intersection of Strategy, Foresight, Leadership, Org Design, Product and Capability Development. Learn more by exploring his professional one pager or connect on LinkedIn.
That's a really useful framework for navigating a product career path, Bülent! Thanks so much for the effort to map it out in detail.