What Is The Average Senior Technical Product Manager Salary?
Curious to find out the average salary of a senior technical product manager?
Then look no further.
In today’s market, the necessity for senior technical product managers is high. This is due to the increase in collaborative efforts between other product managers, at all levels within the organization, to drive the company’s manufacturing, product, and design goals.
The role of senior technical product manager requires extensive knowledge and understanding of products that, in the end, produce high-value deliverables.
In this article, we explore the factors that influence the compensation of the senior technical product manager, as well as comparable salaries and various methods for how to increase compensation.
Let’s dive right in.
What Influences a Salary?
In general, there are numerous factors that impact the salary of any senior technical product manager. Some of these include educational background, work experience, and location.
In addition to these factors, the senior technical product manager earns bonuses as a supplementary form of compensation.
Years of Experience
It is customary for a person’s work experience level to determine their salary level. The number of years working as a senior technical product manager has a direct correlation to how much one expects to earn.
In a similar way, higher education levels also have an impact on how high compensation is. That being said, employees who possess the educational background, in accordance with the company’s requirements, such as graduate degrees or more than 5 years’ experience in the field, earn salaries that align with such.
Location
For the senior technical product manager, the place from which you live, and work plays a major role in determining compensation. It goes without saying that residing in large metropolitan areas presents an opportunity to earn higher salaries due to the likelihood of having a higher cost of living.
Since the cost of living also takes into account the cost of housing, compensation for positions within urban locations tends to be higher in comparison to rural locations. Take note, however, that the recent increase in remote work allows for a shift toward compensation on the basis of function rather than location.
Some of the highest-paying cities for senior technical product managers are San Francisco, Seattle, Salem, New York, and Boston, to name a few.
Skill Set
While job title is a common metric for determining compensation, taking skill sets into consideration proves to be a more reliable approach for the employer.
Companies have varying definitions of the requisite skills for being a senior technical product manager. Given that anyone who holds this position is, in essence, a product manager with responsibilities ranging from product design to understanding target markets and communicating with upper management, it is evident that having a specific skill set holds weight.
In short, a higher skill set earns a higher salary.
Supply and Demand
One key factor that influences the necessity for senior technical product manager roles, is the geographic region. We outlined above how location determines salary levels. In a similar way, understanding the regions that require this position has an impact on compensation.
In other words, for locations that have a high need for senior technical product managers, it is natural that they pay more to attract potential employees to meet said requirements.
How Much Does a Senior Technical Manager Earn?
According to Zippia, senior technical product managers in the United States, within the top 40 percentile, earn a total pay of $132,810 per annum on average. This equates to $63.85 per hour. Senior technical product managers within the bottom 10th percentile, earn, on average, $97,000 per year. The top 10% earns an average salary of $180,000, not inclusive of additional cash compensation.
In comparison, Glassdoor estimates that in the United States, a senior technical product manager within the median range earns a total pay of $172,832 per year. This accounts for a base pay of $125,902 and additional cash compensation equivalent to approximately $46,930. The bottom 10% earns $110,000 to $136,000 per year, while the top 80% earns a salary ranging from $223,000 to $277,000.
Comparably also reports that the annual salary of a senior technical product manager working within the United States ranges from $80,350 to $202,000. At the median level or 57th percentile, they earn a median salary ranging from $100,755 to $103,232, while the top 80% earn $202,000. The base salary, however, stands at $116,296 per year, on average.
How Does This Compare to Similar Jobs?
Let’s make a comparison between the above senior technical product manager salary estimates and the average base salary of similar product management jobs:
Product Owner: As a member of the product development team, product owners work alongside technical product managers to deliver maximum value to customers.
Average Salary: $90,544
Product Manager: Product managers are responsible for the success of a product and often work one step behind senior product managers.
Average Salary: $102,235
Senior Product Marketing Manager: Senior product marketing managers work alongside product managers to communicate the value of the product to customers.
Average Salary: $131,416
Director of Product: The director of product works alongside the product team to oversee the development and release of products.
Average Salary: $173,144
How to Increase Your Senior Technical Product Manager Salary
Consider the following tips for increasing your salary as a senior technical product manager:
Strengthen Your Skills
There are several methods available that allow for increasing your skill set. An example of this is online certification courses. It helps to pay attention to the skill requirements when looking to advance your career and, by extension, increase your salary.
Your value as an employee is a direct reflection of the skills you possess. Therefore, obtaining additional qualifications is the ideal approach because it makes you a more suitable candidate when promotions are available.
Get a Good Performance Review
As a senior technical product manager, it is within your right to negotiate a salary increase on the basis of your work performance. Having an outstanding performance through accomplishing goals and maintaining professionalism, places you in a position to use the value you bring to your advantage.
A performance review or feedback from your managers about your contributions to their companies does not just provide insight into areas for improvement, but also how you bring value to the companies. Keep a record of your accomplishments and milestones at your disposal to share with upper management when the opportunity presents itself.
This information is vital to negotiating salary increments.
Grow Your Network
Getting and remaining on your company’s radar is a key tool that provides leverage in order for the senior technical product manager to negotiate salaries.
According to Forbes, there are several approaches to growing your professional network. Here are a few:
- Deepen existing professional relationships by being intentional about reaching out to colleagues at regular intervals and not just when you need something.
- Attend networking events that present opportunities to foster relationships with colleagues, upper management, and potential mentors. Ensure that your conversations explore their interests and accomplishments.
- Explore skill sets that exist outside of your own. By expanding in this way, it opens the door to new opportunities and valuable connections.
Research Market Value
Having an understanding of the various pay scales that exist for the senior technical product manager is ideal when seeking salary increases. In addition to giving insight into current market requirements, it also helps with evaluating your career.
A market value search brings the following factors to light:
- Salary comparisons across similar jobs
- Salary ranges on the basis of job location around the world
- Earning potential of other jobs within product management
- Salary reviews and feedback from current and previous employees
Ask for a Raise
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that for the 12-month period ending in September 2022, wages and salaries increased by 5.1%. In comparison to September 2021, where the increase was 4.2%.
For the senior technical product manager, this data indicates that being direct about asking for a raise is reasonable. Here are a few points to consider before beginning salary negotiations:
- Prepare documentation that outlines your request. Be sure to include comparable pay scales for the position.
- List major achievements, additional responsibilities, or projects that you spearheaded, and any plans that further help companies achieve their goals.
- Provide copies of said documentation to supervisors and upper management to allow for discussions at their level.
- Be confident when discussing the details with upper management while also being receptive to what they have to say.
Average Senior Technical Product Manager Salary: Key Takeaways
There are numerous factors that influence the average salaries of senior technical product managers: industry requirements, job location, or work experience, to name a few.
While there is data that proves how the average pay range varies, there are processes at the senior technical product manager’s disposal that ensure that they expect favorable results when attempting to increase their average total compensation.
Develop an appropriate plan for requesting salary increases and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
