Jobs explained: Product manager

What does a product manager do?

A product manager acts as the voice of the customer and owner of the product roadmap. A PM’s job is to find the sweet spot between what customers want, what the company can provide, and what is technically feasible. Product managers are responsible for the success of each product, striving to find the right balance of features, feasibility, and customer satisfaction. They’re tasked with effectively communicating outcomes to stakeholders, creating product roadmaps, and setting the product’s long-term vision. The product manager’s job is to bring together different departments and parties to make sure the product gets built, tested, and launched as efficiently as possible. They do this by making sure everyone is on the same page about what the product should be, and making changes when necessary.

A brief history of the product manager at Apple

Apple’s first product manager, Jerry Manock, was hired in 1978 to lead the Apple II group. He was responsible for the development of the Macintosh and the Apple II series. In 1984, Apple created the position of Senior Product Manager (SPM) to oversee the product managers. The SPMs were responsible for setting the overall product direction, coordinating the other product managers, and interfacing with the marketing and sales groups. The company re-branded the position as Product Manager (PM) in 1993, following the reorganization that created the Marketing, Product Development, and Advanced Technology groups. The PMs were responsible for working with the rest of the company to set product strategy and coordinating the work of the other product managers. The PMs report to the VP of Marketing and the Director of Product Development. The Marketing VP develops a product strategy that is approved by the CEO and Board. The Product Development Director manages the engineering resources to build the product and the schedule to ship it.

Responsibilities of a PM

The product director is responsible for making sure the product meets the customer's needs. Product managers gather feedback and run surveys to see what customers want, and use that information to shape their product. They also have to decide what features need to be included in the product, and what can be left out. Product managers are responsible for the success of each product, striving to find the right balance of features, feasibility, and customer satisfaction. They also have to decide how the product will be priced, and how it will be distributed. The product manager sits at the intersection of business strategy, marketing, engineering, and customer insights. They use those inputs to set product strategy and create the roadmap, and decide how to allocate the product’s resources.

The ideal candidate for the job

The ideal candidate for a position as a product manager at Apple has a broad engineering background and marketing instincts. The person needs to be able to understand engineering trade-offs. But he also needs to be able to communicate the product vision in a compelling way to engineers, designers, and marketing. The ideal candidate isn’t just technical. He or she also has an innate understanding of Apple’s brand and culture. Because of this, the candidate likely has a strong design sense, and the ability to understand and synthesize different points of view. Product managers are expected to lead teams by example, to be fair and equitable, and to be decisive when necessary. Although Apple doesn’t have a set criteria for what they’re looking for in an employee, they tend to hire people who are entrepreneurial by nature.

How to become a product manager at Apple?

When you apply for a position at Apple, you’re actually applying for a job as an engineering program manager. You need to have engineering experience, and you should probably have a degree in computer science. When you apply for the job, Apple wants you to include a pitch. The pitch should be one to two pages long, and explain how you would use your experience as an engineer to develop Apple’s product line. An engineering program manager is responsible for managing the product release. This means working with marketing to understand what their goals are for a release and then making sure engineering does everything within its power to meet those expectations.

Conclusion

In order to reach the next level, businesses must continuously evolve, innovate, and refine their product offerings to meet customers’ evolving needs and demands. At the heart of this effort is the product manager. At Apple, the product manager is tasked with managing the entire lifecycle of a product, from ideation through design and development and, ultimately, to shipping and sales. One of the best ways to succeed in product management is to be passionate about the products you’re building. If you’re excited about what you’re doing, it will show and inspire others to do their best work. The best product managers are driven by their curiosity, a desire to learn, and the willingness to try different things.

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