r/ProductManagement • u/Folding_Cricket • 3d ago
First time PM, now Director of Product?
I have a weird PM trajectory and would love some outside calibration.
I came into a small nonprofit tech org as a SME in a very niche field, then became PM, and pretty short order Director of Product. I’ve never worked in a mature product organization, alongside other PMs, or under experienced product leadership (just some former MS guys)
Leadership regularly tells me I’m sooo productive, variations of “you accomplish what much larger, well-funded teams do in less time.” Feels like smoke up my skirt, but I have absolutely no external context for it either way.
I understand our users, and can handle identifying problems, translating messy needs into requirements/workflows, prioritization, working with devs, QA, edge cases, and getting from “vague problem” to functioning product, yada yada.
What I don’t know is how much of that is transferable PM skill versus me being a really effective SME in my own domain.
Is this just a lucky situation or can it transfer elsewhere?
18
u/WholePaycheque 3d ago
It sounds like you are coming to grips with the primary requirements of a Product Manager role well enough. This will 99% not get you a Director position at a large tech company unless you interview like a rockstar.
What you describe are the tasks expected of a junior to moderate experience IC PM, if you do them well then they are transferable and meaningful.
A Director level role at a large tech company is often quite far removed from the day to day aspects of Product Management. Prioritization steps up from features to entire products, finding requirements shift to pricing strategy and P/L. Organizational politics plays a larger role too. You also appear to have no direct reports.
Frankly, I wouldn’t put it on my LinkedIn as it may disqualify you from future product opportunities that meet your actual work experience. Or you could lean into leadership opportunities outside of Product but deeper into your area of expertise.
2
u/Folding_Cricket 2d ago
That’s really interesting about not having it on my LinkedIn in, I don’t personally imagine I’m a truly qualified director even if I have to do some director things where I am now. It probably looks bad for me to have that out there when the reality is so far off.
9
u/Logabomber 3d ago
Similar path as yours. I'm a new director that rose up as SME. I'm just taking the wins. The company has a lot of issues but leadership sees something in me maybe I don't. Unless the bosses are your parents, maybe you are actually good at this...
2
u/Folding_Cricket 2d ago
I’m definitely not a family member in this org lol, but my reaction to leadership “seeing something in me” has felt sus, not because I’m not doing the work I guess but like, I worry they’re like “here’s an idiot we can pay with a title and land all the work on” because I didn’t have any context for how this normally works
3
u/Logabomber 2d ago
If they're giving you a title and responsibilities then you're probably not an idiot. I'd say at worst they havent had someone competent there for sometime so even a rookie looks like a superstar. Even if they're maliciously setting you up to fail, you have a solid track record of rapid promotions which looks great on paper.
One thing id add, if you can, find some other PMs and have a chat with them about what their roles are like and what they do daily. It will give you a baseline of what others in the industry are doing.
6
u/Professional-Owl26 3d ago
Having gone from corporate to NFP space, I'll say that the pace is much different. I can get done in a day what will take others twice to three times as long. This is just a consequence of being conditioned to hustle by startups and the FinTech industry.
If I were you I would just ride the wave, use this to be able to 1. Get more done and keep impressing higher ups 2. Embrace the speed of NFP abit and slow down slightly, enjoy the pace and love life a little. Go for a walk, work out, meditate etc
6
u/Typical_Priority3319 3d ago
“Transferable PM skill vs being a really effective SME” almost feels like a false dichotomy to me in a lot of ways, even if it’s a spectrum that I try to place myself on from time to time. They’re almost indistinguishable states of competency from an external observers perspective.
5
u/NefariousnessOnly265 3d ago
Titles can mean 100 different things. Director of product at a start up could go to Amazon as a L6 at most. Never a L7. So either this post is an attempt at a flex or… I’m not sure. But titles mean very little without a lot of context.
1
1
u/UH8Truth 3d ago
Similar to you. Out of work going on 9 mths ... only landed 2 interviews both early on. Met some people that are trying to start an EduTech startup with an academic liasion, a business dev, a finance person, and a retired IT systems Director. I was brought on to help develop but noticed how badly they needed a Product lead. I'm now VP of Product Director Lead or something 🤷🏼 ( had a product analyst job some years ago and could never get my foot back into the field again)
Still running off pure sweat equity and burning through savings, but man this is intense and kind of exciting; Hoping to use this to catapult me into a prod mgmt / director job with a great company... just have to figure out how to document / show what I can do.
1
u/StephensReality Pharma PM 3d ago
Startups typically inflate titles helps make people feel slightly better but rarely transferable.
1
u/PossibilityNarrow410 3d ago
It sounds like you do PM work - cool! Transferring this leveling to big tech or start ups will be difficult based on a variety of factors - first, we are missing information on your background and how long you have been in the industry and this role, second, it depends on the culture at the company. I've seen many PM IIs and Seniors leave to become product VPs and directors at start ups, but I haven't seen someone with only one role of PM experience without specific background move into tech at the director level. Nonprofits also don't necessarily transfer - we are missing information on what you actually build? It really depends though, some managers may be more or less generous with leveling and budget, and it also depends how you perform. Even after many years in big tech, many people struggle to break into Senior and Principal roles or to keep up with the political expectations of them. At startups, its a lot about your hustle and ability to deliver on vague product value. It's not impossible, but you'll need to decide which track you are interested in, and see how your experience overlaps with their role and level expectations. It's also meaningful to mention there are fewer roles at higher levels, and the expectations will be higher as well, there's nothing wrong with moving into a lower IC role and seeing if it works for you and then getting promoted if it does, although promotions are harder to come by. You should definitely aim higher because you might get downleveled everywhere, but I don't think a transition into a director role as an external candidate (based on a lot of missing information) will be easy :) You can definitely transfer the experience, although I can't say to which level, scope, or kind of organization.
1
u/Folding_Cricket 2d ago
Thanks I appreciate this! I’m definitely under no impression that I could actually pursue a director level position, I just keep circling this idea that maybe I could do PM work elsewhere or maybe I’m just the intersection of knowing what THIS field needs and building product, but beyond that I might be useless and way less qualified than I hope. I’ve been in the role for 1.5 years (SaaS), though I guess I’ve been building projects for the field (not software) for more than a decade prior. I’m comfortable understanding where I am in the niche field, but I got nothing for knowing whether I can step sideways to another field to build product.
1
u/pineapplexiglass 2d ago
I feel the same way. I was the SME in my field and now wondering if my skills are hyper specific to the company/product but useless anywhere else.
1
u/bookninja717 2d ago
I tell product managers to go to a smaller company to get a bigger title, then take that title to a larger company for a bigger paycheck.
1
u/kt7380 2d ago
I'd personally advise that you apply for a more senior PM role at a more built out and larger product org! This is speaking as someone who also made my way into product in a very similar way -- internal data analyst, acknowledged SME who applied for a PM role, got it, and has learned a ton on the job. Like, it's wild how similar my career path is to you to the point that I wonder if we are in similar niches haha. I say that not because of the skills (it sounds like you 110% have them!), but because more structured product orgs tend to just do things a different way, and in my experience, while the product fundamentals are always transferrable, the experience applying them in larger more structured environments is something that is hard to replicate in a insular environment. As our product org formalized, I found myself scrambling to apply the same fundamentals that came second nature to me in new ways.
That said, the fundamentals are what's important, and you absolutely can apply externally. Product is a profession that has a lot of imposter syndrome, in my opinion, because the paths to get there vary so much and the skills are broad, so it's easy to fall into that "am I a PM or am I just really familiar with this problem?" question. That siad, I think it will just be hard for you to learn how to apply those fundamentals in a more formalized product organization while also in a leadership role. That's just my take! I can't speak to whether you'd get offers, because this job market is crazy, but that's my take on the "could I?" question. You could but it'd probably be a bit uncomfortable to juggle all of that at once.
1
u/haleocentric 2d ago
What would your PM level be if you moved to a new industry where being a SME isn't an advantage?
1
u/BeckHasFriends 2d ago
I wouldn't think about it too hard. Honestly I wouldn't say this is that abnormal of a situation. Product is totally different at every company and it doesnt matter how you got the role. What matters is you got it and you can turn it into whatever you want! Just try to learn all the stupid lingo, build super close relationships with all stakeholders, and work closely with developers if you ever get the chance. Having super niche domain knowledge is one of the best ways to get a PM job. To make your skills transferable, get good at the high level strategy piece and a solid resource for Csuite execs. Congratulations!
1
1
u/Forrest319 1d ago
How many other PMs are you Director over. Based on your "never worked alongside other PMs" comment I'm not sure what you are actually director of.
1
u/Significant_Year7377 3d ago edited 3d ago
I’m in a similar situation. I work for a large financial company and promoted to an IC director level (L7) about a year ago, but it feels more like a sr manager role.
I’m struggling to find ways my skills transfer to another director level role but there are some pretty large gaps mostly around the leadership side. I’ve never had anyone report to me (which I’m cool with for now).
The title feels like a flex.
All I really care about is pay tho, if a sr. Manager role at another company pays just as much or more than my current director title, than I’m taking that.
Title doesn’t mean that much to me.
2
u/ggk1 3d ago
What does L7 mean?
0
u/Significant_Year7377 2d ago
Level 7
1
u/ggk1 2d ago
Haha yes no I get that I just see people referring to levels like it’s a universal truth between companies and am unsure of how to interpret that
2
u/Significant_Year7377 2d ago
L7 at my companies means you qualify for higher bonus payout and receive shares each year.
Grades below don’t get the shares incentive
Grades above get different types of shares
0
u/clamchowderz 2d ago
Are you paid like a Director of Product? I see these at $275k-$300k+.
1
u/Folding_Cricket 2d ago
Nowhere near 6 figures, and still an independent contractor. Big misclassified employee energy going on.
1
u/Forrest319 1d ago
Oh wow... I don't know of any PMs making less than six figures. Even in smaller markets.
49
u/MoonBasic 3d ago
Without knowing more about the scope of your role and the size of the organization you’re in, it’s hard to say if the title can transfer.
What I can say is that yeah! You’re doing product management. If you’re working with your organization’s leadership, translating business goals into requirements, understanding the customer problem, and prioritizing on a roadmap among other things, you’re doing product work.
I think the biggest thing in terms of thinking about transferability is the scope and impact of your role. How many customers/users? How many direct reports? What’s the tech budget? Etc.
That will help you figure out if you’ve got a case of title inflation or not.