What are differences between PM and Sr. PM? What are clear indicators that someone is ready to take on Sr. PM role and responsibilities that come with it? And, when in the Sr. PM role, what are key stages that distinguish different levels of Sr. PMs?

As you progress from PM to senior PM, competencies in these 3 areas should grow: Autonomy💪🏽, Scope 🌫️ and Leadership 🙋 . There are a few clear indications that someone is ready for the senior level, like increased scope, being a reliable partner and being results driven. Here are some less obvious ones: #1 You recommend initiatives based on your strategic evaluation, instead of waiting for them to be handed to you. You are influential in your field and feel confident putting forward these initia ...Read More

At Asana, we don't use leveled job titles to indicate seniority (e.g. Product Manager III or Senior Director of Marketing), but that doesn't mean that we don't have management structures in place. Instead, we use Success Guides for every team that help employees understand what success looks like for each role level at Asana. Another way we demonstrate ownership and growth in role is Areas of Responsibility, key areas of the business that have one designated owner who is responsible. AoRs act as ...Read More

Check out my other answer in the AMA outlining the difference in skills between different PM levels. As for how do I know that someone is ready to take on a Sr. PM role, the answer is I can see them operating with a mastery of skills that I expect from a senior product manager, while their title may still not have a Sr. in it. Best folks always uplevel themselves a little faster than the title, because if you are a growth mindset person who always likes to learn, you will most likely outpace you ...Read More

This varies so much from company to company but my general lens while moving from PM to SPM: SPMs have had at least one meaningful product launch in their career. SPMs are able to cut across product lines, reach out to multiple PMs to identify dependencies, get buy-ins, and manage timelines for complex launches that touch various parts of a product ecosystem (vs. focusing on one siloed area). SPMs establish a relationship with various stakeholders (including non-R&D folks). SPMs can outline ...Read More

In general, the progression from any level to the next is a matter of demonstrating increasing levels of skill in product definition, technical or domain expertise, ability to navigate and project manage increasing levels of complexity, communication, and ability to influence amonst others. Another way to think about this is that you are increasingly moving from "learning the ropes" to "knowing the ropes" to eventually "having invented the ropes". Much depends also on how formally the company de ...Read More

PM I/II/III is primarily about execution. Someone else comes up with an idea/initiative and a PM at this level largely takes direction, writes briefs/PRDs assuming that the business case is a go, since their manager told them to do it. Because these initiatives are rarely risky big digs, most of the debate is about scope, implementation details and sequencing (should we do this now or later, or should the v1 have feature X in it versus the v2). To get to Senior PM, I need to see that PMs aren't ...Read More