What skills are the most important to develop when going from Sr. PMM to Director of Product Marketing?

The shift from individual contributor to director is less about product marketing skills and more about leadership, strategy and influence. In my opinion, the most important skills are: Strategic thinking at the portfolio level: As a senior PMM, you're generally deep on one product or product area. As a director, you need to see how multiple products work together, understand resource allocation across initiatives, and think about long-term positioning strategy. You can start practicing these sk ...Read More

First, here is how I'd define the scope and complexity of a Director level PMM role: At a director level, your work will be highly strategic in nature. For example, you should be identifying and devising strategies to solve company-wide issues with longer term implications (18-24 months out). Your proposed solutions will go beyond the boundaries of the product or marketing orgs and likely shape how other functions think about the problem space and influence VP+ leaders to help secure the right r ...Read More

Great question! Definitely not an easy leap to make, but while there may not always be an opening at your current company, taking a proactive approach will position you well for if/when something opens. Here are some things I would recommend you keeping in mind:Leadership and People Management: Building and Empowering: While you may not manage a team yet, you can demonstrate your leadership potential by collaborating effectively across functions, fostering a culture of ownership, and empowering ...Read More

On your path from Sr. PMM to Director of Product Marketing, you may have a couple roles in between: Lead PMM (sometimes called Principle PMM) which is typically the highest PMM level for individual contributors Manager & Sr. Manager of Product Marketing, which would be your first people managing roles in the Product Marketing org Here are the major competencies you'll want to develop on your path to Director level (summarized from the PMM career ladder we have at SurveyMonkey): 1) Leadership ...Read More