Job Responsibilities
Responsibilities
- Bring new products and enhancements to the market. Write
business cases and present to upper management and the board of
directors. Perform competitive analysis. Write product
requirement documents and work with engineering and production on
schedules and timelines. Work with marketing on website
material, product sheets, sales kits, and press releases.
- Support clients and account teams for penetrating new accounts
and providing training on products.
- Develop and communicate product roadmaps of future product
features and improvements
- Establish production processes for consistent delivery of
products and services; manage production and operations processes
- Manage and negotiate contracts with vendors
Qualifications
- 4+ years of product management experience with research or
consulting companies
- At least one year of experience in the wireless industry
- Strong problem solving and analytical skills
- Excellent attention to detail
- Strong organizational and interpersonal skills
- Strong and effective written and verbal communication
- MBA preferred with a BS in Business/Marketing
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Job Requirements
An MBA is definitely required if want to progress past the Sr.
Product Manager title. The next move for me is a promotion to
Director.
Telephia looks for top performers. If hiring a fresh college
graduate they would look at GPA, internships, and any other
experience that might help estimate the future potential of the
candidate.
When hiring experienced employees Telephia looks at the education
level, and industry level experience. Telephia also values
people with previous consulting experience or folks who came from
a major marketing research company.
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Uppers
I love it when a client tells me that they love my product or I have solved some
key issue or problem they have faced with. I like the fact that I can see the
results of my work. It is a great feeling to launch a new product after a years
worth of planning and executing on a strategy. It is even more rewarding when
you have grown that product or business into a major profit center for your
company.
I really enjoy working with different departments across the organization. Not
only do I have high visibility (working with CEO side by side for example) but I
can really understand how the company runs and works.
I also like the exposure I get outside my company. Working with clients,
vendors, etc. can lead to new job opportunities.
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Downers
This biggest challenge a product manager faces is that we are
responsible for high profile projects, meeting deadlines,
delivering to clients etc. but we do not have direct control over
the resources that make it all happen. There is a constant
struggle to rally support and stay on top of resources to make
sure that your project is getting done.
The other big downer is losing to the competition. It happens.
Sometimes you just don't have the resources to make it work.
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Lifestyle
A busy week might be a 60-80 hour work week. This was common my first few years
when I was working to make a name for myself within my organization. It is now
the exception not the rule that I have to work those hours. A typical work week
is 50-60 hours. I travel about once every three months on average. But when
launching a new product it could be more frequent since I meeting with potential
clients. I typically travel for industry trade shows and client meetings. These
are great opportunities for making new contacts. In fact, the most important
contacts I have made have been in airports, on airplanes or through my client
contacts. Nothing is more important than networking. Dress code is business
casual which seems to be very typical nowadays. As a product manager I am able
to work remotely if necessary and I can do my job effectively. I typically work
from home about 2 days a week. I find I can get more done since I can work an
extra 3 hours a day that I would have spent commuting.
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Compensation
Base salary is $105,000 with another 20k in bonus. I have recieved
about 35,000 shares. The other benefits are the usual ones...
401k, health care, etc.
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Advice to Jobseekers
Job outlook is exceptional. There are not enough good product
managers out there. It takes the right person who is analytical
but also very creative. When I'm interviewing for this type of
position I tend to find that people are one or other but not
excel at both. I would recommend a technical undergrad degree
with a MBA. In many industries you need technical background to
manage the products if we are talking about biotech or computer
science. If you are interesed in product management for a
research company (like what I do) then I would recommend a
business degree with an MBA. If your college has a market
research undergrad degree that would be better or you could just
get a degree in mathmatics or statistics and then get your MBA.
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