The demand for product managers grew by over 8x in the last year. But what’s interesting is an emerging trend for digital product managers in the UK. A search on LinkedIn suggests 68% of global digital product manager roles are based in the UK, compared with just 4% for product managers. With so many opportunities on offer, now is the time to upskill and take advantage of these lucrative roles.
As the title suggests, a digital product manager is responsible for the roadmap of a company’s digital products. For example, mobile/web applications, e-commerce platforms, SaaS, and IoT devices. Their role is to manage each product through the five key stages of a digital product lifecycle:
Stage 1: Conception of idea and strategy
Stage 2: Development
Stage 3: Introduction
Stage 4: Growth and maturity
Stage 5: Decline or evolution
Additionally, they bridge the gap between business objectives, user needs, and technology, to deliver digital products that meet customer needs. Therefore, the skills required to perform the role effectively extend beyond core technical capabilities to include soft skills and industry knowledge.
How to Establish a Career as a Digital Product Manager
Apprenticeship programmes are an effective way to acquire digital skills, because each programme blends lectures with practical workshops, self-paced e-learning, and off-the-job training, so you complete the course with both in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience.
When you study with Cambridge Spark, you are also supported by technical mentors and professionally trained coaches, who help you link your new skills back to real-world scenarios. And you’ll be invited to join our community of 4,000+ learners and alumni to enjoy important networking opportunities. Our learners have achieved outstanding pass rates because of our comprehensive approach to training.
The great thing about an apprenticeship is that you don’t need any prior experience, which makes it suitable for new graduates, junior employees, and experienced professionals who are looking to reskill and future-proof their careers – according to one industry report, over 50% of product managers come from non-product backgrounds.
While there are numerous job roles that would benefit from the Digital Product Manager Apprenticeship (L4), the most common professionals who enrol on our programme include (junior) product managers, product coordinators, product associates, and product analysts.
Digital Project Manager Skills
Responsible for managing the digital product lifecycle, you will acquire several technical capabilities during your apprenticeship programme. These include:
User-centric design: including user research, problem-solving methodologies, and prototyping
Data analysis: understanding how data informs strategic product decisions, as well as how to analyse, visualise and share findings
Digital product planning: developing the product roadmap and prioritising initiatives to support the organisation’s digital transformation goals
Digital product development: learning linear and agile approaches, as well as the importance of adapting to change and maximising customer value
Managing digital products: including product launches and measuring long-term performance
But successful digital product managers also require soft skills, such as effective communication, stakeholder management, negotiation, conflict resolution, and change management. An apprenticeship gives you these skills in abundance, allowing you to put them into practice on day one of your programme through off-the-job training.
By the time you complete the Digital Product Manager Apprenticeship (L4), you will have fulfilled the 13 duties outlined in the official apprenticeship standard:
| 1 | Engage teams and stakeholders to develop a compelling vision and strategy for your product, and communicate these over the short- and long-term |
| 2 | Prioritise the delivery of value delivered through digital products or services to users while balancing competing priorities and constraints |
| 3 | Through your support of a multidisciplinary team, you will represent users throughout the product life cycle phases |
| 4 | Develop and prioritise the product backlog, creating user stories and making decisions based on evidence |
| 5 | Engage with a variety of stakeholders, flexing your style as appropriate |
| 6 | Develop an expert understanding of the users’ needs and champion these in the delivery of your product |
| 7 | Engage with users and stakeholders through a range of channels to encourage take-up and use of your product |
| 8 | Set measurable goals for your product and report against these to demonstrate progress against benefits |
| 9 | Support the vision, roadmaps and delivery of other products in your area of work |
| 10 | Play an active role in product manager communities, sharing your learning and celebrating progress made by other people and teams |
| 11 | Seeking out appropriate feedback and using it to drive future improvements |
| 12 | Seeking out and using the best available data to make decisions |
| 13 | Working with and alongside all members of a multidisciplinary team to get the best outcomes |
Set Your Own Path for Career Progression
According to McKinsey, “The role of the product manager is expanding due to the growing importance of data in decision-making, and increased customer and design focus, and the evolution of software-development methodologies.”
By studying an apprenticeship, you acquire valuable transferable skills, which broaden your long-term career prospects. If you wish, you can climb the corporate ladder until you find yourself in the C-suite. But if the thought of management responsibilities doesn’t fill you with joy, you have the opportunity to specialise – or take a side step into another data & AI-related role.
Let’s take a closer look at each path in turn:
Path 1: Climb the Career Ladder
Upon completing your digital product manager apprenticeship, you’ll likely find yourself in a role where you have responsibility for a specific product or feature set. You can then rise up through the ranks to:
- Senior product manager
- Director of product
- Chief product officer (CPO)
Of course, the type of industry and size of organisation will determine the number of layers and reporting lines within the hierarchy.
As a digital product manager in the UK, you can expect an average salary of £59,250 per year. Rising to an average basic pay of £110,362 per year (£146,901 per year including bonus/commission) once you reach CPO level.
Path 2: Product Specialist
Your career as a product manager doesn’t need to follow a linear path. If you don’t want to step into a senior role that trades managing products for managing people, becoming a product specialist could be for you.
Product specialisms come in a range of shapes and sizes. For example, you could specialise in organisation types, such as consumer, SME, or enterprise. You could specialise in sectors and industries, such as healthcare, finance, or retail. There are functional areas, such as HR, marketing, and operations. Or technology domains, such as AI/machine learning, IoT devices, and mobile apps.
The following examples provide an idea of how a specialism could affect your expected salary:
- EPR product manager: £75,000
- E-commerce product manager: £75,000
- Product marketing manager: £70,000
- Security product manager: £110,000
How to Decide Which Career Path is Right for You
The good news is you don’t need to decide on day one – and even when you start down a specific pathway, there’s nothing to prevent you from switching back and forth. However, a good place to start is by thinking about your long-term career goals.
For example, if strategy is what motivates you and you enjoy looking at how technology can help you take advantage of opportunities or overcome customer challenges, a linear career path into the C-suite may be for you. But if you’re excited by technology and hold a desire to master your craft, becoming a specialist may be the better option. And if you’re all about problem solving and are interested in design thinking, your enjoyment may come from a mid-level role within a niche industry.
Level up with Cambridge Spark
According to research by Glassdoor, product management is the 4th best job – and as we know from our learners’ experiences, it’s a skillset that opens doors and equips you with capabilities to futureproof your career. To find out more about our Digital Product Manager Apprenticeship (L4), including the next enrolment date, please click the button below.