Also called: Technical Product Manager (Hardware)
Decides what a new physical product, like a drone or a smartwatch, should do and leads the team that builds it.
You talk to customers, write the product requirements, and run meetings where engineers, designers and marketing make trade-offs. You also visit factories to make sure the product can be built at the right cost.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in engineering; some get an MBA.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Design.
Growing faster than average (about 6% over 10 years). Marketing and product managers overall.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI drafts specs, market research and roadmaps; leading teams and making product calls stay human.
Classes: Business, Physics, Computer science, Speech or debate.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-2021.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.