We were recently engaged by a client to conduct a search for a US-based Vice President, Product Management. The mission of this hire was to see the business through its next phase of growth.
This next phase included delivering on net-new products as well as the mandate to mature and optimize the product org to become closer to a ‘product led growth’ business model.
Our client is a multi-product B2B SaaS company whose solutions are used by non-technical users to manage their part of a business process. Similar to that of an ERP system, the product provides users with workflows that create efficiency and visibility into key data and insights.
We conducted a targeted search across the US, focusing on senior product leaders at a CPO and VP-level. Ideal candidates were those who had:
- Led the growth and owned a product management function (including Product Managers, at various levels, Product Marketers and Product Designers)
- Experience making product led business decisions
- Membership of a company’s ELT/SLT
- Understanding of B2B SaaS and the business model it creates
- A champion of product management and knows what “great” looks like
- Strategic and market facing – able to act as the VoC
- Preferably based in eastern or central time zones with success as a remote leader
Our client interviewed 6 candidates:
The Problem Solver – $250K USD Base + 25% Bonus + Stock Options
- 20 years of employment experience, with 11 years of experience in Product Management
- Member of the ELT, reporting to a CEO, with regular Board-level accountabilities
- Ownership of teams greater than 16 across Product Management, Product Design, and Product Marketing
- Experience leading 3 entirely different B2B SaaS product ecosystems, solving for different use cases, user personas and industries
- Insatiably curious and untraditional in their approach
- Led product for a business which grew from $5-40M ARR and was ultimately acquired
- MBA + winner of numerous product awards in their solution category
- Based in a major city in the eastern timezone
The Bay Area Ambassador – $240K USD Base + 20% Bonus + Stock Options
- This persona of candidate is best described as a ‘next gen’ CPO – highly technical yet dialed into the business metrics that drive growth and a high risk taker wired for building startups
- Journey into product management was through Engineering
- People management was limited to teams fewer than 10, but did include Product Designers
- Experience sitting on the ELT while working at a startup
- Experiences also included both startup and scale-up product management scenarios:
- Stood up a 0-1 product build which grew to $15M ARR before being acquired
- Stepped into a $35M ARR business which scaled to $80M ARR
- STEM Degree + MBA
- Based in the Bay area
The Big Business Leader – $230K USD Base + 30% Bonus + RSU
- 18 years of employment experience working for world-class B2B SaaS brands with a global footprint
- Journey into Product Management was through Software Engineering
- Experience building and managing teams as large as 20, exclusively Product Managers and Product Owners
- Focused on delivering multi-product B2B SaaS solutions for large enterprises
- Accustomed to managing products which generated $80M+ ARR and represented the core product of a multi-product business
- Participated in an exit (acquisition) and the business transformation and integration which ensued
- BS in Electrical Engineering + PMP
- Based in a major city in the eastern timezone
The Presales Product Professional – $210K USD Base + 15% Bonus + Stock Options
- 20 years of employment experience, with 10 year in Product Management
- 2 years of experience at the VP level, reporting to a CEO, sitting on the ELT
- Journey into Product Management was through Presales
- Largest team managed was 5, all were Product Managers and Product Owners
- Considered a SME in business applications used by finance and accounting departments as well as marketing teams
- Functions as the VoC and often pulled into large opportunities to vision cast with the C-suite and help close large deals
- Business Degree + MBA + numerous product and project management certificates
- Based in a major city in the central timezone
The Chief Product Pro – $330K USD Base + 30% Bonus + RSUs
- 23 years of employment experience, with 18 years in product leadership
- Journey into product began through engineering
- Responsible for a product organization of 25 with 4 direct reports and a team of Product Managers, at varying levels, Product Operations, and Design
- All product experience in enterprise B2B SaaS across various industries (high tech, banking/finance, manufacturing, services firms & CPG)
- During one part of their career, they led the product for a PLG business whose growth went from $6M to $120M ARR
- A business focused product leader whose style is closer to that of a CEO (highly strategic: roadmap, value, and customer focused)
- Engineering Degree + MBA
- Based in a major city in the central timezone
The Hire
- A B2B SaaS product leader with experience managing complex multi-product portfolios of solutions used by non-technical, business user personas
- Experience hiring top talent and managing managers who led teams of 15+ across Product Management, Operations, Data and Design
- Accustomed to being a remote leader for a company whose HQ was in the west coast as well as successfully managed distributed teams across the globe
- Experience identifying acquisition targets and conducting due diligence
- Two-time exit experience, both acquisitions
- Led a business through a period of growth from single digits to $30M ARR
- Business Degree + MBA + numerous product and product management certifications
- Based in a major city in the eastern timezone
To land this candidate, our client offered a $250K USD Base + 30% Bonus + Stock Options.
As you can see, compensation for these candidates varies significantly based on the length and scope of experience, as well as their ability to thrive in similar environments.
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For organizations and job seekers alike, it can be challenging to understand what a particular position should pay. Often, it’s a calculation between salary surveys that lack all context, what a person has earned in the past, and ad hoc conversations with others in the field.
We’re sharing market insights into current compensation packages for key roles in the tech industry. Our recruiters conduct targeted searches on behalf of our clients, seeking out candidates who fit the requirements of the role and diligently qualifying them to present only the very best talent. These posts are meant to highlight the contextual elements that makeup compensation, and to help our clients and candidates better understand the current market forces that affect earning potential.