I really had fun taking on this project! I worked on this when I had a team of about 13 people who wanted to understand how to advance from one role to the next. I understood how important it was to have clear career paths because I had been in previous roles where I could no longer move forward in the company because of the team I was on, and I wanted to be able to celebrate the success of my team with growth.

I went on to leverage this career growth framework at my role with Lenovo leading both product marketing and product management teams of 25 folks in 10+ countries.

I wanted to figure out an actual path for my team and not rely on the typical “you’re doing great, keep up the good work!” - So I started my research by talking to different leaders in the industry to learn what a career path could look like. I wanted to create a process that included career bands, as well as the anticipated time that would be needed to advance to the next band. Of course from my own experience we know that time is not always a factor.

We were able to form a clear understanding of the skills and knowledge needed to move up in the company, so the team knew exactly what to learn to level up their careers.

While not necessarily shown in this document, keep in mind that depending on the type of work someone wants to do and the company they are in, there can be routes that include people management, or ones that allow for advancement without the managerial components.

I was really proud of this project because it became a tool that I would have liked to have used early on in my own career.

Div Manickam

I created this when I had a team of about 13 people who wanted to understand how to advance from one role to the next.

Portfolio Marketing and Management Career Journey

Wondering what’s to be expected as you progress through your Portfolio Marketing and Management journey?

Discover information in our overview summarizing the roles and responsibilities as you move up or across the career journey, from 

Associate Portfolio Marketing / Management to Sr. Director of Portfolio Marketing / Management.

If you are a product marketing manager or product manager, this career journey path is a guide to prepare for your next role.

Core responsibilities: understand customer pain points, buyer journey, positioning, messaging, value proposition, go-to-market, market/competitive pulse (analyst/media engagement), sales enablement with use cases and customer success stories.

Core responsibilities: define customer needs, translate customer requirements into products/offerings or features, prioritize requests for the portfolio roadmap, and conduct research on the competition and market landscape.

Depending on the company/size, the career bands could look like this:

Associate Portfolio Marketing / Management (band 7) | 3-5 years

Portfolio Marketing / Management (band 8) | 6-8 years

Senior Portfolio Marketing / Management (band 9) | 8-10 years

Director of Portfolio Marketing / Management (band 10) | 10-15 years

Sr. Director of Portfolio Marketing / Management | 15+ years

Portfolio/Product Marketing and Management Career Journey from Div Manickam

Portfolio Marketing and Management Career Journey

Portfolio Marketing

Portfolio Management

Sign up to see more