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By Lenny Rachitsky · lennysnewsletter.com · @lennysan on X · YouTube · LinkedIn
Lenny Rachitsky shares high-level structures from 20+ large companies' product management career ladders, including titles by level, evaluated competencies, and where IC and manager tracks split. He argues career ladders should be more transparent, and summarizes common patterns such as which titles appear most often and which competencies are weighted most.
Subscriber post — summary only01Key takeaways
- About two-thirds of companies offer both an individual contributor track and a manager track, often switchable at the Senior PM level.
- Leadership, impact, scope, and execution are the most commonly evaluated competencies across company PM ladders.
- Several companies, including Stripe, deliberately keep the plain 'Product Manager' title across most IC levels to limit title inflation.
- Senior PM and Principal PM titles are very common, while Lead PM or Product Lead roles appear in only about a quarter of companies.
- Career ladders are often secretive, so publicly comparing structures can help PM leaders design clearer frameworks for their own teams.
“Career ladders (a.k.a. leveling frameworks, career tracks, competencies, etc.) have long been secretive and mysterious.”Lenny Rachitsky · Lenny’s Newsletter
“Two-thirds of companies have both an IC track and a manager track.”Lenny Rachitsky · Lenny’s Newsletter
02Frameworks mentioned
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.