Getting promoted to Director of Product Management is one of the most common questions I get. It’s also one of the hardest leaps to make.

It sounds glamorous, right? Bigger scope. Bigger paycheck. A seat at the leadership table.

You influence strategy, process, and people. You have a voice in how the company operates.

And it’s a stepping stone to an executive role.

Title. Prestige. Money. Respect.

Nice.

So why is it so hard to get?

Many Senior Product Managers spend years in the same role. They’re experts. They’ve launched successful products, earned glowing reviews, mentored others, and gained the respect of peers and customers alike.

And yet, they hit a wall. The Director role remains out of reach.

At first, it seems unfair. You’re experienced. You know your craft. You deliver. What’s missing?

The truth is, the Director job is not a “next-level” product management job. It’s a completely different job.

You’re moving from maker to manager.
From execution to enablement.
From owning a product to owning a system.

That shift changes everything.

Many strong PMs never make it because they don’t recognize this change. Or they underestimate how hard it is.

Some try to get around the problem by jumping to another company, hoping for a shortcut. But most companies won’t hire a Director who’s never been one. And even if they do, reality often hits fast and hard.

Let me share an example.

I once joined a company as Director of Product, replacing someone they had just let go. He’d been one of their best Senior PMs — smart, experienced, well-liked. When the company needed a Director, he seemed like the obvious choice.

But he struggled. He tried to lead the way he had managed products: diving into every detail, controlling every decision, second-guessing his PMs. He was acting like a “super PM,” not a Director.

The team grew frustrated. Morale dropped. Cross-functional partners lost trust.

The company eventually let him go.

It wasn’t entirely his fault. The organization had never defined what a Director of Product should actually do. They thought “the best PM” could simply step up.

He didn’t fail because he was bad at product management. He failed because he didn’t understand the job.

When a Director fails, it’s almost always for that reason.

If you’re a high-performing Senior PM, it’s easy to think the Director job means “more of the same, but bigger.”

That’s a trap.

A Director is not a super PM. The Director’s value doesn’t come from writing better PRDs, attending more meetings, or being in every decision.

Your value comes from building the system that allows your PMs to do those things well — without you.

You set direction. You create structure. You remove friction. You manage people and process, not products.

You move from doing the work to creating the environment where great work happens.

That’s the mindset shift that separates Senior PMs from Product Directors.

Let’s make it concrete.

The Director role is about process, people, and performance. It’s not about building features. It’s about building systems.

You’re the link between strategy (executives) and execution (PMs). You translate big goals into daily action and remove anything that gets in the way.

There are 5 major responsibilities:

Let’s discuss each.

You’re responsible for making sure the system of product management works.

That means:

In short: you’re responsible for making sure good ideas reach customers faster with less chaos.

You’re now a people leader. Your success is measured by how your team performs, not by your own output.

That means:

A great Director doesn’t micromanage. Your job is to build confidence, not dependence.

Said more plainly: be a good boss.

New Director are often surprised to find this is where they spend most of their time.

You become the chief obstacle remover. You deal with anything that slows the roadmap or frustrates your PMs:

Much of this work happens through influence, not authority. You negotiate. You align incentives. You resolve conflicts.

You also spend a surprising amount of time educating others about how product management works. The more clarity you bring, the smoother execution becomes. (So make sure you understand what product management actually is.)

The higher you go, the more your job becomes about people. Not just your own, but others too.

You manage relationships as much as you manage roadmaps. You’ll find yourself:

For example, a good Director may highlight the work of an individual in another department. (“My PMs love working with Angela. She’s always so collaborative and team-oriented.”)

This also gives them the credibility for unpleasant discussions. (“When Sameer shares a customer request, he is extremely demanding and heavily critical of the team if they don’t prioritize his request immediately. Frankly, my PMs don’t want to work with him anymore. How can we resolve this?”)

Strong Directors invest in relationships before they need them. They know that influence is earned long before a crisis hits.

As a Director role, you become the bridge between your team and senior leadership.

You’ll spend time:

It’s a highly visible role. How you communicate, how you frame issues, and how you show judgment all matter.

At the same time, do not become a bottleneck to your team for executive access. Rather, you need to be an enabler for it:

This requires judgment. Sometimes you will need to take the lead on an exec conversation.

But as much as possible, create space for your PMs to take the lead with you being the protective backup. They need to know you’ve got their backs.

Even if you’re ready for the next step, the opportunity itself must exist. Three things have to line up.

The company must have a reason to add a Director.

That could be growth — a bigger product portfolio, more PMs, or a new market.

Or it could be structure — the need for better process, coordination, or leadership.

If the organization isn’t big enough or complex enough to justify a Director, the role won’t exist.

Director roles are expensive. Salary, benefits, tools, stock options — it all adds up.

A Director role is an expensive FIXED COST. Fixed costs are ones the company has to pay it no matter what at the same rate every time.

And keep in mind that every other department is competing for these same dollars.

So, to justify the role, they expect measurable results:

If you can’t clearly connect your work to these outcomes, it’s hard for a company to make the investment.

Even when there’s a need and a clear outcome, the role must be budgeted. No budget, no job.

That’s why timing matters. A PM may be qualified for a Director role, but the organization simply isn’t ready to fund one.

Let’s talk about how to actually get there.

If you’re aiming for Director, the key is to start acting like one before you have the title.

You want to make it easy for leadership to look at you and say, “They’re already doing the job.”

Here’s how.

Tell your manager you aspire to a Director role. Do it respectfully and clearly. You want them as an ally, not a gatekeeper.

Every company defines the Director role a little differently. Understand what it means in your organization. What problems would this role be expected to solve? What outcomes would it drive?

Ask for mentorship. Ask for stretch assignments. Seek feedback even when it’s uncomfortable. Directors don’t grow by avoiding hard truths.

Look for ways to handle parts of their job safely and visibly. Examples:

Each of these shows you can manage beyond your lane.

The higher you go, the more decisions rely on trust. Build strong relationships with Directors in other functions. You want them to see you as a potential peer.

Your manager’s boss is often the one who approves promotions. Make sure they know who you are and what you’re capable of.

Do this in full view of your current boss. Do not circumvent your current boss.

Show that you can manage more without dropping the ball. Balance your current responsibilities while taking on higher-level work.

That’s how you demonstrate readiness.

When your boss gets promoted or moves on, the company faces three urgent tasks:

You want to be the obvious solution to all three.

If your manager recommends you as their replacement, and your skip-level already sees you as capable, your promotion becomes the easiest decision they’ll make that quarter.

That’s how most real promotions happen. Not by applying cold to a job posting, but by being ready when the moment arrives.

Getting to Director rarely happens fast. But it does happen for those who prepare deliberately.

Careers are long. You have time.

If you stay where you are, it might take a couple of years. First for your boss to move up, then for you. If you move companies, you’ll have to re-prove yourself, which also takes time.

Either way, every skill you build compounds. Each experience prepares you for when the opportunity finally opens up.

Don’t just perfect the job you have. Build the skills for the job you want.

The Director role isn’t about being the best PM in the room. The Director of PM role is about being the person who builds a room full of great PMs, and helps them do their best work.

That’s what leadership really looks like.

That’s it for today.

Have a joyful week, and, if you can, make it joyful for someone else too.

cheers,
shardul

Shardul Mehta
I ❤️ product managers.

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