How do technical product managers work at Amazon? What's the difference between a PMT and a TPM?
First of all, we need to address Amazon's terminology for these roles. A technical product manager at Amazon is generally referred to as a Product-Manager-Technical (PM-T). Whereas a Technical Program Manager (TPM) is a distinct role that sits at the intersection of product, engineering and program management. An Amazon TPM is a unique role that combines business ownership over delivery with high-level technical architecture. They are usually the program glue - that brings together PMTs, engineering teams and business stakeholders on all aspects of an initiative.
However, note that this AMA is focused on the technical product-manager role or PM-T. So please make that translation whenever you see "TPM" in these questions.
1 Answer
Amazon Head of Driver Products, Amazon Relay • May 31
First of all, we need to address Amazon's terminology for these roles. A technical product manager at Amazon is generally referred to as a Product-Manager-Technical (PM-T). Whereas a Technical Program Manager (TPM) is a distinct role that sits at the intersection of product, engineering and program management. An Amazon TPM is a unique role that combines business ownership over delivery with high-level technical architecture. They are usually the program glue - that brings together PMTs, engineering teams and business stakeholders on all aspects of an initiative.
However, note that this AMA is focused on the technical product-manager role or PM-T. So please make that translation whenever you see "TPM" in these questions.
5657 Views
Related Ask Me Anything Sessions
Workiva Vice President Of Product Management, Chris Omland on Technical Product Management
Salesforce Senior Director of Product, Einstein AI, Deepak Mukunthu on Technical Product Management
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Director of Product Management, Devika Nairon Technical Product Management
Related Questions
What does a Technical Product Manager role mean at Amazon? What is a good product manager to engineer ratio to maintain as you scale?There are lot of Software Engineers/SREs trending towards TPM discipline and want to transition into this career. Where do you see TPM as a discipline or career path going forward? Is it an industry standard now?Hard to notice that Product Management interviews require a ton of practice! Any resources for budding/ aspiring Product Managers ? Alternatively, any platforms that you are aware of, where folks can get Prod Mgmt experience by enrolling in projects?What technique/process do you follow to build the vision for a program?How do you go about prioritizing projects for roadmapping?