Reference guide
Tech job titles decoded
PM vs PO vs TPM vs CPO — what do they all mean? Here is a plain-English breakdown of the most common titles and how they differ at different company sizes.
Product
Entry-level PM role, often structured program at large companies (Google, Meta, Uber).
Owns one product area or feature set. The most common PM title.
Larger scope, more autonomy, mentor junior PMs.
Scrum-specific term. Manages the product backlog. Sometimes the same as PM, sometimes more tactical.
Manages a team of PMs. Often a manager role.
Owns multiple product areas, sets product strategy for a domain.
Leads the entire product org at mid-size companies.
Responsible for the entire product strategy at an executive level.
Coordinates complex technical projects across teams. More technical than PM, requires engineering background.
Data
Analyzes data, creates reports and dashboards, answers business questions.
Builds predictive models, applies ML algorithms, more math-heavy.
Builds and maintains data pipelines and infrastructure. Closest to software engineering.
Focuses on business intelligence, dashboards, and reporting tools (Power BI, Tableau, Looker).
Deploys ML models into production. Intersection of data science and software engineering.
Design
Designs user experience through research, wireframes, and testing.
Focuses on visual design — colors, typography, layout.
Combined role common at startups — both research/experience and visual design.
End-to-end design ownership. Often same as UX/UI Designer but implies broader scope.