Development Manager
Career information and advice on being a Development Manager

Development Managers are found in both the Public and Private sectors. 

The title Development Manager covers a very wide range of skills and expertise.  A further description is usually added to make the role more specific.

For example, a Business Development Manager’s role is primarily that of managing a sales or marketing team, a Product Development Manager may be leading a team of researchers designing new products or improving existing ones, and an Employee Development Manager will be working with an organisation’s staff, preparing and carrying out skills development programmes.

Having said that there are common skills that apply to all Development Managers, the most usual those of team and staff management and of project or programme management. 

Development Manager Functions include

If you classify Development Management roles as those that are primarily sales and marketing based, those that are primarily product based, and those that are primarily people based, it becomes easier to see the skill sets required and the type of work undertaken by each.

In a sales and marketing environment a Development Manager continually looks for new ideas and new ways of attracting and developing business in new and existing customers.  In this case, a Development Manager has a primary focus on the market that they serve to assess the need for improvements to existing services, creation of new services, and how to find and develop new clients. 

In a product development environment, a Development Manager again needs to know the market he is serving, but with a focus more on developing new products and improving existing products.  A knowledge of manufacturing processes is required in order that the products his team designs are manufactured at an economic cost.

Finally, the person based Development Manager will work with an organisation to improve work related and personal skills in employees.