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Employment Outlook

Product Development Assistant

Product Development Assistants work with senior developers in creating new products or improving existing products. They must ensure that designs meet the necessary specifications for practical use while still retaining the vision of the original design brief.

 

Average wage for

Employment Levels

Around 9,500 people are currently employed as Product Development Assistants in Australia. This is set to increase slightly to 10,600 people by 2019, according to the Department of Employment.

Employment by State

41.5% of all Product Development Assistants are employed in NSW. The area with the lowest number of Product Development Assistants is NT, with only 0%.

Gender Split

This is a very female dominated industry with 39.6% of Product Development Assistants being male and 60.4% female.

Age Brackets

The most popular age for people working as Product Development Assistants is 25-34 years old, with 28%. A small percentage (2.3%) of people get into this career path older, aged 65 and over. There is also a number of people who enjoy a career as Product Development Assistants, with 12.8% aged 45-54.

Hours Worked

Product Development Assistants work an average of 42.5 hours a week which is 1.6 hours higher than the average for all occupations.

Education Level

The majority of Product Development Assistants have a Bachelor Degree qualification (35.8%) or are at a Advanced Diploma/Diploma level (31.6%). 79% of people have a Cert III or higher, whilst 21% have a qualification which is Year 12 or lower.

Product Development Assistant Duties & Tasks

  • Conduct background research to determine a niche market for a product.
  • Investigate options for manufacturing.
  • Price materials for construction.
  • Liaise between developers and other stake-holders.
  • Consider safety, marketing and other related concerns.
  • Estimate costs to make sure that the product can be profitable.
  • Give presentations to other staff and customers on product possibilities.
  • Modify design or manufacturing plans as needed.

 

 

*The information provided on this page is from the Department of Employment’s Job Outlook website. All salary ranges are from Payscale. Where jobs are not exact matches, job areas have been used. This information is to be used as a guide only.