Product Owner: What is the cost of hiring?

What is a product owner?

Commonly associated with the tech industry, product owners are responsible for managing a business’s product backlog and guides development teams to deliver features that align with its objectives. This job is often central to agile frameworks such as Scrum, where the product owner is a key decision maker who represents the customer’s voice.

Why recruit a product owner?

Product development can be complex and costly, but a product owner can help to streamline the process by aligning business objectives with customer needs. Their leadership can reduce wasted time, speed up time-to-market and improve overall product quality. Organisations often recruit a product owner when launching a new product, scaling or overhauling existing offerings or seeking to improve cross functional collaboration in the workplace.

Contributions of a great product owner:

• Defines the product vision and strategic roadmap, aligning with both business and customer needs
• Balances efficiency with product quality throughout the development process
• Gathers and analyses user feedback to continuously improve the product
• Facilitates collaboration between stakeholders, development teams and end-users to keep projects on track

Defining your recruitment needs for a product owner

Your recruitment needs for a product owner usually depend on the size of your business, the complexity of your products, your agile maturity and the budget you have available. Start-ups may require a product owner who can handle multiple responsibilities, while larger organisations often prefer a more specialised role, focusing on backlog prioritisation and stakeholder alignment.

You will need to consider whether the position will be full-time, part-time, freelance or contract-based and whether it will be office-based, remote or hybrid. Other common names for this role include agile product owner or product development lead, but it is often confused with product manager, which is a separate role that takes a broader view of the product strategy.

What are the types of product owners?

The duties and scope of product owner jobs vary depending on the industry and product type, but core responsibilities include managing the product backlog, setting priorities and monitoring the progress of the product development process. Common sub-types of product owner include:

• Tech product owner: found in software or app development, focusing on digital products, user experience and agile processes
• Business-focused product owner: this type works closely with stakeholders to align product delivery with strategic business goals
• Platform or API product owner: oversees technical products like platforms, integrations or APIs, often liaising between developers and external partners

Similar positions to product owner include:

• Product manager: a broader product role focused on strategy, market research and long-term vision
• Scrum master: facilitates agile ceremonies and team processes, but does not prioritise the product backlog
• Product director: a more senior role overseeing multiple product owners or managers, setting product strategy and ensuring alignment with business objectives

When writing your product owner job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on product owner jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Product owner
• Product manager
• Business analyst
• Scrum master
• Digital product owner

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Where to find a product owner?

To find the right product owner for your business, consider trying out a few different recruitment strategies:

• Tech forums and product-specific job boards: specialist platforms for digital and technology roles attract candidates with relevant experience who typically have a commitment to continuous learning
• Universities and training providers: for entry-level roles in product ownership, employers might consider graduates or candidates who have completed product management or agile courses
• Referrals from your network: professional connections or existing employees can recommend candidates with proven experience, and referral schemes can help encourage participation
• Post your job online: try posting your product owner job on Indeed to find and attract quality product owner candidates

Skills to look for in a product owner

A successful product owner candidate will typically have the following skills and competencies, which may be gained through a variety of experiences, training or education:

• Knowledge of agile frameworks such as Scrum or Kanban
• Experience in defining and prioritising product backlogs
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to inform product decisions and resolve development challenges
• Clear communication skills for liaising with stakeholders, developers and product users
• Ability to translate business requirements into actionable tasks for development teams
• Strong stakeholder management to balance priorities and align expectations across the organisation

Writing a product owner job description

Now that you know the key skills, salary expectations, popular jobseeker search terms and recruitment insights for a product owner, you’re ready to write a job description.

A product owner job description typically includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position. You may also want to include information about your company culture, benefits and perks to attract candidates to your open role.

Ready to get started? See our full guide for writing product owner job descriptions.

Interviewing product owner candidates

Strong candidates for product owner positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Their previous experience with prioritising backlogs and improving product quality
• How they balance stakeholder or user needs with technical or financial limitations
• Examples of successful product launches or improvements
• Their approach to gathering, analysing and implementing user feedback

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of product owner interview questions for examples (with sample answers).