{"id":23121,"date":"2023-02-21T09:19:34","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T08:19:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/?p=23121"},"modified":"2023-03-02T13:59:29","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T12:59:29","slug":"chief-product-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/chief-product-officer\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does a Chief Product Officer Do? A Beginner\u2019s Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The field of product management has been rapidly growing and with it the demand for qualified product personnel. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why many tech organizations are hiring chief product officers (commonly referred to as CPOs) to oversee all product-related activities and maximize value for the users of the product and the business itself.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So what specific tasks does a CPO take on? What experience is needed to get to that position? And why is there even a need for CPOs?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether you are <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/what-is-product-management\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new to product management<\/a> and just want to get an overview of one of the positions within the field or you actually aspire to become a CPO, this guide will help you gain clarity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019d like to skip ahead to a certain section, just use the clickable menu:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong><a href=\"#what-is-a-chief-product-officer\">What is a chief product officer?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong><a href=\"#what-does-a-chief-product-officer-do\">What does a chief product officer do?<\/a><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><a href=\"#cpo-tasks\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CPO tasks<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><a href=\"#cpo-skills\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CPO skills<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong><a href=\"#how-to-become-a-chief-product-officer\">How to become a chief product officer<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong><a href=\"#chief-product-officer-faqs\">Chief product officer FAQs<\/a><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><a href=\"#whats-the-average-chief-product-officer-salary\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s the average chief product officer salary?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><a href=\"#how-long-does-it-take-to-become-a-cpo\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How long does it take to become a CPO?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><a href=\"#whats-the-difference-between-a-cto-and-cpo\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s the difference between a CTO and CPO?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><a href=\"#whats-the-diference-between-a-cpo-and-a-head-of-product\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s the difference between a CPO and a head of product?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong><a href=\"#final-thoughts\">Final thoughts<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-a-chief-product-officer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. What is a chief product officer?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A chief product officer is a strategic product leader. They have a vision for the product, create a strategy to reach this vision, and oversee all activities to implement the strategy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that we know what their main role is, let\u2019s find out what it is a CPO does in their day-to-day.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-does-a-chief-product-officer-do\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. What does a chief product officer do?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a strategic leader, it\u2019s essential for a CPO to have a deep understanding of the market. To do that, they\u2019ll have to ask questions like: Who is the user of the product? What main pain points do these users have? How is the product performing within the market? And what are competitors doing?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s also important for the chief product officer to understand the business side of things. This involves tasks such as determining what the goal of the organization is with regards to the product, what the budget for the product development process is, and assessing what the expectations of clients or investors are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the CPO doesn\u2019t work on these things alone, but together with their product team, which usually consists of the Head of Product, Product Managers, Designers, Analysts and Marketing Managers. The CPO manages the product team and acts as a mentor for them.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"cpo-tasks\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chief product officer <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tasks\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Depending on the size and type of organization they work in, the tasks a CPO is expected to carry out can vary. However, more often that not they are responsible for the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Product vision<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Product strategy\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/product-roadmap-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Product roadmap<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/product-discovery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Product discovery<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-design\/what-is-product-design\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Product design<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/the-importance-of-user-research-and-how-to-do-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">User research<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/product-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Product analytics<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/stakeholder-management\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stakeholder management<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leading the product team<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hiring new product personnel<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"cpo-skills\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chief product officer <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">skills<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, what does it take to make a CPO? Again, each one can differ and bring different strengths to the table as needed. That said, a chief product officer should be competent in:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leadership<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Decision-making<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communication<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strategic thinking<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Critical thinking<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Analytical thinking<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Data-driven<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Problem solving\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Structured\/organized<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conflict management<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"how-to-become-a-chief-product-officer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. How to become a chief product officer<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most typical career path for a CPO starts as a junior product manager. They then pass through all higher product management positions, such as mid-level and senior product manager.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A product manager needs at least four to five years of experience to be promoted to a senior position and they need to have shown that they can add value to the product and the company through their work. <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/senior-product-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A senior product manager might also mentor<\/a> more junior members of the team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next step on the career ladder is to become a head of product, who takes up a more strategic leadership role, as they lead the product team. A head of product will need to collect a couple of years experience leading a product team before finally becoming a chief product officer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having said that, there is no one right path to becoming a CPO. They may well have a background in Business Analytics or Marketing, for example. They do need to show, though, that they have an in-depth knowledge of product management and that they have worked in a leading product position for an extended amount of time.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"chief-product-officer-faqs\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Chief product officer FAQs<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, now that you\u2019ve learned what a CPO does and how to get there, let\u2019s briefly answer some other popular questions about the position:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"whats-the-average-chief-product-officer-salary\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s the average chief product officer salary?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the job site <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indeed.com\/career\/chief-product-officer\/salaries?from=top_sb\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indeed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the average chief product officer salary in the U.S. is $209,000 yearly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having said that, the demand for the role of the CPO is continuously rising and looking at the trend of the last few years, the average salary for the position is expected to rise with it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"how-long-does-it-take-to-become-a-cpo\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How long does it take to become a CPO?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A chief product officer needs to have extensive experience within product management. Most current job ads are asking for 10 years of experience, of which at least three to five years should have been in a leading role, such as Head of Product.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"whats-the-difference-between-a-cto-and-cpo\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s the difference between a CTO and CPO?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The CTO and the CPO are responsible for different parts of the product. The chief product officer is responsible for the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">what<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> why<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the product\u2014what exactly is being built and why do we need it. The Chief Technology Officer, on the other hand, is responsible for the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the product development\u2014e.g. what technology is being used for the implementation.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"whats-the-diference-between-a-cpo-and-a-head-of-product\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s the difference between a CPO and a head of product?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Head of Product and the chief product officer are both leading product management positions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The CPO will take up a more strategic role, thinking about the vision of the product\u2014the big picture\u2014whereas the Head of Product is responsible for the operative part\u2014taking care of the rest of the product team, making sure they are implementing the right things and have the means to implement them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Head of Product typically reports to the chief product officer, and is thus a step below on the career ladder.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"final-thoughts\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Final thoughts<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By now you know that the chief product officer is an important role for any medium to large sized organization that puts a focus on building excellent products.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The way to becoming a CPO is long and takes dedication. However, each CPO has once started small. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, if you are interested in starting your own career in product management, check out <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/courses\/intro-to-product-management\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CareerFoundry\u2019s Intro to Product Management course<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. There you\u2019ll get more in-depth knowledge on product management.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And you might also be interested in the following articles:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/what-does-a-product-manager-do\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What does a Product Manager do?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/product-manager-career-path\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What Is the Typical Product Manager Career Path<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/product-management\/agile-product-management\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Agile Product Management: An Introductory Guide<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The chief product officer, or CPO is top of the product field. But what does this role entail? What do PMs need to become one? Find out in this guide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":23126,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-product-management"],"acf":{"homepage_category_featured":false,"cards_inner_programs_lists_right":"","cards_inner_programs_lists_left":"","related_plan_cards":""},"modified_by":"Matthew Deery","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/158"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23121"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39216,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23121\/revisions\/39216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}