Product Owner
The role of a product owner is to ensure that development teams deliver maximum value. Learn more about the skills and training required to excel in this important role.
Role profile
What does a product owner do?
The Product Owner is a critical role in Agile frameworks, particularly Scrum. They act as the voice of the customer, ensuring that the development team delivers maximum value. Their key responsibilities include defining and prioritising the product backlog, collaborating with stakeholders, and maintaining a clear product vision.
While they work closely with Product Managers, Product Owners focus on the tactical execution of the product strategy.
Why do businesses need product owners?
Businesses need Product Owners to ensure that Agile teams remain focused on delivering customer value efficiently. They bridge the gap between business needs and development teams, ensuring that every iteration aligns with the product vision.
By refining priorities, maximising ROI, and adapting to change, Product Owners help organisations remain competitive in fast-moving markets. Without them, teams risk misalignment, scope creep, and inefficient delivery.
What are the key skills required to be a product owner?
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Deep understanding of customer needs and business objectives.Strong communication and negotiation skills.
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Ability to refine and prioritise product backlogs effectively.
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Ability to make strategic trade-offs between business impact, technical feasibility, and customer needs.Knowledge of Agile frameworks, particularly Scrum and SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework).
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Collaboration skills to work closely with development teams, stakeholders, and Product Managers.
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Understanding of metrics and data-driven decision-making to validate product direction.
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Problem-Solving & Critical Thinking
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Breaking down complex challenges into manageable solutionsidentifying roadblocks, and ensuring development teams can work effectively.
How does a product owner differ from a product manager?
While both roles focus on delivering value, a Product Owner typically operates at a tactical level, managing the day-to-day development tasks and priorities.
In contrast, a Product Manager has a broader, strategic focus on market research, long-term vision, and business outcomes. Both roles are complementary and essential for successful product delivery.
What are the key responsibilities of a product owner?
- Defining and prioritising the product backlog.
- Communicating product goals and vision to development teams.
- Collaborating with stakeholders to refine requirements.
- Ensuring backlog items are well-defined and ready for development.
- Accepting completed work and ensuring it meets quality standards.
- Monitoring key performance metrics to measure product success.
Product owner insights
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Product owner training
Looking to become a product owner? The best way to get started is to expand your understanding of agile principles or explore relevant training and certifications.
Product owner courses for all experience levels
Fundamentals - Product Owner Online Course
The aim of the course is to enable the learner to be able to be able to pass a Level 1 Product Owner certification. The learning path starts with an introduction to Scrum and Agile, and aims to get the learner to understand the principles and values of the methodology.
Intermediate - ICAgile Agile Product Ownership
During this three-day course, you will explore the ICAgile Product Owner theory and concepts while putting tools and techniques into action.
Intermediate - Professional Scrum Product Owner
Professional Scrum Product OwnerTM (PSPO) is a 2-day course that focuses on all of these areas to teach students how to maximize the value of software products and systems.
Intermediate - Scrum Alliance Certified Product Owner
This course is for beginners as well as for experienced practitioners. Both will benefit from the simulations and first-hand experience with product development.
Expert - SAFe® Product Owner and Product Manager
This course is designed for Product Owners and Product Managers that will be working inside of SAFe.
Product owner skills training
Insights from the experts
"As organisations embrace Agile ways of working, Product Owners play a vital role in ensuring customer needs are met efficiently. Their ability to prioritise, collaborate, and adapt determines the success of Agile teams and, ultimately, the organisation's ability to compete in a fast-changing market."
Paddy Dhanda, Portfolio Director - Product Discovery, Design & Agile
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