What Does a Head of Product Do? (vs. Product Manager)

The field of product management grew at such a rapid pace that it's hard to keep up with it. Product management (and having a product team) went from being a nice-to-have to a necessity in modern software companies. Once you have enough manpower, you may consider hiring a head of product for your company too.

But what does a head of product do? And how do their duties compare to those of product managers? And is it any different from a chief product officer? Let's find out.

What is a head of product and what do they do?

A head of product is the most senior position in the product team, and they oversee the development and management of the company's product portfolio.

They define the product vision, product strategy, and roadmap, making sure that the product aligns with the overarching company goals.

Key responsibilities:

• Developing the product strategy
• Managing and leading the product team
• Leading product delivery
• Heading market and customer research
• Managing the product lifecycle
• Spearheading collaboration between departments
• Communicating product management plans and strategy to relevant stakeholders
• Managing the product budget, including the development team costs, marketing and resource allocation
• Data-driven decision-making: guiding the product and development teams based on research

A head of product is a leadership position and the pinnacle of the product management career. Hire a head of product when you need to scale the complexity of your product, when you need a strategic vision for your product, and when you need leadership and coordination in your product team.

This person sits on the executive team and you should hire them once you've already built out a product team that they can manage.

The VP of product

It may seem like the same job as a head of product, but there are some distinct differences. Generally speaking, the VP of product is higher up in the hierarchy.

Key responsibilities (and differences between a head of product):

• Reports directly to the CEO
• Oversees the entire product organization, which can include multiple product lines
• Leads a team of product managers, which may include one or more heads of product
• Strategic focus on long-term planning
• Cross-functional influence on other C-level executives in the organization

In other words, you can have both a head of product and VP of product in your company, and the VP would be the senior position.

Senior product manager

A senior product manager sits below the head of product and reports to them. They manage one or more products or product lines in a company. They have more experience than junior product managers and typically manage at least one of them.

Senior product manager's responsibilities:

• Working on developing the product strategy
• Managing the product roadmap
• Customer and market research
• Feature prioritization
• Creating product requirements, user stories, and specifications that guide the development team

The senior product manager combines strategic thinking with hands-on execution and they're a pivotal part of the product team.

Junior product manager

Junior product managers are at the entry to the product management world and this is the lowest rank in the hierarchy. They work under senior product managers and typically, they don't need previous product management experience, but it is desirable.

Key responsibilities of a junior product manager:

• Support in product development (to the senior product managers)
• Market and customer research (usually a part of customer facing teams, talking directly to the customers)
• Product documentation (with product management tools)
• Assisting with feature prioritization
• User testing and feedback collection
• Monitoring product metrics
• Customer support collaboration
• Competitive analysis
• Learning and development (about the product and the customers)
• Project management support

While this may seem like an entry point to the product management team, this is one of the most responsible product management job titles because the workload is significant and they talk directly to the customers.

P.S. Check out the 5 Best Product Management Books →

Associate product manager

The associate product manager is on the same level in the product management hierarchy as the junior product manager. When they step into this job title, they may have no previous experience in the world of product. They typically work under the supervision of senior product managers or someone else in the product team.

Key responsibilities:

• Support in product development
• Market research and analysis
• Product documentation
• Help with feature prioritization
• User testing and feedback collection
• Tracking product metrics
• Interacting with customer support
• Competitive analysis

As you can see, it's the exact same job as the junior product manager, with a different title.

Product owner

A product owner plays a key role in the Agile framework, as a part of the scrum framework. Their main role is to maximize the product's value by managing the backlog and ensuring that the internal teams work on the most valuable features first.

Check out this blog to learn the differences between a product manager and a product owner.

The product owner sits between the stakeholders (such as managers, and executives) and the development team and makes sure that everything is communicated clearly.

Key responsibilities:

• Managing the product backlog
• Defining product requirements
• Prioritization of work (according to the team budget and customer needs)
• Stakeholder communication
• Sprint planning participation
• Refining user stories and use cases

They don't have a precise place in the product management hierarchy. However, in lean product management teams, they're the binding thread between internal teams and customers.

The key skills for hiring a head of product (and any other product role)

Whether you're hiring a group product manager, VP of product, product director or some other type of product role, the core skill set will be similar. Here is what your next hire in the product team should have, no matter where they are in the management layers.

• Strategic thinking: to accurately define the product vision, roadmap, and long-term product team goals, and align all of that with the broader company mission and vision
• Market research and analysis: to understand the market, learn and anticipate customer needs, define and maintain the product roadmap, and work on long-term business goals
• Communication skills: to liaise between customers and company stakeholders, but also between the development team and the company leadership
• Prioritization and decision-making: to be able to make decisions about the product that align with the company mission and vision, but also fit into the company budget and meet customers' needs
• Customer empathy: great product managers understand customers' pain points and the way they think, which helps them design their company's products in a better way
• Technical understanding: knowledge of the product, as well as some knowledge of development best practices
• Feature parity: ensuring that the product maintains consistency across platforms, meeting the expectations of different user bases while minimizing gaps in functionality
• Project management: to know how to allocate time, resources and talent to achieve business goals for their company
• Data-driven decision making: identifying trends, patterns and opportunities to improve the product and overall strategy
• Leadership and team collaboration: to successfully collaborate with all the departments in the company, including product teams, development teams, designers, and other teams in a large company. On the other end, they should just as easily communicate with customers.
• Adaptability and problem-solving: to navigate the unpredictable product development process, handle the constantly changing requirements, and shifting market conditions
• User experience and design knowledge: to know how to translate product feedback into feature requests and bug fixes that follow the best practices for design and UX
• Negotiation skills: being able to convince product directors, executives, and other stakeholders, to invest in certain initiatives
• Vision and creativity: have a clear vision for the future of the product architecture and the creativity to think outside the box
• Attention to detail: being able to spot minute details of user needs, investigate bugs, and tune into customer feedback to find adequate solutions to their needs and problems
• Time management: to navigate product launches, customer expectations, and tight deadlines

Conclusion

Product management is still fairly new and growing but it's becoming evident that it's a key department for improving a business strategy for the entire company and keeping the product team responsible and motivated.

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