What is a product owner and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted Expert
Sachin Tuli
introduction image

A product owner manages a product throughout its lifecycle, from ideation to launch and beyond. They work with cross-functional teams, including development, marketing, and design, to ensure that the product meets customer needs and business objectives. A product owner defines the product vision, creating and maintaining a product roadmap, prioritizing features and requirements, and validating product assumptions through user feedback.

What's a day at work look like for a Product Owner?

S

Sachin TuliSachin Tuli LinkedIn Profile

Director, International Business Major, Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The pandemic accelerated ongoing shifts with work-from-anywhere and use of remote meeting technologies. With mass adoption at all levels, these trends are likely to persist to some degree across fields and industries. There will likely be less travel for a number of years, but concurrently we may see more cross-team and cross-national collaboration and coordination. From an international business perspective, firms do plan to continue their globalization efforts and we know that graduates themselves increasingly seek potential global opportunities and mobility when choosing which organizations to work for.
ScoreProduct OwnerUS Average
Salary
7.5

Avg. Salary $97,070

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level
7.5

Growth Rate 10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity
3.1
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 8.15%

Black or African American 3.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.67%

Unknown 5.32%

White 74.58%

Gender

female 35.69%

male 64.31%

Age - 38
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38
Stress Level
7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level
9.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance
3.5

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a Product Owner?

Pros

  • Opportunity to lead and mentor a team

  • Can have a direct impact on customer satisfaction

  • Possibility of high salary and job growth

  • Constant learning and development

  • Provides a sense of accomplishment when goals are met

Cons

  • Decision making can be difficult due to limited information

  • Occasionally faces resistance from team members or stakeholders

  • Must keep up with changing market trends and technologies

  • May face criticism if product does not meet expectations

  • Can face challenges communicating technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Product Owner career paths

Key steps to become a product owner

  1. Explore product owner education requirements

    Most common product owner degrees

    Bachelor's

    67.2 %

    Master's

    22.7 %

    Associate

    5.0 %
  2. Start to develop specific product owner skills

    Skills
    ascdesc
    Percentages
    ascdesc
    User Stories9.97%
    Acceptance Criteria6.82%
    Product Backlog5.41%
    Analytics4.70%
    Product Management4.06%
  3. Complete relevant product owner training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New product owners learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a product owner based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real product owner resumes.
  4. Research product owner duties and responsibilities

    • Manage remote teams to port core and legacy components into AWS.
    • Manage a global team to create Java base EDI / XML / XSL mapping suite.
    • Gather and define requirements for the BSS require to operate and manage the SaaS offerings.
    • Serve as technical contact for affiliate partners during API integration and create and manage API documentation.
  5. Prepare your product owner resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your product owner resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a product owner resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose From 10+ Customizable Product Owner Resume templates

    Build a professional Product Owner resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Product Owner resume.
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    Product Owner Resume
  6. Apply for product owner jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a product owner job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How Did You Land Your First Product Owner Job

Zippi

Are you a Product Owner?

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Average product owner salary

The average Product Owner salary in the United States is $97,070 per year or $47 per hour. Product owner salaries range between $71,000 and $130,000 per year.

Average Product Owner Salary
$97,070 Yearly
$46.67 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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How do product owners rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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1 Star

Product Owner reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2023
Pros

Solve tough problems, work on agile teams, outlet for creativity,

Cons

high expectations, constantly evolving technology, broad range of topics to learn (product management specifics, industry, technology, software development methods


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020
Pros

Its not a specific job, As a product manager your job responsibilities cover many different areas and that's what i love about it.

Cons

all other teams think that they are doing a task for you instead of thinking that they are part of a team on a project


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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