Head of product · job description template
Head of product job description
The short answer · updated
A head of product job description sets out the senior role that leads the product managers and owns a product area. The core responsibilities are the product strategy and roadmap, prioritisation backed by user evidence, leading and hiring product managers, working with engineering and design on delivery, and reporting product outcomes to the CPO, CTO or chief executive.
Job purpose
The government’s product management capability framework puts head of product at the top of five levels: the person who leads on product strategy, sets and raises the standard of product management, and line manages the senior and lead product managers. The purpose line should say that, then name the product problem the next head of product has to solve: a roadmap nobody trusts, a product that has stalled, product managers without a leader, or a founder who can no longer make every product call.
Decide where the seat sits. In a company with a CPO, the head of product runs one product area or the product managers beneath the executive. In a smaller company with no CPO, the head of product is the most senior product person and often reports to the chief executive. Acas publishes an outline job description template whose headings (the main duties and who the post reports to) suit either.
Key responsibilities
Order the duties by importance and start each with a verb. A typical head of product job description covers:
- setting the product strategy for the area and turning it into a roadmap the teams and the business agree;
- prioritising the work on evidence: user research, product data and the commercial case;
- leading, hiring and coaching the product managers, and setting the standard of product practice; the GOV.UK Service Manual lists what a product manager does and links its own product manager job description;
- working with engineering and design leads on what is built, in what order and to what quality;
- making sure the product meets user needs and is accessible to everyone, including disabled people;
- building data protection in from the design stage, which the ICO calls data protection by design and by default;
- working with sales, marketing and customer success on launches, pricing inputs and customer feedback;
- defining and tracking product outcomes, and reporting them to the leadership team;
- managing the product budget, tools and any agencies or contractors.
Reporting line and scope
The head of product reports to the CPO where there is one, otherwise to the CTO or the chief executive. Product managers report in; some companies add product design, user research or product analytics. List what reports to the role and what stays with engineering or marketing.
Say how far the role reaches: one product, one customer segment, or the whole portfolio. A head of product who owns everything and reports to the chief executive is close to a CPO brief; write it as one if the company needs the executive seat.
Skills, experience and qualifications
No qualification is required by law to be a head of product. Ask for experience of the product problem the company has now and describe it specifically.
- leading product managers, with a record of hiring and developing them;
- product strategy and roadmaps delivered at a comparable scale and stage;
- user research, experimentation and product analytics used to decide, not just to report;
- working closely with engineering and design leads, and with commercial teams;
- a product the candidate took from a problem to a measurable result;
- a recognised certificate where it helps, such as the BCS Practitioner Certificate in Digital Product Management (no formal entry requirements; it covers stakeholder management, market analysis and the product delivery lifecycle);
- sector knowledge where the users, data or regulation are specialised.
Fractional head of product job description
A fractional head of product works a set number of days a week or month, so the job description narrows. Name the days, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months (a product strategy agreed, a roadmap the teams trust, product managers hired or coached, a launch delivered), what the role owns and who makes product calls in between.
A fractional head of product working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the wording of the job description, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
Interim and permanent versions
Interim. An interim head of product works full-time for a fixed period, so the job description leads with the situation (a leader who has left, a product reset, a platform migration, or cover while the permanent search runs) and the date or event that ends the assignment. Where the gap is the executive seat, see interim CPO.
Permanent. The permanent version looks further ahead: the product area, the team and the roadmap over several years. When the head of product is hired as an employee, the job title or a description of the work goes into the written statement of employment particulars they must have on the first day, so keep the two consistent. Open roles are on our head of product jobs page.
We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For a head of product brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.
A template you can copy
Copy these headings and write one short block under each. Keep pay out of the job description and state it in the offer.
- Job title: head of product, the product area it covers, and whether the role is fractional, interim, part-time or permanent.
- Reports to: the CPO, CTO or chief executive; list the product managers and any design, research or analytics staff who report to the role.
- Purpose: two or three sentences on why the role exists now and the product result it must deliver.
- Responsibilities: eight to twelve duties, each starting with a verb, in order of importance.
- Requirements: essential and desirable experience, described specifically, and a qualification only where the job needs one.
- Terms: full-time or days a week, location and travel, start date, fixed term or permanent, and the pay basis (salary or day rate).
Questions people ask
What should a head of product job description include?
The job title, the product area and the type of engagement, who the role reports to and who reports in, the purpose, the key responsibilities, the experience required and the terms. Put the product problem the role must solve at the top.
How long should a head of product job description be?
One to two pages: long enough to cover purpose, responsibilities, reporting line, requirements and terms, short enough to read in a few minutes. Roadmaps and metrics belong in the candidate pack and the interviews.
What is the difference between a head of product and a CPO job description?
A head of product job description usually covers one product area or the product managers, reporting to the CPO, CTO or chief executive. A CPO job description is executive: product strategy for the whole company and reporting to the board. See what a CPO does.
How is a fractional head of product job description different?
It names the days a week or month, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months and who makes product calls in between. See fractional head of product jobs.
What does a head of product earn?
It depends on the size and stage of the company, its sector, the scope of the role and whether it is permanent, interim or fractional. We set out pay or day rate for every candidate on a shortlist.
How do I hire a head of product?
Define the product problem, choose between permanent, interim, part-time and fractional, write the job description around that problem, and test every candidate against it, for example with a review of your own roadmap. We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
