Chief product officers · the role
What does a CPO do?
The short answer · updated
A chief product officer (CPO) decides what a company builds and why. The CPO sets the product strategy and roadmap, leads product management, design and user research, and answers to the chief executive for whether the product meets customers’ needs and the company’s goals. CPO can also mean chief people officer or chief procurement officer; here, it means product.
What a chief product officer does
The CPO owns the product: what it is for, who it serves, and what gets built next. The government’s Digital and Data Capability Framework describes the most senior product level in similar terms. A head of product leads on product strategy, works closely with the business units, and is responsible for setting and raising the standard of product management across the organisation.
Under the CPO, product managers do the day-to-day work. The GOV.UK Service Manual says a product manager makes sure the service fits the organisation’s priorities, defines the product vision, makes sure it meets user needs and is accessible to everyone, and prioritises the work for each sprint. The CPO sets the direction those decisions follow and builds the team that makes them.
The job usually includes:
- setting the product strategy and vision, in line with the company’s strategy;
- owning the roadmap and deciding what to build, what to stop and what to buy;
- leading product management, and often design and user research;
- agreeing how product success is measured, and reporting on it to the chief executive and the board;
- working with engineering on how and when things ship, and with sales and marketing on how they are sold;
- hiring, coaching and organising the product team.
CPO: chief product, people or procurement officer?
The initials cover three different jobs. Read the job description, or the company’s own organisation chart, before anything else.
Chief product officer is the most common meaning in technology and consumer businesses, and the subject of this page. Chief people officer is the most senior HR role; the CIPD is the professional body for HR and people development. For that role, see our CHRO headhunter page. Chief procurement officer leads buying and the supply chain; the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply is its professional body. For that role, see interim procurement director roles.
Product decisions and the rules around them
Product choices carry legal duties. The ICO’s guidance on data protection by design and by default says an organisation must consider privacy at the design stage of any system, service, product or process, and throughout its lifecycle. A product that collects personal data meets that duty, or fails it, in the product team’s decisions.
If children are likely to use the product, the bar rises. The ICO’s Children’s code sets standards that online services likely to be accessed by children, such as apps, games and social media, must conform with, even where the service is not aimed at children.
In financial services, the FCA’s Consumer Duty requires firms to put their customers’ needs first, which reaches into how products are designed, priced and sold. For software, the government’s voluntary Software Security Code of Practice, written with the NCSC, sets out what vendors should do to reduce the risk of supply-chain attacks and other resilience incidents. The CPO and CTO usually share that work.
Who a CPO reports to, and CPO vs CTO
A CPO usually reports to the chief executive. In a company where the product is the business, the CPO is one of the most senior executives and often presents the product plan to the board and investors.
The CPO decides what to build and why. The CTO decides how, and runs the team that builds it. The two work as a pair, and the split works when both sides respect it. In a smaller company one person may hold both jobs, or the product role may sit under the chief executive until the company is big enough to need a CPO. See what does a CTO do? for the other half.
A CPO who is appointed to the board is a company director, with the general duties that come with it. Companies House guidance sets out a director’s responsibilities for the company’s records, accounts and performance.
Fractional, interim and permanent CPOs
A permanent CPO is an employee who owns the product for the long run, often with equity. That suits a company whose product needs full-time senior leadership.
A fractional CPO works a set number of days a week or month. That suits a start-up that has found early customers and needs a product strategy, a roadmap and a first product hire, or a founder who has run product until now and needs to hand it on. You can hire a fractional CPO for that. An interim CPO works full-time for a fixed period, to cover a gap or lead a change of direction; you can hire an interim CPO.
A fractional or interim CPO often works through their own company, so the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply. Status turns on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
What a CPO earns
Pay moves with the company’s size, stage and funding, the size of the product team, and how much equity is on offer. A permanent CPO is paid a salary, often with equity or a bonus; a fractional or interim CPO a day rate.
We do not publish a figure on this page. Our CPO salary page sets out permanent and fractional pay, and our fractional CPO hourly rate page sets out rates. Each figure there carries its source.
How to hire a CPO
Start with what the product has to achieve in the next two years: find product-market fit, scale a working product, bring several products together, or fix one that has stalled. Each calls for a different CPO, and the answer also tells you whether you need a permanent, fractional or interim hire.
Test the work, not the vocabulary. Ask candidates to walk through a product decision they made and the evidence behind it, a roadmap they cut, a team they built, and a launch that went wrong. Ask how they measured success and what they would look at first in your product.
Our chief product officer recruitment page sets out how we hire a CPO. We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives. Every brief gets a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after the five-stage vetting we describe.
Questions people ask
What does CPO stand for?
Usually chief product officer, the executive who owns what a company builds. It can also mean chief people officer, the most senior HR role, or chief procurement officer, who leads buying and the supply chain. The job description will say which.
What is the difference between a CPO and a CTO?
The CPO decides what to build and why, based on customers and the business strategy. The CTO decides how to build it and runs engineering. In a small company one person may do both; as the company grows, the jobs usually split.
What is the difference between a CPO and a head of product?
A head of product leads the product managers and sets standards for product work. A CPO does that and also sits on the executive team, owns the product strategy across the company, and answers to the chief executive and the board for it. In smaller companies the head of product is the most senior product role.
Does a start-up need a CPO?
Not full-time at first. Founders often run product themselves until the company has customers and a team to lead. A fractional CPO for a few days a month can set the strategy and roadmap and make the first product hires before a permanent CPO is needed.
How much does it cost to hire a CPO?
It depends on the engagement. A permanent CPO is paid a salary, often with equity; a fractional or interim CPO a day rate. Our CPO salary page sets out sourced figures. We set out pay or day rate for every candidate on a shortlist.
How do I hire a CPO?
Define what the product must achieve, choose between permanent, fractional and interim, and test candidates on product decisions, roadmaps and teams they have owned. Our chief product officer recruitment page sets out the process; we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
