Heads of product · the role
What does a head of product do?
The short answer · updated
A head of product leads a company’s product management. They set the product strategy and roadmap, decide what the teams build next and why, hire and lead the product managers, and make sure what ships meets users’ needs and the business’s goals. Most report to a chief product officer, the CTO or the chief executive.
What is a head of product?
A head of product is the senior leader responsible for a company’s products and for the people who manage them. In a start-up or a mid-sized software company the head of product is often the most senior product role; in a larger one it usually sits under a chief product officer and runs a product line or a group of teams.
The government’s Digital and Data Capability Framework sets out five product management levels, from associate product manager to head of product. At the top level, 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. They also line manage the senior and lead product managers and run recruitment for the product community.
What a head of product is responsible for
The mix changes with the company: a business selling software spends more of the role on the roadmap and pricing; one building internal platforms more on adoption and the cost of running them. The common core is below.
- Product strategy. Which problems the product solves, for which customers, and what it will not do.
- The roadmap. What gets built next and why, weighed by value against effort, and agreed with engineering, sales and marketing.
- User needs. Making sure research, data and customer feedback decide priorities, not the loudest voice in the room.
- Outcomes. Setting the measures that show whether a release worked, and acting on them.
- The product team. Hiring, coaching and line managing the product managers, and setting how product management is done.
- Launch and lifecycle. Taking products from discovery through delivery and improvement to retirement.
- Risk. Privacy, security and accessibility built in from the design stage, not added at the end.
Who a head of product reports to
Where the company has a chief product officer, the head of product reports to them. Where it does not, the head of product usually reports to the CTO or the chief executive, and may be the most senior product voice in the leadership team.
Product managers report in, and in some companies design and user research do too. The closest peers are the head of engineering, who builds what the roadmap sets, and the sales and marketing leads, who take it to market.
In government service teams the GOV.UK Service Manual describes the product manager’s job as making sure the service fits the organisation’s priorities, defining the product vision, meeting user needs and prioritising the work for each sprint. A head of product does that across several teams at once.
Head of product vs CPO vs product manager
A chief product officer sits on the executive team and answers to the chief executive for the whole product portfolio, often including design and research. See what does a CPO do for the role above.
A head of product leads product management for a product or a group of products, and turns the CPO’s strategy into a roadmap the teams can deliver. In a company without a CPO, the head of product does much of that work.
A product manager owns one product or one part of a product, day to day, with one team.
Titles vary, so compare what the role owns: the products, the people, the budget and the reporting line. If the brief is the whole portfolio at executive level, it is a chief product officer recruitment brief, not a head of product one.
Skills, qualifications and the rules they work within
No qualification is required by law. Employers look for a record of products shipped and improved, judgement on priorities, comfort with data and user research, and the ability to lead product managers and win over engineering and commercial peers.
Certificates are a signal, not a requirement. BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, runs a Practitioner Certificate in Digital Product Management covering stakeholder management, market analysis, the product delivery lifecycle and product marketing; it has no formal entry requirements. In the public sector, the Service Standard sets the bar every government service is assessed against, starting with understanding users and their needs.
Products that handle personal data carry legal duties. The UK GDPR requires data protection by design and by default: considering privacy at the design stage and throughout the product’s lifecycle, with extra care for online services likely to be used by children. For software products, the government’s voluntary Software Security Code of Practice, co-designed with the National Cyber Security Centre, sets out what customers can expect of a vendor’s security and resilience.
Fractional, interim and permanent heads of product
A permanent head of product suits a company whose product needs a senior owner every day.
An interim head of product works full-time for a fixed period: cover after a departure, a relaunch, or a product line that needs leading while the permanent search runs. At the level above, see interim CPO jobs.
A fractional head of product works a set number of days a week: setting the strategy and roadmap, putting a product process in place, hiring the first product managers, then keeping it on course. See fractional head of product jobs; for the executive version, see fractional CPO.
An interim or fractional head of product working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). 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 head of product earns
Pay depends on the size of the product portfolio and the team, the sector, the company’s stage and whether the role reports to the chief executive. Permanent heads of product are usually paid a salary, often with a bonus or equity in a growing company; interim and fractional ones a day rate.
For open roles, see head of product jobs.
How to hire a head of product
Write the brief around what the role will own: which products, how many product managers, which customers, and the result the business needs from the product next. If the gap is one product rather than a function, a fractional product manager may be enough.
Test the work, not the title. The CIPD’s guidance on selection methods favours clear, structured processes and skill-based assessment tasks. Ask candidates to prioritise a real roadmap from your business and explain what they would cut, and take references from engineers and product managers who worked with them.
We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. To hire a head of product, see fractional head of product jobs for the part-week route; every brief gets a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a head of product and a CPO?
Scope and seniority. A chief product officer sits on the executive team and answers for the whole product portfolio; a head of product leads product management for a product or a group of products and usually reports to the CPO. In a company without a CPO, the head of product often does that work. See what does a CPO do.
Is a head of product more senior than a product manager?
Yes. A product manager owns one product or part of one; a head of product leads the product managers and sets how product management is done. The government’s capability framework puts head of product at the top of its five product management levels.
Who does a head of product report to?
To the chief product officer where there is one; otherwise usually to the CTO or the chief executive.
What qualifications does a head of product need?
None is required by law. Employers weigh a record of products shipped and teams led above certificates. BCS’s Practitioner Certificate in Digital Product Management is one recognised option.
Can a head of product be fractional or interim?
Yes. A fractional head of product works part of the week; an interim one works full-time for a fixed period. See fractional head of product jobs.
How much does it cost to hire a head of product?
A permanent head of product is paid a salary, often with a bonus or equity; an interim or fractional one a day rate. On every shortlist we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate.
How do I hire a head of product?
Scope what the role will own, choose permanent, interim, part-time or fractional, and test every candidate on a real roadmap decision. See head of product jobs for open roles; we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
