What are the Career Prospects of a Scrum Product Owner?

A scrum product owner possesses both foresight and decision-making authority to ensure a project’s success. In addition, a Scrum Product Owner will work on a product over the whole of its life cycle, so they will know how things should be prioritized, managed, and executed. 

A PSPO certification programme may provide this decision-making and communication authority, and the experience will allow the individual to pursue a wide range of employment prospects.

Although numerous responsibilities contribute to the Team’s performance, the Product Owner (also known as PO) plays a critical role. A Product Owner serves as the Product’s “value maximiser,” ensuring that the Product’s features are well-defined for developers and beneficial to consumers.

The Product Owner’s responsibilities might include the following in general:

• Defining the Product’s goals and vision for the Team.
• Putting together a product plan.
• Keeping track of product backlogs.
• Providing a link between the Team and the stakeholders.
• Identifying places where you may improve.
• Supervising the Product’s various stages of development.
• Predicting the client’s requirements.

When it comes to building a successful software application (referred to as a Product in the Scrum Framework), the team makeup is crucial. Although developers and testers are important, the Product Owner, a business representative on an Agile project, is much more important.

With more firms embracing the Scrum Framework than ever before, becoming a Product Owner is a rewarding career path. Individuals will be able to handle business needs better and grasp the art of precise decision-making due to their exposure.

• Understanding Product Owner Role
• Product Owner Career Path
• Business Analyst
• Project Manager
• Product Manager
• Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
• Senior Product Owner
• Scrum Master
• Portfolio Owner
• Product Director
• Head of Product

Career Prospects of a Scrum Product Owner

a.) Understanding Product Owner Role

The function of the product owner (PO) might be ambiguous.

You’ll notice a lot of variances in criteria, experience, skills, credentials, and duties if you look at a few products’ owner open positions on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Indeed.

Joshua Partogi discusses in a video why a product owner is a function, not a job title. This means that the function can be allocated to anybody with the most product authority, such as the head of Product, product manager, project manager, vice president of Product, chief of Product, etc.

So, whoever owns the Product at the highest level (regardless of job title) is a product owner. As a result, PO is the company’s highest-level position and product management career path.

b.) Product Owner Career Path

You are in a decision-making position after you become a scrum product owner. Because you now have complete ownership of a product, your future career path will include greater obligations and accountability.

Some of the exciting job opportunities that a Scrum product owner might pursue are listed below.

c.) Business Analyst

Product Owners are well-suited to the role of business analyst since they have a sufficient understanding of how to manage business needs and augment them with analysis, allowing for improved decision-making.

 After becoming a product owner, this information may be used to develop the business. Therefore becoming a business analyst is an excellent professional route to pursue.

d.) Project Manager

Another excellent job path open to a product owner is that of a Project Manager. Project planning and management will be a part of the candidate’s responsibilities. 

This position is often accessible after working as a business analyst, and many firms are on the lookout for Scrum Certified Project Managers.

e.) Product Manager

On the other hand, the product management path allows you to focus on expounding needs for a product based on strategic objectives and product-market fit. Because you must first be a business analyst and then obtain a Master of Business Administration degree, the route to this career might be lengthy (MBA). However, if pursued, this will prove one of the most rewarding professional routes.

f.) Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Senior Product Owners have a high chance of becoming a company’s CEO. This, however, necessitates a great deal of experience, effort, and time. 

Being a product owner provides great experience in terms of learning how to make a product successful, energise the Team, be devoted, obtain a high return on investment, engage customers, and so on. 

All of these skills are sought in a CEO, who will oversee the whole firm and steer it toward tremendous success. As a result, product owners have a bright future ahead of them!

g.) Senior Product Owner

The most obvious career path after becoming a product owner is to become a senior product owner. Because a senior PO isn’t a Scrum job, you won’t find it in every company. This job is created by most major firms that work on huge goods and projects and separate a product into distinct components and features.

A major corporation working on a massive product, for example, may break it down into smaller, more manageable sections. Each component and feature of the Product has its scrum team and PO. Multiple scrum teams collaborate on a single major project in this manner.

A senior product owner will oversee all product owners working on a single product in this situation. The senior PO will be in charge of the entire Product and be accountable for it.

When a corporation is working on many products, a senior PO function is also required.

h.) Scrum Master

A PO can work as a scrum master, a more advanced job. Scrum master jobs are easy to come by because it is designated role in the Scrum methodology. A scrum master’s key tasks are as follows:

• Management of the Scrum team.
• Working as an advisor and coach to the PO.
• Taking care of organisational responsibilities, including stakeholder education and counselling.

i.) Portfolio Owner

Someone who owns and maintains a set of linked items is a portfolio owner or product portfolio manager. Large firms that work on several products, components, features, and platforms are common places to locate this position.

Microsoft Office, for example, is a product portfolio that includes Office programmes such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and others. Each Office product has its product owner, and then there’s the portfolio owner, who owns the entire Office and is in charge of increasing the portfolio’s worth.

It’s a logical progression from product owner to product manager. You’ll be able to manage a portfolio and several product owners after working as a product owner for multiple products in the same or separate firm.

A product portfolio manager’s usual responsibilities include:

• Taking care of the portfolio.
• Collaborating with the proprietors of the products.
• Increasing the portfolio’s worth.
• Managing product objectives and strategy.
• Working together with stakeholders.

j.) Product Director

A product director, often known as a director of product management, supervises and directs product managers in a corporation. You can become a product director after working as a product owner or senior product owner in a small company. 

k.) Head of Product

Head of Product, vice president of Product, or chief product officer is a corporate function responsible for all of the company’s products. Various titles, such as head of Product, VP product, chief product officer, or a similar position, might be used depending on the size of the business and the number of products it owns.

The professional path of a product owner is brimming with possibilities. There are several prospects for advancement. However, to become a great leader, you must give yours throughout your career.

When you’re a product owner or a young business analyst, it’s critical to decide on a career path right now. Then, decide what you want to be in 10 years and gain the necessary skills and experience.

For instance, suppose you want to create a software development firm in a few years. You must rapidly transfer roles. Try to obtain experience at all levels of the product management hierarchy, so you know what to expect when you start your own business. Work for small businesses to learn how to become a product manager, then a head of Product, and get the essential abilities.

A career as a product owner is a fantastic choice. However, it would help if you started planning for expansion as soon as possible.