Topic:
Accelerate your Product Management career. Master communication, people management, & leadership
What you'll learn:
How to Become a Leader
How to…
Chief product officers (CPOs) are the highest position of product teams and drive defining product initiatives and expectations. Here’s what to know about a chief product officer’s needed skills, salary and how to become one.
Chief product officers are the head of product departments and conduct all high-level product development roadmapping, strategies and operations. They may collaborate directly with a company’s chief executive officer (CEO) and other department officers to meet key business objectives.
Chief product officers create and implement overarching product strategies, track decisive product and market analytics as well as align the goals of product, engineering, marketing and related development teams.
Chief product officers are the primary leader of product teams, overseeing the work of vice presidents and directors of product within a company. They tend to report directly to a company’s CEO or similar C-suite executive role.
Chief product officers hold the highest responsibility over a company’s product department and related product development. They relay business-critical information and shape goals between product teams, other department officers and C-suite roles.
Chief product officers often hold a bachelor’s degree in business, economics, marketing or a related field. Some also earn a master’s or doctoral degree in business administration (MBA), product management or a related field.
Chief product officers usually hold ten or more years of experience in product management or product development and leadership. Knowledge of product strategy development, product initiative development, high-level product roadmapping, product analysis, product marketing, project management and cross-team collaboration are recommended.
Chief product officers will likely have several years of experience in roles like product manager, director of product management and vice president of product before stepping into the CPO role.
Marketing management roles, including officer and management roles for products, are expected to grow 10 percent by 2031.
The full compensation package for a chief product officer depends on a variety of factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s experience and geographic location. See below for detailed information on the average chief product officer salary.
Level up your daily performance by taking Udemy’s online product management courses.