What does the Product Owner (PO) do?
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 8:17 am
In the context of companies increasingly focused on digital products, several roles end up emerging as fundamental to the execution of an efficient product strategy. One of them is that of Product Owner (PO) , responsible for aligning stakeholders and increasing the value of solutions through agile methodologies.
Since the role of Product Owner still generates a lot of doubt and many professionals end up taking on this responsibility without even understanding its real importance, we have gathered everything you need to know about the subject in this article. Throughout the article, you will go through the following topics:
What does the Product Owner do?
What are the responsibilities of a Product Owner?
What is the salary of a Product Owner?
Product Owner vs Product Manager
What are the skills of a good PO?
How to get certified as a Product Owner
Do you want to understand once and for all what a Product Owner is? Then follow along until the end!
The meaning of Product Owner is, literally, “owner of the why do vietnamese people use zalo product” . The PO, in general terms, represents the interests of stakeholders (in the sense of adding value to the business), defines product functionalities and manages the backlog , prioritizing tasks according to agile methods, such as Scrum .
In short, the Scrum Methodology is a management tool that seeks to increase the efficiency of processes and results. To achieve this, the proposal is to establish a cycle of activities guided by short alignment meetings ( sprints ). This way, everyone on the team is aligned, obstacles are eliminated and priorities are defined.
In this context, the Scrum Product Owner is responsible for acting as the guardian of the process . He coordinates the needs of the customer with the stakeholders, making decisions in order to ensure maximum value at a low cost.
Therefore, Product Owner is more of a role than a position, being similar to a Project Manager more focused on technology. This is because several companies can adopt Scrum as a strategy, electing a professional to be the guardian of the execution of a project.
With the evolution of the Product market, it is very common for a Product Owner to become a Product Manager in the future . Learn more about what a Product Owner does in practice in this live session with Daiany Corrêa and Rafael Targino:
What are the responsibilities of a Product Owner?
The main responsibilities for the Product Owner role are:
Define and refine the product backlog ;
Perform sprint planning ;
Apply prioritization strategies to work on each functionality according to business value;
Seek and secure the financial resources necessary to carry out tasks;
Monitor and adjust features in each sprint (short daily meeting);
Ensure transparency of the product backlog for everyone involved;
Guide the development team on backlog priorities ;
Hammer out release dates;
Approve or reject the results presented;
Develop User Stories based on the epic demands of the product backlog .
That is, through the responsibilities listed, we can see that the Product Owner's role revolves around planning and conducting sprint meetings .
In the planning stage, the tasks that each team member will need to develop in the short term are defined, aiming to achieve the sprint goal . At the end of each cycle, the PO and the development team come together for the sprint review , a meeting in which the results are actually presented to the client.
In other words, we can see that the Product Owner is a facilitator who acts as the “ voice of the customer ”. This can be a temporary role, focused on a specific project/delivery, or, if there is demand, a permanent position in the company.
How much does a Product Owner earn?
According to the website Glassdoor , the average salary of a Product Owner in Brazil is R$22,000 . This value reflects the degree of trust in the role, which has great responsibility within companies.
At the same time, the demand for professionals who have the necessary skills to take on the responsibilities of the role is growing. We will see what these are later.
product owner salary
Product Owner vs Product Manager
One thing that POs and PMs have in common is the need to deeply understand product and technology strategies . However, there are differences in the scope of both, which need to be very clear to anyone who decides to pursue a career in Product.
Simply put, we can point out that the Product Owner is closer to the IT team , coordinating deadlines and deliveries and ensuring that they generate value for their target audience . In other words, this is a person who is dedicated to translating the customer's needs to the development team.
The Product Manager, on the other hand, focuses more on aligning IT, UX and Business . Therefore, he/she is a professional with a broader vision of strategy, looking at the product and the evolution of the business within the market in which it operates. For this reason, the Product Manager role is considered an evolution of the Product Owner role . The PM usually has much more experience in Product, as he/she is responsible for defining the roadmap and analyzing product metrics , for example.
Since the role of Product Owner still generates a lot of doubt and many professionals end up taking on this responsibility without even understanding its real importance, we have gathered everything you need to know about the subject in this article. Throughout the article, you will go through the following topics:
What does the Product Owner do?
What are the responsibilities of a Product Owner?
What is the salary of a Product Owner?
Product Owner vs Product Manager
What are the skills of a good PO?
How to get certified as a Product Owner
Do you want to understand once and for all what a Product Owner is? Then follow along until the end!
The meaning of Product Owner is, literally, “owner of the why do vietnamese people use zalo product” . The PO, in general terms, represents the interests of stakeholders (in the sense of adding value to the business), defines product functionalities and manages the backlog , prioritizing tasks according to agile methods, such as Scrum .
In short, the Scrum Methodology is a management tool that seeks to increase the efficiency of processes and results. To achieve this, the proposal is to establish a cycle of activities guided by short alignment meetings ( sprints ). This way, everyone on the team is aligned, obstacles are eliminated and priorities are defined.
In this context, the Scrum Product Owner is responsible for acting as the guardian of the process . He coordinates the needs of the customer with the stakeholders, making decisions in order to ensure maximum value at a low cost.
Therefore, Product Owner is more of a role than a position, being similar to a Project Manager more focused on technology. This is because several companies can adopt Scrum as a strategy, electing a professional to be the guardian of the execution of a project.
With the evolution of the Product market, it is very common for a Product Owner to become a Product Manager in the future . Learn more about what a Product Owner does in practice in this live session with Daiany Corrêa and Rafael Targino:
What are the responsibilities of a Product Owner?
The main responsibilities for the Product Owner role are:
Define and refine the product backlog ;
Perform sprint planning ;
Apply prioritization strategies to work on each functionality according to business value;
Seek and secure the financial resources necessary to carry out tasks;
Monitor and adjust features in each sprint (short daily meeting);
Ensure transparency of the product backlog for everyone involved;
Guide the development team on backlog priorities ;
Hammer out release dates;
Approve or reject the results presented;
Develop User Stories based on the epic demands of the product backlog .
That is, through the responsibilities listed, we can see that the Product Owner's role revolves around planning and conducting sprint meetings .
In the planning stage, the tasks that each team member will need to develop in the short term are defined, aiming to achieve the sprint goal . At the end of each cycle, the PO and the development team come together for the sprint review , a meeting in which the results are actually presented to the client.
In other words, we can see that the Product Owner is a facilitator who acts as the “ voice of the customer ”. This can be a temporary role, focused on a specific project/delivery, or, if there is demand, a permanent position in the company.
How much does a Product Owner earn?
According to the website Glassdoor , the average salary of a Product Owner in Brazil is R$22,000 . This value reflects the degree of trust in the role, which has great responsibility within companies.
At the same time, the demand for professionals who have the necessary skills to take on the responsibilities of the role is growing. We will see what these are later.
product owner salary
Product Owner vs Product Manager
One thing that POs and PMs have in common is the need to deeply understand product and technology strategies . However, there are differences in the scope of both, which need to be very clear to anyone who decides to pursue a career in Product.
Simply put, we can point out that the Product Owner is closer to the IT team , coordinating deadlines and deliveries and ensuring that they generate value for their target audience . In other words, this is a person who is dedicated to translating the customer's needs to the development team.
The Product Manager, on the other hand, focuses more on aligning IT, UX and Business . Therefore, he/she is a professional with a broader vision of strategy, looking at the product and the evolution of the business within the market in which it operates. For this reason, the Product Manager role is considered an evolution of the Product Owner role . The PM usually has much more experience in Product, as he/she is responsible for defining the roadmap and analyzing product metrics , for example.