How to hire a Product Owner

How to hire a product owner, step by step

Here's a step-by-step product owner hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a product owner job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new product owner
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a Product Owner do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a product owner, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine Employee vs Contractor Status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a product owner to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a product owner that fits the bill.

   The following list breaks down different types of product owners and their corresponding salaries.

   Type Of Product Owner	Description	Hourly Rate
   Product Owner	Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers plan programs to generate interest in products or services. They work with art directors, sales agents, and financial staff members.	$34-62
   Marketing Director	Marketing directors are responsible for the overall branding and marketing direction of the company. They are in charge of identifying goals and strategies related to marketing... Show More	$32-92
   Vice President Product Development	A vice president for product development is responsible for leading the product development team in the execution of development activities to enhance the product's brand image in the market and achieve the sales performance target. Vice presidents for product development monitor the product development techniques from the conceptualization to the final execution and market release... Show More	$52-124

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common Skills:

   • User Stories
   • Acceptance Criteria
   • Product Backlog
   • Analytics
   • Product Management
   • EPICS
   • Software Development
   • Product Vision
   • Project Management
   • Business Value
   • Agile Scrum
   • Jira
   • Sprint Planning
   • User Experience

   Check All Skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage remote teams to port core and legacy components into AWS.
   • Manage a global team to create Java base EDI / XML / XSL mapping suite.
   • Gather and define requirements for the BSS require to operate and manage the SaaS offerings.
   • Serve as technical contact for affiliate partners during API integration and create and manage API documentation.
   • Manage the team to redesign the Java base desktop trading community management product to a web base portal.
   • Used Microsoft TFS to manage project phases, sprints and burn down chart of various stages of SDLC.

   More Product Owner duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the product owner job description is a good way to get more applicants. A product owner salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a product owner in Utah may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level product owner. Additionally, a product owner with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average product owner salary

   $97,070yearly

   $46.67 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level product owner salary

   $71,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 13, 2025

   Average product owner salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
   1	California	$127,613	$61
   2	Washington	$108,196	$52
   3	New York	$101,561	$49
   4	Oregon	$101,160	$49
   5	Pennsylvania	$99,433	$48
   6	Massachusetts	$95,569	$46
   7	Connecticut	$94,879	$46
   8	Michigan	$94,399	$45
   9	Virginia	$94,258	$45
   10	Maryland	$93,824	$45
   11	North Carolina	$92,719	$45
   12	Arizona	$91,407	$44
   13	Texas	$91,152	$44
   14	Minnesota	$90,883	$44
   15	District of Columbia	$90,292	$43
   16	Illinois	$89,369	$43
   17	Ohio	$88,628	$43
   18	Georgia	$88,175	$42
   19	Indiana	$85,562	$41
   20	South Carolina	$84,992	$41

   Average product owner salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
   1	ORIX USA	$157,177	$75.57
   2	Dotdash	$149,722	$71.98	2
   3	Pacific Investment Management Company LLC	$149,095	$71.68
   4	Apple	$145,751	$70.07	100
   5	The Walt Disney Company	$143,536	$69.01	81
   6	SoFi	$142,775	$68.64	14
   7	Safeway	$142,727	$68.62	6
   8	Rivian	$141,909	$68.23
   9	eBay	$140,934	$67.76	18
   10	Asana	$139,252	$66.95	9
   11	PayPal	$139,042	$66.85	99
   12	Avid	$138,550	$66.61
   13	Intuitive Surgical	$138,116	$66.40	7
   14	Palo Alto Networks	$136,906	$65.82	60
   15	Citi	$135,843	$65.31	82
   16	SoCalGas	$135,635	$65.21
   17	Vista Equity Partners	$134,995	$64.90	5
   18	F5	$134,731	$64.77	9
   19	Blackstone Group	$134,456	$64.64
   20	DoorDash	$134,186	$64.51	42

4. Writing a Product Owner Job Description

   A job description for a product owner role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a product owner job description:

   Product Owner job description example

   You could be the one who changes everything for our 26 million members by using technology to improve health outcomes around the world. As a diversified, national organization, Centene's technology professionals have access to competitive benefits including a fresh perspective on workplace flexibility.
   
   Position Purpose: Analyze user requirements and issues, engaging closely with stakeholder to define requirements and ensure implementation of product vision. Own the end-to-end product strategy from concept to production.
   
   Gather feedback from operations teams and research industry trends to improve business systems processes
   
   Write and capture user stories and acceptance criteria to communicate clear product objectives and requirements
   
   Manage daily project goals and schedules ensuring features are clearly described, estimated and prioritized
   
   Collaborate with technical teams to build modular and reusable solutions, acting as the voice of the business users
   Simulate and test process systems improvements considering usability and industry standards
   
   Approve each feature and continuously communicate with technical and business teams to ensure adherence to product vision and to proactively evaluate risks
   
   Drive sprint and release plans and communicate changes to business teams
   
   Education/Experience:
   
   + Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Information Technology, or related field or equivalent experience.
   
   + 5+ years of product ownership, product management, project management or business analysis experience.
   
   + Deep knowledge of specified product domain and industry trends.
   
   + Knowledge of Information Technology.
   
   + Product Owner, Scrum Master, or Agile Coach experience preferred.
   
   Our Comprehensive Benefits Package: Flexible work solutions including remote options, hybrid work schedules and dress flexibility, Competitive pay, Paid time off including holidays, Health insurance coverage for you and your dependents, 401(k) and stock purchase plans, Tuition reimbursement and best-in-class training and development.
   
   Centene is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity, and values the ways in which we are different. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other characteristic protected by applicable law.
   
   **TITLE:** Product Owner - remote
   
   **LOCATION:** Various, Alaska
   
   **REQNUMBER:** 1333584

   Copy This Example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right product owner for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   To find product owner candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as swipe files, exit five, marketinghire, american marketing association.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit product owners, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new product owner

   Once you've found the product owner candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a product owner?