As Head of Product, the focus is on aligning the product strategy with the corporate strategy. A Head of Product is responsible for the entire product management with the associated product teams. This position is similar to the VP of Product (Vice President of Product), and both rank second in the product management hierarchy behind the CPO (Chief Product Officer).
Below this is the Director of Product. The difference to the Director of Product is that Heads of Product increasingly handle other product managers and the strategic part of their work is also higher. Future Heads of Product will also have to adjust to this: the willingness to increasingly take care of people instead of products.
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When you become Head of Product, you move into a position of divisional management. This means the focus shifts from managing products to the team and its people. Here, a Head of Product is responsible for the performance of the product development team with the task of increasing the company's success within existing product lines.
Furthermore, the spectrum of responsibilities ranges from innovative new products to increasing the effectiveness of existing products. The Head of Product, as a position with staff responsibility, leads a team of product managers, develops the product vision and strategy to further expand the company's success in close cooperation.
To summarise, Heads of Product primarily work strategically, form and lead a powerful product team and ensure the company's success. They are often part of the management team if there is no CPO in the company, in which case they report directly to the CEO (otherwise to the CPO).
Interpersonal skills are a significant part of this position. Because products are not developed by just one person. A Head of Product assembles a strong team and shares his or her product knowledge so that the team and its members can independently create innovative and successful products.
To do this, a Head of Product must clearly communicate his vision of the product(s) and how that vision aligns with the company vision. This leadership position motivates the team and welds them together to bring this vision into reality. Interpersonal skills mean listening, negotiating, helping and ultimately working closely with others.
As described above, product managers must be able to communicate their vision and ideas. To do this, internal and external communication must flow smoothly. Internally, goals and expectations must be shared with the team and all members must be brought in line. Externally, customers expect the value proposition to be clearly communicated.
Expertise in marketing is crucial, as the value of the products must be communicated. That includes the successful marketing of new or optimised products. And also the ability to adapt quickly to changing market requirements.
As a position gets closer to management, the strategic share in the overall scope of activities increases. In SMEs, the Head of Product is often the top position in product management due to the lack of a CPO (Chief Product Officer). Being strategic is the key to product success. As with most management positions, the central task of the Head of Product is to create the strategy and implement it.
This requires aligning the vision of the organisation with that of the product. As described before, the prerequisite for this is that it has been clearly communicated to the product team and all other stakeholders.
Even though this position is largely about operational and strategic tasks, Heads of Product need to be well versed in the technical aspect of the products offered. Especially when it comes to SaaS applications, apps and other software products. Having this knowledge ensures smooth cooperation and communication with software developers and engineers and helps to solve and, above all, identify problems.
In order to develop a successful product strategy for the company, a Head of Product must have basic business skills. These skills include things like budgeting, sales forecasting, profitability and liquidity. In addition, people in this position must be able to effectively communicate this information with the company's management.
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