Headhunter for Head of Product positions

Head of Product - Leadership and Team Play

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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We will find the right Head of Product for you

CareerTeam, the European executive search agency for the digital economy, brings its expertise to bear in finding Head of Product specialists and executives for you. Through our success-based executive search approach, we guarantee that you will be quickly staffed with highly qualified candidates who will take your company's product management to the next level.

We have over 600,000 professionals and executives in our active network. Our recruiters will find suitable candidates for the position of Head of Products for you in the shortest possible time.

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From product to people

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.

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Tasks of the Head of Product

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).

Main tasks

• Strategy, planning & management of the product portfolio
• Product vision & roadmap
• Product design
• Strategic partnerships
• Leadership of the product team(s)
• Definition & monitoring of business relevant KPIs and their achievement
• Identification and development of talent

Head of Products skills

Softskills 

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.

Communication skills

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.

Marketing

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.

Strategic thinking

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.

Technical skills

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.

Business acumen and entrepreneurship

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.

Full-service staffing agency

Our services as a personnel service provider include recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). CareerTeam offers software-supported interview and selection processes, active sourcing, direct search and candidate insights. We also pay attention to the cultural fit for sustainable HR management in your company. Please contact us to find out about all our services.