Product Owner CV Examples to Help You Build Yours

A product owner learns what customers want from software, then communicates that information to development teams. If you’re looking to become a product owner in a company, here is a product owner CV example to help.

Product owners need to emphasise their ability to connect with customers, understand their needs, then convey those needs to the engineering teams that are working on the new product. That means you should be generally emphasizing your teamwork abilities as well as your ability to tap into the perfect user experience.

Your CV structure will look a little different depending on the CV format you decide to use. Because a product owner usually requires some experience, the chronological format will probably best fit your needs. However, you may also benefit from the functional or hybrid formats, especially if you want to emphasize skills over work experience (or lack thereof). Use whichever format will best present your qualifications. From there, you can move on to the actual sections of the CV.

Contact information

The CV header is where you include information about yourself, including your contact information. Be sure to add your correct phone number, email address, and your professional links, such as your LinkedIn profile, so the recruiter can connect with you.

CV summary

The first section of a perfect CV is your CV summary or CV objective. This is a 2-3 sentence paragraph that goes at the very top of the CV. In the CV summary, highlight your most significant skills and achievements from previous product owner roles you’ve held, with the emphasis on technical skills. If you have little to no work experience, a CV objective would be a better choice, as it focuses on your skills and career goals.

Skills

Here’s some skills associated with product ownership that you should consider:

• General project management
• Create a product roadmap for coworkers and stakeholders
• Create release plans
• Product development
• Gathering user stories
• Understanding user lifecycle
• Creating cross-functional teams
• Working through a product backlog
• General agile development and enhancement
• Business analysis
• Management software products (Jira, Rally, VersionOne)
• Problem-solving 
• Clear product vision
• Ability to work with team members as a team lead
• Analytical skills
• Understanding business requirements
• Communication 
• Working toward a strong customer experience
• Leadership 
• Showcasing product features
• Software as a service (SaaS)

This skills section needs to include both hard skills and soft skills for the best results. With both types of skills, you can show that you have a great skill base to build upon.

Work history

In your work history section, include relevant previous work experience. This experience may come from many different areas, and an agile product owner CV may include a background in many different industries. The important point to emphasize jobs (and achievements in each job) that are relevant to the job you want. For each job you want to include the company name, the job title you held, and the dates you worked there. Include 2-4 bullet points indicating your most significant achievements while in each position. By doing this, you will provide the recruiter with succinct information about your skills and achievements.

Education

A product owner will typically need at least a bachelor’s degree, ideally in a degree similar to computer science. You can also feature your certifications here, such as an industry-standard Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification.

Here are some additional points to keep in mind when you write your product owner CV:

Do:

• Rather than listing everyday tasks, focus on specific accomplishments that show you’re right for this job. This may include previous product owner experiences or team leadership experiences in other positions.
• Have and demonstrate an in-depth understanding of both scrum and agile methodology. 
• Look into specific certifications that product owners in your industry typically use. Different industries may prefer different certifications, and it’s best to align your certifications with your peers (and for what the specific job requires).

Don’t:

• Speak negatively about any teams you’ve previously been part of. This can make the hiring manager concerned about how you might speak about them after you leave.
• Share any confidential information about previous product owner jobs. These may be protected under NDAs.
• Be vague about how your product owner skills have helped previous clients. You want to use specific metrics that showcase your impact (e.g., “Implemented processes that increased production by 15% over past year”).