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Why is a Product Owner Needed (PO)?

by Panos PapaemmanouilJune 24th, 2022

Too Long; Didn't Read

This article explains the day-to-day responsibilities and the skills required to be a successful Product Owner in a SaaS tech company.

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featured image - Why is a Product Owner Needed (PO)?

What are the key responsibilities and skills required for a PO in a SaaS tech company?

Background Story

Almost a year ago, I decided to get a turn on my career and accepted a Product Owner position in a tech company. After working as a Data Scientist in an AI agency for almost 3 years, I wanted to learn more about the Product Development Lifecycle and the different aspects of “doing product”.

Later, I decided to transition from the PO position back to a Data Scientist position because I realized this is my true passion (but this is a story for another post).

The important thing is that during the time I worked as PO, I had the opportunity to gain a lot of knowledge and acquire many skills essential in the tech industry.

Product Owner’s (PO) Key Responsibilities

So, what are the day-to-day responsibilities of a PO in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology company?

1. Develop Product Roadmap and Design Requirements

From a high-level point of view, a PO’s key responsibility is to realize the company’s vision concerning the product. PO is responsible for writing clear and well-defined requirements and grooming and prioritizing the product’s backlog.

I was practicing agile and, specifically, the Disciplined Agile Delivery(DAD) framework. This framework organizes the Product’s Backlog in a taxonomy of requirements [Initiatives, Epics, Feature, Stories, and Tasks] and defines the relationship between them. PO must prepare and present these requirements to the engineering team during iteration/sprint planning.

2. Daily Collaboration

A significant part of the PO’s role is the close collaboration with various teams and stakeholders.

Some weekly activities might be:

Collaborate with the UI/UX designers and researchers to design new features and flows.
Collaborate with the Engineering team to define the technical details for the business requirements (Front End and Back End Developers, QA testers, and Engineering managers)
Collaborate with the Product Analytics team to design data products.
Collaborate with Senior Management to adjust product roadmap and priorities based on the market conditions and external factors.

3. QnAs, Training, Presentations, Interviews, Demos

PO acts as an ambassador for the product internally and externally of the company. This role is the primary contact for queries related to the product.

A PO can conduct meetings and interviews with internal stakeholders and end-users to understand how everyone uses the product and their needs. Publishing release notes and organizing demo presentations about new features is also part of a PO job description.

4. Research and analyze the market

Finally, PO needs to follow industry trends and advances as well as the company’s competitors to ensure that the product is always ahead of the competition.

Product Owner’s (PO) Key Skills

POs come from various backgrounds, but all the great ones have the following skills.

In-depth understanding of industry market conditions and trends
Organizational and time management skills
Ability to work with cross-functional teams

A common misconception is about the technical expertise required from a PO. Generally, POs don’t write any code, but an overall understanding of technologies used in the product is critical for succeeding in this role.