Product Owner

What they do

• Own and prioritise the product backlog
• Define user stories and acceptance criteria
• Represent customer and stakeholder interests to the team
• Work with stakeholders to align on vision and roadmap
• Make decisions on scope and trade-offs for each sprint

Entry pathways

Ways to get into this role in the UK:

• Degree in Business, Computer Science, or related field
• Experience as Business Analyst, Project Manager, or Developer
• Product management apprenticeships
• Graduate product schemes at tech companies
• Moving from customer-facing or domain expert roles

A day in the life

You start the morning reviewing the product backlog, reprioritising items based on a conversation with a key customer yesterday. In sprint planning, you walk the development team through the top user stories, answering questions about what 'done' looks like for each one. After lunch you jump on a call with the sales team, who flag a competitor feature customers keep asking for—you add a ticket to investigate. The afternoon is a mix of writing acceptance criteria for upcoming features and reviewing a prototype the designer shared. You end the day updating the product roadmap, balancing user needs, business goals, and what the team can realistically deliver.