Digital product owner

You could do a degree or postgraduate award in:

• computing
• project management
• business management
• marketing

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
• a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study

More Information

• equivalent entry requirements
• student finance for fees and living costs
• university courses and entry requirements

You could start by doing a project manager degree apprenticeship.

After completing your apprenticeship, you would get experience of working in digital delivery teams before taking on a role as a product owner.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a degree apprenticeship

More Information

• equivalent entry requirements
• guide to apprenticeships

You could start out in an associate product owner role. You'll usually need to have some relevant work experience in a job like:

• product marketing
• software development
• customer experience
• user experience (UX) design

When you're looking for work, most employers will expect you to have:

• an understanding of online user behaviours
• knowledge of search engine optimisation (SEO), analytics, UX, design and marketing
• experience in helping a business make major changes in digital
• knowledge of agile project management methodologies like Scrum, Kanban and Lean

If you do not have any relevant work experience, you could:

• develop some technical skills so that you understand basic design and data analysis
• study online resources about the role of product management
• take a specialist course in product management
• join online product management communities for tips and networking opportunities

Further information

You can find out more about working in the digital industry from Tech Future Careers.

You'll need:

• knowledge of computer operating systems, hardware and software
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• customer service skills
• the ability to use your initiative
• the ability to work well with others
• maths knowledge
• excellent verbal communication skills
• analytical thinking skills
• to have a thorough understanding of computer systems and applications

On a daily basis you might be:

• involving your teams in development and planning
• representing users by taking their feedback to help improve the product
• working with user experience (UX) design specialists to make sure the product is something that people like and is easy to use
• developing business cases and user stories for new features
• working with the design team to draft first versions of your product or service
• keeping people informed about your product
• managing less experienced product managers and supporting their development
• producing reports on the performance of the product

You could work in an office or at a client's business.