In product-led businesses, the Chief Product Officer shapes what the company makes and where it goes next. Hiring one well means matching them to how central product is to your strategy. Here is how.
Define the remit
A Chief Product Officer can range from owning the product roadmap to shaping the company's whole strategic direction through product. Before hiring, define how central product is to the business and how far the CPO's remit reaches — into innovation, into commercial decisions, into the executive strategy. In beauty and consumer, this often spans development, innovation, and the pipeline of what comes next.
Vision and organisation-building together
The strongest CPOs pair genuine product vision — a feel for what to build and why — with the leadership to build and run a product organisation. One without the other falls short: vision without organisation-building does not scale, and process without vision produces competent but uninspired products. Assessing for both is central to the hire.
Match to category and stage
A CPO for a fast-moving consumer brand competing on newness is a different leader from one in a technology-led business. Define your category's product challenges and the company's stage — building a first product function, scaling one, or transforming it — and hire the leader whose experience fits.
How the search works
A retained search defines the specific product mandate and finds leaders who combine vision with the ability to build and lead a product organisation.
Hiring a product leader?
We recruit Chief Product Officers and senior product & development leaders across beauty and consumer.
Explore Product Search →Frequently asked questions
What makes a great Chief Product Officer?
Genuine product vision — a feel for what to build and why — paired with the leadership to build and run a product organisation. Vision without organisation-building doesn't scale; process without vision produces uninspired products.
What does a Chief Product Officer own?
Typically the product vision, portfolio, and pipeline — and, depending on the business, innovation and strategic direction through product. The remit varies widely and should be defined before hiring.
Related: What Does a Chief Product Officer Do? · What Does a Chief Innovation Officer Do? · Beauty Product Development Search
