The Ultimate Guide to Product Operations

Hey 👋, welcome to our ultimate guide on Product Operations. Here, we’ll get into the nitty-gritty of everything you need to know about this fast-growing product function. Find out how it supports good, data-driven Product Management and learn what it takes to integrate Product Ops into your existing organizational structure.

If you’re curious about what Product Operations can do for your wider product team structure, or if you’re thinking about stepping into the field yourself, this guide will give you the clarity you need. From streamlining processes to aligning cross-functional teams, Product Operations is redefining how organizations manage the difficulty of scaling products. Let’s explore what makes Product Operations so impactful and why now is the perfect time to embrace it.

What is Product Operations? 

Product Operations is a function that empowers Product Management teams. It hones in on the process, perfecting workflows and taking on organizational time sinks to maximize operational efficiency at every stage of the Product Management lifecycle. Product Operations is an optimizer and oversees all tasks and responsibilities that improve how your Product Teams operate in every way. 

Systems optimization

The responsibilities that fall under Product Operations can be varied, and significant. The function typically handles things like managing your team’s stack of Product Management tools to create a better ecosystem for everyone. 

Data management

Product Operations also optimize and refine customer feedback and other data, creating polished data sets that give team members the power to make more informed, data-driven decisions. 

Operational efficiency

And, Product Operations work to identify and remove bottlenecks and delays and bring in mechanisms to improve cross-functional communication and efficiency.

In a nutshell, Product Operations is the intersection between Product, Engineering, and Customer Teams. They help to remove bottlenecks, streamline workflows, and identify opportunities to improve the entire Product Management process. The work Product Operations Teams do empowers the rest of the product organization to make faster and better strategic decisions.

Those are some pretty wise words from Melissa Perri, and you should probably listen to them, as she’s THE authority on all things Product Operations. As the co-author of “Product Operations: How Successful Companies Build Better Products” Melissa’s got some great insights on the subject.

We were lucky enough to pick her brain and discuss all things Product Ops in a ProdPad webinar. It’s worth checking out.

But why has Product Operations grown into such an important role in recent years? Back in the day, operational considerations just fell to Product Managers – another hat they had to wear. Another task added to their to-do list. But now, Product Operations has matured into this separate discipline entirely.

Simply put, Product Operations is growing in response to the growth happening in Product Management. Lots of companies now have multiple PMs working for them. Product Ops is a response to this, releasing these PMs from the operational considerations and equipping them with both time and data to focus on discovery and strategic decision-making.

Sure, you’re not going to introduce Product Operations just because you have one Product Manager spending a small portion of their time on operational tasks. However, if you’ve got a whole fleet of PMs all spending 10-20% of their time on operations and process improvements, then it’s time to call in the experts and introduce a separate Product Operations function.

That’s why Product Operations is a function most commonly found in scaling businesses. Product Ops exist because modern Product Teams operate in increasingly complex environments. With multiple stakeholders, ever-evolving customer needs, and a wide array of tools and processes to manage, the potential for inefficiencies is high. Product Ops steps in to reduce this complexity by creating order, removing bottlenecks, and fostering a data-driven culture. It helps ensure that the focus of a Product Manager is always on improving the product and delivering value to customers. 

Product Management vs Product Operations

Product Management and Product Operations shouldn’t be treated as two completely separate entities. If anything, they’re two sides of the same coin. They play complementary roles that help the entire company craft better-performing products.

While Product Managers focus on product strategy, vision, and execution, Product Operations exist to focus on the logistical, operational, and process-focused tasks and decisions that can pull PMs away from their core responsibilities.

Imagine everyone’s favorite Winter Olympics game: curling. Product Management is the guy lining up the angle of the shot, and Product Operations is the guy furiously brushing the path so that the rock can effortlessly glide across the ice. Both are part of the same team and equally important.

In essence, Product Operations doesn’t just support Product Management; it adds a multiplier to their ability to succeed. By tackling the operational complexities that come with modern product development, Product Ops creates a foundation where Product Managers can focus on the big picture without getting tangled up in the process details. Together, the two roles work in tandem to drive better outcomes for the product and the organization as a whole.

Why is Product Operations important? 

For businesses that have reached a certain scale, Product Operations isn’t just a nice-to-have, it becomes a necessity. You won’t be able to have a well-oiled product function without Product Operations.

Now some people might be resistant to Product Operations. Some may think it’s pointless. If Product Managers have been able to handle it until now, why can’t they continue to handle it? Why is it so important? Well, think about the other departments in your business…

Your Sales Team is undoubtedly going to have a Sales Ops function, especially if you’re a large business. Here Sales Ops will manage pipelines, do all the forecasting, build contacts, and just work on making the process as seamless as possible. This gives Sales Reps the time to focus on their pitch and concentrate on selling the product. This concept makes sense in this scenario, so why hasn’t it been common practice in Product Management for decades?

Product Operations prevent Product Managers from losing their heads with all these extra operational tasks. They’re already juggling a delicate balancing act between setting product strategy, talking to customers, managing stakeholders, and prioritizing features. Add operational work like maintaining tool integrations, organizing customer feedback, or managing cross-departmental communication into the mix, and their head might explode 🤯.

Product Operations create order among that would be chaos, making it easier for Product Teams to work efficiently and make better decisions on which direction the product should go.

The work Product Ops Teams do benefits everyone that’s close to the product. Some of those benefits include:

• Enhanced efficiency: Product Ops streamlines processes, reducing bottlenecks and optimizing workflows to empower the rest of the Product Teams to focus on product decision-making. This improves overall productivity and minimizes wasted effort.
• Better data management: Product Operations don’t act on data. But they do manage data cleanliness and accessibility, giving teams reliable insights so that they can make better decisions. 
• Improved feedback loops: Product Ops organizes customer and stakeholder feedback. They manage the source of feedback and present it in a way that Product Managers can digest and act on it easily.
• Scalability across teams: As organizations grow, Product Operations creates repeatable frameworks and standardized workflows for all to follow. This creates consistency and seamless collaboration across larger, more complex teams.
• Support for Product Managers: By handling non-strategic tasks like tool management and process optimization, Product Ops stops PMs from sweating that stuff and frees them up to concentrate full-time on discovery, decision-making, and talking to customers.
• Stronger cross-team alignment: Product Operations builds better communication and collaboration between product, engineering, and customer-facing teams. This alignment accelerates decision-making and ensures everyone works toward shared goals.

What does Product Operations do?

So you’ve got the lowdown on the high-level main goals and aims of Product Operations, but what are people involved in Product Ops actually doing on a day-to-day basis? Well, that depends on the needs of the business and who they’re supporting. There are a lot of key tasks someone in Product Operations could be asked to handle, helping this role stay varied and exciting.

But, if you want to make things simple, Product Operations is the combination of three main areas: 

• Data management
• Tools
• Processes 

So, anything involved with those three areas, be it setting up dashboards, figuring out where data should come from, or working out how reporting should be handled, will be in the realm of Product Operations. Anything that helps them achieve their main goal of facilitating the wider Product Team is on the table.

The core responsibilities of someone in Product Operations can include things like: 

• Streamlining cross-functional collaboration: Product Operations improves communication between teams like Product Management, Engineering, Marketing, and Customer Success. By coordinating workflows and creating shared processes, they build alignment across departments.
  
• Managing data and insights: Product Ops collects, organizes, and analyzes all types of data that a PM needs to understand customer needs, usage, and much more. They provide these actionable insights to help teams make informed decisions.
  
• Optimizing tools and processes: Product Operations selects and maintains the tools and frameworks that support product discovery and delivery. This includes streamlining roadmapping, backlog grooming, and customer feedback platforms to ensure offer maximum efficiency for the team. 
  
• Supporting Product Managers: By handling tasks such as meeting coordination, reporting, and tool administration, Product Operations frees up Product Managers to focus on strategy and execution.
  
• Establishing metrics and tracking performance: Product Ops defines the important key performance indicators (KPIs) and tracks product performance over time. They ensure metrics are visible and actionable for all stakeholders, aligning teams around shared goals.
  
  If you’re wondering what KPIs you should measure yourself up to, we’ve got a ebook going thorugh the best ones. Download it now to make sure your KPIs are right for you:

• Maintaining feedback loops: Product Ops manages systems to capture, prioritize, and communicate customer feedback to the rest of the Product Team. This makes sure user needs are at the forefront of product decisions while keeping customers informed about progress.
  
• Driving process improvements: Product Operations continuously reviews and refines operational processes to eliminate bottlenecks and inefficiencies. By identifying areas for improvement, they help teams grow without losing efficiency.

Of course, the specific tasks that Product Operations will do are different based on who they’re working with.

As we’ve said, Product Operations is the glue between multiple different departments and teams in your organization. One massive responsibility is creating smooth cross-functional communication, ensuring that everyone is singing off the same song sheet. This means that Product Ops needs to be as adaptable as a chameleon, changing their workflow depending on who they’re working with.

Product Operations can support not just Product Managers, but Developers, Product Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success. The way they work and support all these roles differs a little – let’s take a look at each in turn… 

How should Product Operations work with Product Development? 

Product Operations should act as a bridge between Product Managers and Development teams, creating a route for effective communication. By deciding on defined processes that everyone must follow, things like product requirements, roadmaps, and priorities are clearly communicated, making sure there is no confusion that can lead to delays. By putting standards in place that everyone must follow, Product Ops keeps everyone involved with product development well aligned.

Data is another key area where Product Ops supports Product Development. They gather and organize insights from customer feedback, user testing, and performance metrics to inform development decisions. This ensures teams prioritize features that deliver maximum value to users. In essence, Product Ops removes operational barriers, enabling Product Development to focus on innovation and execution.

How should Product Operations work with Product Marketing? 

Product Operations makes sure there’s effective collaboration between Product Marketing and Product Teams, ensuring go-to-market strategies are rooted in a solid understanding of the product and its users.

They organize cross-functional meetings and establish communication channels like internal release notes where updates on product launches, positioning, and timelines are easily shared. This keeps Product Marketing informed and aligned with product goals.

The last thing you want is Marketing to promote a feature that’s not ready yet. Product Operations stops this from happening.

Plus, Product Ops helps maintain a feedback loop by connecting Product Marketing with customer data and usage trends. This insight allows marketers to craft more targeted messaging and campaigns that resonate with their audience.

By streamlining communication and centralizing information, Product Ops ensures that Product Marketing can effectively promote and shout about the product’s value proposition.

How should Product Operations work with Customer Success?

Product Operations plays a starring role in aligning Customer Success with the Product Team, ensuring feedback from users reaches the right stakeholders. They create systems for capturing and analyzing customer pain points, feature requests, and usage patterns. This allows Customer Success teams to deliver more accurate insights back to Product Managers for prioritization.

Moreover, Product Ops equips Customer Success teams with the tools and resources they need to guide customers effectively. Whether it’s creating training materials or coordinating feature rollout updates, Product Ops helps Customer Success to stay well-prepared to support users. By fostering this collaboration, Product Operations helps deliver a seamless customer experience while driving continuous product improvement.

What tools are used in Product Operations? 

If you’re going to rank the responsibilities of Product Operations, one that’s going to be really high in importance is managing the entire Product Management tools stack. If things are going to be efficient, Product Operations needs to select the right tools for the job, ensuring they mesh together to create a seamless tech stack. That’s easier said than done.

Product Operations is the behind-the-scenes orchestrator of tools and systems, ensuring everything the Product Team touches is optimized for efficiency. Whether it’s managing roadmapping software, feedback platforms, or communication tools, this role focuses on integration and alignment, so the team has what they need to succeed.

By continuously evaluating tools, filling gaps, and implementing new solutions, the Product Operations Manager is always on the lookout to make sure every tool used by a Product Team is the most effective and adding value to how the team operate.

The tools Product Operations will concern themselves with typically cover a wide range of activities. You need tools for collaboration, product roadmapping tools, tools for organizing delivery tasks, and software to capture customer feedback – it’s an endless list. But, before we dive into outlining all the tools Product Ops should be looking to acquire, let us introduce you to the best overall Product Management software tool, us: ProdPad ✨.

ProdPad is an all-in-one Product Management software designed to give Product Teams one central home and source of truth for all their product work. From strategy and roadmapping, to idea management and prioritization, through to customer feedback gathering and analysis. ProdPad provides the central hub around which all Product Management processes are organized and all other supporting tools are positioned.

Product Operations teams across the world implement ProdPad to ensure standardized and consistent processes are adopted across the whole Product function. ProdPad comes with best practice workflows and guidance built in, making it the best choice for Product Ops people looking to establish tried and tested, modern Product Management processes, and ensure all Product teams are working to that same standard.

With OKR management tools, strategy canvases, target outcome tracking and completed roadmap views, ProdPad has the structure baked in to help Product Ops establish behaviors and processes that promote outcome-focused results rather than output-focused production lines.

ProdPad also boost some pretty impressive integrations (if we do say so ourselves 😉) with tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, CRMs, support tools and many more systems that stakeholders and other teammates are using in their roles. This makes cross-functional collaboration seemless and helps establish an efficient product culture across the whole organization.

So, if you’re looking for the right tool to power your Product Operations, come book your personal demo and see how ProdPad can help.

But enough about us. When selecting tools, you’re going to need a stack that covers all the major areas of Product Management and help the Product Team achieve everything they need to do. To do that you’re going to need the best Product Management software available. When choosing your tools for the wider team, you’re going to need a stack that looks something like this:

If you’re in Product Operations, here’s more detail on some of the tools you’ll need to consider and adopt to help you improve the Product Management process. 

• Project Management tools: These tools are best used for development planning and delivery. They help track product development progress and manage tasks, once feature ideas have been validated, specced and passed to the Engineering Team.
• Roadmapping tools: Roadmapping tools help visualize product strategies and goals. Product Ops uses these tools to align teams on product priorities and ensure everyone has clear visibility of the product roadmap.
• Collaboration tools: These tools streamline communication between teams, helping them share information and solve problems in real time. Product Operations ensures these communication channels are set up for effective cross-functional collaboration.
• Onboarding tools: Product Ops should arm the PMs with the best tools to help them effectively onboard new users, helping them get to grips with the product and find the value quickly. Product Ops needs to manage and identify the best onboarding tools that suit your product to help you retain new users. 
• Customer feedback tools: Product Ops manages customer feedback collection tools to prioritize feature requests, identify pain points, and keep the product team informed. These tools ensure that customer insights are continuously fed into product decisions.
• Data analytics tools: Product analytics tools are crucial for analyzing product performance, user behavior, and other key metrics. Product Ops ensures that the necessary data is captured and analyzed, providing actionable insights to drive product decisions.
• Product research tools: Product research tools support the collection and analysis of market trends and competitor insights. Product Ops makes sure all teams have access to these tools that provide actionable data.
• Documentation tools: Documentation tools help maintain product specs, meeting notes, and important documentation. Product Ops manages these tools to ensure knowledge is well-documented and accessible to everyone on the team.
• Customer success tools: These tools help track customer interactions and monitor product adoption rate. Product Ops integrates these systems to ensure that product feedback from customer success teams is streamlined and actionable.
• Changelog tools: Changelog tools keep everyone updated about new features, releases, and bug fixes. Product Ops manage these tools to maintain transparency among all teams so that everyone knows what’s going on with the product.

What roles exist within the Product Operations team? 

Product Operations hasn’t been around for too long, so the function and the roles within it are still being defined and reimagined. There are bound to be roles not yet conceived that become core aspects of the function as the discipline progresses and becomes commonplace in more and more companies.

That said, there are already a few established roles that exist within Product Operations. Here’s a look at some of the most common ones, and what’s involved for those in these positions.

This isn’t an exhaustive list. At the end of the day, each organization bringing in a Product Operations function dictates the roles and job descriptions based on what they need. Not every business will have all these roles, and some will have different ones they define themselves. That speaks a lot about how embryonic this new function is. Still, here are some of the roles that we’re pretty sure you’ll find in most Product Operations departments.

Product Operations Manager

The Product Operations Manager is the most common role in Product Ops and keeps the wheels turning smoothly for Product Teams. Often the first operations hire in a growing organization, this role lays the groundwork for streamlined processes and best practices that boost collaboration, improve communication, and power better decisions across teams.

From Project Management and metrics reporting to maintaining knowledge bases and driving cross-functional coordination, this role ensures everything runs like clockwork.

With an eye on scaling efficiency, a Product Operations Manager brings a knack for spotting and solving bottlenecks, ensuring that every improvement drives measurable impact. The role provides a holistic view of the entire Product Management lifecycle, offering endless opportunities to specialize and evolve as the team grows. As it’s the primary, most common role you’ll find in Product Operations, we’ve put together a glossary post where you can learn more:

Product Operations Specialist

A Product Operations Specialist is an entry-level role that acts as a supporting role for the Product Manager. They’re there to tackle admin tasks and make the life of a PM much more efficient. From documenting workflows and managing cross-team projects to surfacing insights from user feedback, this role helps to keep everything on track.

It’s a great entry point for those looking to build a career in Product Operations, offering exposure to a range of teams, including Engineering, Design, and Customer Support. Specialists develop the skills and experience to grow into more senior Product Operations roles or branch out into Product Management and other operational paths.

Product Data Analyst

A Product Data Analyst is the data whisperer of the Product Ops team, turning raw numbers into actionable insights that shape product strategy. This role revolves around monitoring system performance, ensuring data quality, and providing metrics to guide decisions.

From defining KPIs to evaluating models and processes, it’s all about creating a solid data foundation that the Product Team can build on.

The ideal candidate combines strong analytical skills with a sharp understanding of the Product Management world. With expertise in data tools and a keen eye for patterns, they translate numbers into stories that drive progress. This role is perfect for growing into specialized data-focused paths.

Product Operations Director

Above the Product Operations Manager will sit a Product Operations Director, also known as a Director of Product Operations. The Product Operations Director is the strategic anchor of the Product Ops team, driving efficiency and ensuring alignment across teams and tools. This role focuses on optimizing the broader product development ecosystem, shaping processes, and advancing data-driven decision-making.

The Product Operations Director will also be tasked with improving the Product Operations function, making sure that it operates as well as it can and better support Product Managers. This position is ideal for seasoned professionals with leadership experience, and requires operational finesse, strategic insight, and a talent for building collaborative environments. 

When do you need Product Operations? 

If Product Managers are drowning in tasks that feel more operational than strategic, then it might be time to call in the cavalry – aka, Product Operations.

This role becomes a must-have when your Product Team is spending a chunk of their time wrangling data, managing tools, or chasing alignment instead of doing what they’re meant to do: turn the product vision into reality.

For most companies, Product Operations become critical as they grow and scale. If you’ve got a team of 8–10 Product Managers and they’re each spending even just 10% of their time on operational tasks, that’s essentially an extra full-time job hiding in plain sight.

And let’s be real, some PMs spend closer to 50% of their time on these things. That’s time that could be used to focus on building better products. Hiring a dedicated Product Ops function frees up your PMs to focus on what they do best while also giving your processes, tools, and data the attention they deserve.

This is especially true for companies embracing product-led growth instead of sales-led growth, where your product is the star player driving acquisition, retention, and expansion. As these businesses scale, the coordination between Product, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success becomes a tough beast to tame. Product Operations steps in as the lion tamer, breaking down silos, smoothing out communication, and keeping this circus on the road.

Startups and small teams might not need Product Operations right out of the box, but as the organization grows and processes get more complex, the cracks start to show. If your teams are growing, your tools are multiplying, and your PMs are stretched thin, it’s probably time to bring in Product Ops to keep things running smoothly. After all, efficiency scales better than chaos.

In essence, when you hit the point where your teams are growing and your processes start to feel disjointed, it’s time to bring in Product Operations to keep things ticking along smoothly.

Where does Product Operations sit within your organization? 

The placement of Product Operations in your organization can cause a lot of tension if it’s not right, so make sure to listen up. Product Operations doesn’t sit above any other team  – it works alongside them. Now this doesn’t mean that Product Managers can start to feel like the big shot and pull rank. Both these product functions sit alongside each other, as equals. You’re partners, like Siegfried & Roy, Penn & Teller, or Ash Ketchum & Pikachu. 

As a result, Product Operations will report to the same folks a PM does, such as your Chief Product Officer (CPO) or VP of Product Management. Product Operations acts as a central support hub within the broader product organization.

While it doesn’t own product strategy or development, Product Operations plays a vital role in enabling these processes to run smoothly. Collaboration is at the heart of Product Operations, so to succeed, the people in it need to be team players. They work closely with Product Marketing to align product launches and messaging with development and customer feedback, and partner with teams like Customer Success, Sales, and Engineering to ensure alignment across the organization.

By sitting at the crossroads of different teams, Product Operations ensures efficient processes, informed decision-making, and a cohesive approach that benefits both internal stakeholders and customers alike.

How do you set up a Product Operations function? 

So you have an existing Product Team structure and have reached a scale where you need Product Operations to help facilitate better, more effective Product Management. Where on earth do you start? Well, here’s a good step-by-step blueprint that you can follow to ensure that you’re adding Product Operations effectively.

The timing you do this is super important. Although Product Ops roles are more impactful when companies are at scale, it’s easier to implement when your teams are smaller and not as complicated. Here’s an overview of what you need to do: 

Step 1: Define the purpose

Before diving headfirst into establishing Product Operations, it’s uber important to clear up why you need it. Take a step back and identify your organization’s biggest operational issues.

Are your Product Managers bogged down by admin, leaving little time for strategy? Are cross-functional teams struggling to communicate effectively? Maybe your customer feedback process feels like a game of Telephone, or onboarding workflows are clunky and inefficient. Clearly articulating the problems you’re aiming to solve ensures that when Product Ops joins the scene, they’re focused on the right priorities from day one.

Step 2: Conduct discovery

Once you’ve decided to add Product Ops and understand what you want them to address, pop in a discovery phase to get the lay of the land. Meet with stakeholders across departments and ask probing questions to uncover inefficiencies or roadblocks. Observe workflows in action to spot misalignments or communication breakdowns.

As patterns emerge, such as a lack of visibility into upcoming features for the sales team, you’ll start to see where Product Ops can make the most impact. Think of this phase as plotting your route on a map before you hit the gas.

Step 3: Establish priorities

Now that you know what you want your Product Ops to do, it’s time to turn that mountain of suggestions into actionable priorities. Group the pain points into themes, like communication gaps, tool inefficiencies, or process bottlenecks, and collaborate with stakeholders to decide on what will be the most valuable to tackle first.

Quick wins are your best friend here: they build trust and set the tone for what Product Ops can achieve. For example, if Customer Success is struggling to track churn risks, addressing that pain point early could create immediate value and boost team confidence in the new function.

Step 4: Launch initiatives with clear goals

With priorities in hand, the next step is to bring in Product Operations. Gather your team and pick a few high-impact projects to focus on, and lay out clear objectives. Set measurable goals like OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and keep stakeholders in the loop with regular updates. 

Step 5: Foster cross-department communication

As the glue that holds teams together, Product Ops thrives when it strengthens cross-departmental dialogue. Use the insights from your discovery phase to create better communication channels, like recurring syncs or centralized updates. If misalignment crops up, step in to clarify expectations and processes.

Building trust is key here; teams need to see Product Ops as a helpful partner, not a meddler. Clear communication of what they’re doing and how their processes are improving things will go a long way to integrating the function into your organization. 

Step 6: Measure impact

You can’t improve what you don’t measure, so be sure to track the effectiveness of your Product Ops team. Quantitative metrics like reduced admin time for Product Managers, improving product velocity, or fewer process bottlenecks provide hard evidence of success. And you can’t ignore the evidence.

Qualitative feedback is equally important: what are the vibes? Are teams feeling more aligned? Are customer-facing teams better equipped to communicate product value? Regularly evaluating both types of metrics ensures you stay on track and can adapt as needed.

Step 7: Reflect and improve

Give time to your Product Operations function to look in the rearview mirror with regular retrospectives. Ask questions like: What went well? What didn’t land as expected? Did the initiatives hit their goals? Use these reflections to refine your approach and keep iterating.

No process is perfect on the first go, so lean into continuous improvement. The insights gained here will not only improve current workflows but also set the foundation for future successes.

Step 8: Scale thoughtfully

Once the basics are humming along, it’s time to think about scaling. When introducing Product Operations, you’re usually going to start with the one hire. But quickly, you’ll learn that things can become even more efficient once you establish a team around this person.

Expand your Product Ops team strategically, focusing on individuals with a knack for problem-solving, data analysis, and cross-functional collaboration. As your company grows, refine processes and communication channels to keep up with the increasing complexity. Scaling doesn’t mean overhauling and starting fresh, it means building on what works while adapting to new challenges.

Keen to know more on how to set up a Product Operations function? We’ve spoken to Denise Tilles, a Product thought leader who knows Product Operations like the back of her hand, all about setting up Product Ops without having to recruit new people. Check out the webinar to learn more.

How do you hire Product Operations roles?

Hiring for Product Operations is the same as hiring for any role in the Product Team. You want to find candidates that display the right skills. For Product Ops, that involves a blend of operational expertise, product knowledge, and excellent communication skills.

As this role is key in supporting the Product Team, you need someone who can manage tools, processes, and workflows efficiently, while also understanding the broader product strategy.

Candidates for Product Operations roles should ideally have experience in Product Management, Project Management, or operations within a product-centric organization. Experience working in product-led companies or with cross-functional teams is a strong indicator of their ability to manage complex, dynamic environments.

All these requirements mean that nine times out of ten, a great hire for a Product Operations role will likely be a pre-existing Product Manager in your organization. They got the skills to pay the bills, and have likely been doing these operational tasks anyway.

It’s not uncommon for a particularly organized and process-orientated PM to take the operational slack and do all these tasks for everyone else’s benefit. These guys and gals make great candidates for your first Product Operations hire. 

What skills do you need for Product Operations? 

Whether you’re hiring for Product Operations, or are looking to enter the field yourself, it’s good to know the core skills that are needed to excel. Here are some of the main skills you need to possess to be considered a strong candidate for Product Operations.

1. Strong communication skills
   As the bridge between multiple stakeholders, Product Operations professionals are going to be talking and working with so many different people. To succeed, you’re going to have to have a way with words and know how to communicate well. Being clear and concise will make you better at managing expectations and sharing updates.
2. Project management expertise
   There’s a lot to do in Product Operations. You’re going to need the ability to juggle multiple projects and priorities. Strong project management skills will help processes run smoothly, and make sure deadlines are met, and teams are coordinated at all times.
3. Analytical thinking
   Being able to analyze data, identify trends, and solve problems will serve you well in a Product Operations role. Product Operations often require assessing operational efficiency, tracking KPIs, and making recommendations based on data insights.
4. Organizational skills
   With responsibility for managing various tools, processes, and documentation all at once, you’re going to be juggling many plates. Being highly organized is probably required skill numero uno. The ability to set up and maintain systems that streamline workflows is key to this role.
5. Cross-functional collaboration
   Product Operations professionals need to work closely with diverse teams, so being adaptable and collaborative is important. 
6. Technical proficiency
   While not always as technical as Product Development, having a good understanding of technical concepts, software tools, and Product Management software will be a big help for Product Ops.
7. Attention to detail
   You’ve got to be accurate in Product Ops. Ensuring that processes are followed precisely and keeping track of all the moving parts within product development and other functions requires a high level of attention to detail 👀
8. Problem-solving mindset
   Product Operations professionals must identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies and be proactive in finding solutions. A mindset that focuses on continuous improvement is what is needed for success in this role.

Bettering the process

Product Operations may be an emerging role, but it’s no flash in the plan. It’s set to be a game changer for Product Management and make everyone in the Product Trio more effective.

By focusing on the three core concepts of product operations: data, tools, and processes, people in these roles can take the operational work off the plate of the Product Manager and give them more time and resources to impact the product direction.

Product Operations is the enabler, helping PMs and everyone else related to the product do more and do things better. Whether it’s bridging the gap between Product Development and Marketing, amplifying customer insights for Product Teams, or clearing the clutter from operational inefficiencies, Product Operations is becoming a key part of successful tech companies.

But to take your Product Operations to the next level, you need the right tools. That’s where we come in. From intuitive roadmapping and idea management to streamlined feedback collection, ProdPad is built to help teams collaborate, align, and drive better outcomes. It’s THE centralized platform that makes it easy for Product Operations to manage the data, tools, and processes that empower Product Teams to succeed.

Come see how ProdPad helps those in ALL product roles. Start a free trial today and see how ProdPad can transform the way your team works.

Product Operations FAQS

Who created Product Operations?

Product Operations doesn’t have a single inventor. It emerged organically as tech companies like Uber and LinkedIn grew rapidly, needing streamlined processes to manage increasingly complex product ecosystems. These companies were pioneers in formalizing Product Ops Teams to bridge gaps between Product Management, Engineering, and Customer Success. The role evolved out of necessity, adapting to support data management, tool optimization, and operational excellence as organizations scale​. 

How much do Product Operations professionals get paid?

In the U.S., Product Operations salaries range widely based on experience, location, and company size. According to Talent.com, the median salary for a Product Operations Manager is around $138,000.

Of course, this can vary drastically depending on location, the size of your business, and if you end up at one of the top-paying FAANG companies. The Product Operations salary is comparable to Product Management, suggesting that these roles are on a similar seniority level. 

Can smaller companies benefit from Product Operations?

Product Operations isn’t something you should try to avoid. Regardless of your size, you’re going to need at least someone spending time on operational tasks. That said, smaller companies won’t usually have a dedicated Product Ops role and instead benefit by incorporating its principles into existing positions.

As smaller companies grow, formalizing Product Ops will ensure smoother scaling, better resource allocation, and enhanced team collaboration, saving time and money.

How does Product Operations evolve as a company grows?

In the early stages, Product Operations tasks are often shared among team members, focusing on basic process management and communication. As companies scale, the role matures into a specialized function, taking on responsibilities like managing complex tool ecosystems, analyzing customer feedback at scale, and ensuring seamless inter-department collaboration. In mature organizations, Product Ops often drives strategic initiatives and fosters continuous improvement across teams​.