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Is a product owner a member of the development team?

They can be.

In start-up environments, they often are.

The CEO or founder has an idea and then sets about creating the product or service in alignment with their vision and mission for the product.

In Scrum, the product owner is a role rather than a specific position so it’s relatively straightforward for a product owner to be a member of the development team.

It does carry a lot of responsibility and it is an important role so it could impact the workload of a developer.

A product owner is a big role. It involves discussions with customers, stakeholders, and members of the development team.

It can be very difficult for the product owner to focus on multiple roles within the organization so if you are a developer and like the idea of being a product owner, be prepared to manage expectations around your workload.

Some of the more famous examples of people who are developers and engineers despite being the CEO or founder include Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk.

As the product owner, they are focused on ensuring that the best version of a product or service is being built and that what is being built will continuously delight customers.

If you are interested in becoming a Product Owner, visit our Certified Scrum Product Owner course page and Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner course pages for an idea of progression within the product owner role.

Product Owner Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Product Owner Training Question