AllaboutProducts

Who does what? Are they the same or different? Can both exists simultaneously?

I always wondered how the world moved from conventional Product owner to Product manager designation. Is it a completely different position altogether or perhaps a different slang for the same designation.

Well, in reality, Product owners are part of Product manager. Both of these positions often share overlapping responsibilities.

Product managers are responsible for the overall Product- The strategy, GTM, Features development, concept to launch cycle and much more while Product owners are mostly limited to being part of Scrum team, and managing backlogs.

Here’s 5 key differences between Product Manager and Product Owner:

Product Manager	Product Owner
Product Strategy & Roadmap	Product’s Overall functionality
Long term vision and Market analysis	Manage backlogs and User Stories
Works Cross-Functionally	Works within Scrum Team
Responsible for Product’s Quarterly and Annual Goals	Responsible for Sprint Planning and Release cycles
Defines high-level Needs of overall Product Outlook	Defines break down of high level needs into development increments.

Organizational Differences:

Each organization has their own requirements when it comes to hiring someone for managing their Product.

A Product manager is often hired when an organization requires someone who has industry experience, well-versed with Market research, Could devise Product launch strategy and manage the overall Product’s development. Startups and certain Tech Giants skip Product Owners when PMs work directly with the engineering team

On the other hand Product Owners comes into the picture when Organizations have engineering teams working in Agile setup and requires someone who could refine feature development, work as a mediator between the overall Business needs and development team.

In a nutshell, organizations go for PMs if they would like to have someone who can manage both Strategy and execution. On the other hand, POs are often preferred where working in an Agile setup and delivery of Sprint releases is a priority with the organization.

Example: E-commerce Company (Amazon, Flipkart, Walmart)

Role	Responsibilities
Product Manager	Defines the vision for a new recommendation engine based on user behavior. Works with business teams to validate the need and forecast impact.
Product Owner	Breaks down the recommendation engine feature into user stories, works with developers to refine algorithms, and prioritizes the backlog.

Example: SaaS Company (Salesforce, Atlassian)

Role	Responsibilities
Product Manager	Identifies customer pain points, defines a roadmap for new integrations, and aligns stakeholders.
Product Owner	Works with engineering teams to refine API specifications, manage sprints, and ensure smooth release cycles.

Summary: Who’s accountable for what in features and Product development?

• Product Manager: Owns the Product Strategic positioning with high level feature development
• Product Owner: Owns the functional and technical development of features