Chief Product Officer executive search

Chief Product Officer (CPO) Executive Search

The best product leaders don’t just manage teams; they shape the strategic future of a business. The Chief Product Officer executive search is about finding a leader who combines commercial instincts with a deep understanding of users, data, and technology.

A CPO is responsible for defining product vision and unlocking growth - whether by building new products, refining existing ones, or exploring acquisitions and markets to enter. They operate at the intersection of strategy, execution, and innovation.

What to Consider When Hiring a CPO

Product Strategy & Vision

Clear product north star; ability to align the roadmap to company goals and translate strategy into measurable outcomes.

User & Market Insight

Strong discovery muscle: qualitative/quantitative research, segmentation, and validation to ensure the team builds what truly matters.

Roadmap & Prioritisation

Crisp decision-making and trade-offs; uses data and insight to prioritise impact, manage dependencies, and communicate clearly to stakeholders.

Growth & Monetisation

Pricing & packaging, growth loops, activation/retention, and PMF expansion - always tying product work to commercial results.

Design & Experience

Elevates UX quality and consistency; partners tightly with Design and Research to ship intuitive, delightful experiences at scale.

Partnership with CTO & GTM

Deep alignment with Engineering, Design, Data, and Go-to-Market; builds a high-trust, transparent culture and scales product orgs effectively.

The CPO Search Process

Step 1

Stakeholder Alignment

Gather input from founders, board, CEO, CTO, and GTM leaders. Clarify business goals, product strategy, and success metrics for the next 12-24 months.

Step 2

Role Definition & Scorecard

Define scope (Product, Design, Research, Analytics), stage fit, leadership style, and required outcomes. Align on evaluation criteria and process.

Step 3

Market Mapping & Research

Identify target companies and adjacent sectors; map CPO/VP Product talent with relevant scale, domain, and business model experience.

Step 4

Outreach & Engagement

Craft a compelling product narrative - vision, customer impact, and growth story. Personalised outreach to passive and active candidates.

Step 5

Assessment & Interviewing

Structured interviews, product deep-dives, portfolio/case work, stakeholder panel, and (optionally) product sense/strategy exercises.

Step 6

Offer & Negotiation

Move decisively with transparent compensation (including equity) and clear mandate. Secure commitment and align on the 90-day plan.

Step 7

Onboarding & Integration

Support the new CPO with stakeholder introductions, roadmap context, resourcing, and early wins - ensuring strong partnership with CTO and GTM.

Case Study: Chief Product and Marketing Officer (CPMO) Appointment at a High-Growth IoT Solutions Provider

Client Challenge

Wireless Logic is a high-growth, highly acquisitive, PE-backed business providing software and services that help customers manage and monitor their IoT devices. The company needed a strong Chief Product and Marketing Officer to define the right product strategy and commercialise the next generation of products and services.

Our Approach

We conducted a targeted executive search across Europe, focusing on product and marketing leaders with proven experience scaling technology businesses. After mapping the market, we approached CPOs, CMOs, and senior product and marketing executives from leading technology companies, assessing technical expertise alongside cultural fit and leadership style.

Outcome

We introduced John Dillon, a seasoned product and marketing leader with a strong track record at Exact, Akamai and Nokia. He spent much of his early career in entrepreneurial software businesses such as WebMethods (acquired by Software AG) and SurfControl (acquired by Websense). After leading product and marketing teams at Akamai and Nokia, he joined Exact, an Apax-backed ERP software company, in 2018 as CMO. The company was valued at $600m at that time. Within 15 months, he helped lead its sale to KKR at a $1.3bn valuation, followed by a subsequent investment from Silver Lake valuing the business at $3.2bn. His experience spanning successful start-ups and PE-backed corporates is highly relevant to Wireless Logic.

Impact

With John in place, the company has significantly strengthened its product and marketing leadership, accelerating revenue growth and international expansion. In addition to Montagu’s majority investment, Wireless Logic is now backed by General Atlantic, valuing the business at approximately £3.5 billion, and the company continues to broaden its offering.

How to run a high-quality CPO search

Define the mandate - the next 12-24 month outcomes: activation/retention, revenue & LTV, core roadmap themes, new market segments, and major product bets.

Success profile & scorecard - stage fit (startup → public), business model (B2B/B2C, PLG/SLG), domain exposure, team scale led, ownership of Design/Research/Analytics, and clear success metrics.

Org design - scope across Product, Design, Research, Analytics (and Growth, if applicable); partnership model with CTO and GTM; IC vs management mix; where to hire around the CPO (e.g., VP Product, Head of Design).

Product strategy & discovery - customer & market insight muscle, problem framing, experimentation/validation cadence, prioritisation approach, and how strategy becomes a concrete roadmap.

Execution & culture - planning rituals & roadmap hygiene, outcome-oriented KPIs, release/shipping cadence, cross-functional alignment with Eng/Design/GTM, hiring bar, coaching, and bar for quality.

Assessment - structured interviews, product sense/strategy case or portfolio review, a 90-day plan exercise, stakeholder panel (CEO/CTO/GTM/Board), and backdoor referencing.

Great CPO searches balance product vision, customer insight, and commercial impact. You’re hiring the leader who aligns strategy with execution, builds a high-trust product culture, and ships outcomes that move the business.