What is a Product Owner's role?

The Product Owner (PO) is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the Scrum Team's work. Key responsibilities: (1) Product Goal — developing and explicitly communicating the long-term product objective; (2) Backlog management — creating and clearly communicating Product Backlog items, ordering them to maximize value; (3) Stakeholder management — representing stakeholder needs to the Developers, ensuring they understand what needs to be built and why; (4) Acceptance — deciding whether each increment meets the Definition of Done and is acceptable. The PO is a single person (not a committee) with final authority on backlog ordering. They may delegate work but remain accountable. Effective POs are available to answer Developer questions, decisive about priorities, and skilled at balancing business, technical, and user needs. The PO role bridges business and technology.