Solis | CPO & VP Product Executive Search | UK & Europe
The wrong hire costs YEARS. The right one changes EVERYTHING.
At Solis, we are experience Product Management Headhunters, and have covered retained executive search briefs for CPOs, VP Products, Heads of Product and other leaders.
We partner with SaaS businesses, AI platforms, marketplace operators, intelligence platforms and businesses building new propositions, evolving to Product-Led organisations and creating new service offerings across markets such as the UK, Europe, Dubai and international.
• Retained & exclusive search
• SaaS · AI · Marketplace · Intelligence Platforms
• Shortlist in 10–14 working days
• UK · Europe · Dubai · US · APAC
THE FINANCIAL REALITY
Most CPO searches fail before they start.
"The brief is written for the person who left - not the problem the business needs to solve. The market is smaller than it looks. And the cost of a mis-hire at this level is measured in years - not months."
Research consistently shows that a mis-hire at senior leadership level costs more than three to four times the annual salary of the role. At CPO or VP Product level that cost multiplies significantly; years of lost momentum, misaligned engineering investment, a demoralised product and engineering team, and strategic drift that takes new leadership considerable time to reverse.
Clients engage Solis when this hire is business-critical - when scale, ambiguity or competitive pressure make a generic process unacceptable. We partner with founders, CEOs, boards and senior HR leaders across B2B SaaS, marketplace businesses, intelligence platforms (building a new function or updating a legacy platform), D2C brands and businesses turning proprietary data into new commercial propositions".
What we look for that most processes miss
We look for leaders who possess the operating judgement to know when to pivot, when to hold the line, and when to adopt an entirely new approach. Leaders comfortable with the ambiguity of the messy middle of product development - where data is incomplete, stakeholder pressure is high, and the consequences of wrong calls compound over time.
These are the people at the heart of shifting a business from being sales-led or engineering-led to being genuinely product-led. They define a North Star that gives teams direction. They build strategies grounded in real customer needs rather than assumptions. They bring the wider business with them - creating the cross-functional alignment that turns product into a growth engine delivering products customers choose to use, supporting long-term retention, revenue and sustainable growth.
Beyond vision and strategy, product executives must be people multipliers. We assess how they mentor and develop product managers, how they build psychological safety in their teams, and whether their leadership creates a product organisation that is resilient and capable of scaling - not one that becomes dependent on the leader's own involvement.
ROLES WE PLACE
Executive product leadership, every configuration
From the first senior product hire in a pre-scale business to a group-level CPO search for a platform preparing for exit. Every role below is one we place regularly.
Permanent executive appointments
Chief Product Officer (CPO)
Strategic product leadership at board level. Owns product vision, strategy, the product organisation and the commercial outcomes of the product. Salary range 150,000 to 300,000. At CPO level, base salary typically represents 60 to 70 percent of total compensation + equity, bonus and LTIP must be modelled separately.
VP of Product
The bridge between the product function and the executive team. Commercial accountability alongside product strategy. Most common in Series B and C businesses preparing for scale. Salary range 120,000 to 180,000.
Head of Product
The most common appointment through our executive practice. Owns the team, the process and senior stakeholder relationships. When this hire goes well, the CPO stops doing the work that was previously consuming their time. Salary range 90,000 to 130,000.
Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO)
A growing role in businesses where product and technology strategy are inseparable - common in AI businesses, intelligence platforms, and data-led organisations. One of the most technically demanding executive profiles in the market.
Director of Product
Sits between Head of Product and VP Product in larger organisations. Owns multiple product areas or a significant domain. Salary range 100,000 to 150,000.
Principal / Group Product Director
Senior individual contributor or multi-domain product leader operating at executive level. Owns the most strategically complex product problems across multiple product lines or a significant platform domain. Common in marketplace operators, intelligence platforms and enterprise SaaS businesses where the product estate has grown beyond a single CPO's direct oversight. Salary range £120,000 to £160,000.
Interim & fractional arrangements
Interim CPO
Placements are typically completed within two to three weeks of the brief. This could be long term sickness, cover before a new CPO joins or a variety of other reasons. Day rates from £1,000 to £1,800 depending on scope and background.
Fractional CPO
Arrangements are particularly suited to pre-Series A businesses that need strategic product leadership without a full-time commitment.
Finding the right fit
The challenge differs.
The approach adapts.
We do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to executive product recruitment. Every product professional follows a different path into the discipline and develops a different blend of capabilities. The right CPO for a profitable bootstrapped SaaS business is a very different profile from the right VP Product for a PE-backed platform preparing for exit, or a Head of Product joining a founder-led marketplace for the first time. We spend time understanding the specific business challenge this hire needs to solve before we go to market, and we adapt our approach accordingly.
Building from scratch
0-to-1 and pre-scale
The first senior product hire. No processes, no rituals, no decision-making frameworks yet. The right leader is comfortable going through the tickets, setting up backlogs, establishing OKR frameworks, building product operations from the ground up while staying close enough to delivery to be credible with engineers from day one.
Driving delivery
Scale-up and growth stage
The product organisation has outgrown its informal processes. Founder-led decision making has created momentum but also dependency. The right leader introduces sharper discovery capability, stronger prioritisation frameworks and data-driven decision making - without dismantling the speed and culture that created the traction.
Transforming the function
Mature and transforming businesses
A sales-led, service-led or engineering-led business transitioning to product-led. Or an established product organisation that needs sharper strategy, proper documentation and communication frameworks, and a leader who can reenergise and refranchise engineering teams around clearer problems and better context
Salary benchmarks
Executive Product Salaries
UK 2026
Salary bandings for product leadership roles have become broader and less reliable as a standalone benchmark. Job titles like Head of Product, Product Director and VP of Product are used interchangeably across the market, and some businesses offer senior titles without the scope or compensation to match. CPO salaries at startups can be as low as £100,000 while late-stage or listed businesses exceed £300,000. Company size, funding stage, maturity, sector and location all drive significant variation within every band.
These ranges reflect what product leaders are actually accepting in 2026 - not what businesses are advertising. At CPO and VP level, base salary is rarely the full picture. Equity, bonus and long-term incentive plans typically add 30 to 40 percent above base in PE-backed, pre-IPO and late-stage SaaS businesses. A candidate who appears out of reach on base salary alone may be accessible when total compensation is structured thoughtfully. Some scaleups will also offer equity to attract exceptional talent.
The market is also pulling in two directions simultaneously. VC funding contraction since 2022 has compressed salaries in some parts of the market. At the same time, AI platform and intelligence platform businesses are paying premiums of 15 to 25 percent above standard SaaS bands for product leaders who genuinely understand data commercialisation. The average conceals more than it reveals - treat these ranges as a starting point, not a conclusion.
Geography matters more than many salary guides acknowledge. London and the Home Counties consistently sit at the upper end of every band, with some roles commanding 15 to 20 percent above the UK average. The South West, North East and parts of the Midlands tend to sit toward the lower end, though remote-first businesses have narrowed this gap significantly since 2022. Where a candidate is based and whether a role is remote, hybrid or office-based will all influence what is achievable.
The search process
What retained executive search actually involves
We are transparent about the process because clarity at this stage sets the right expectations for everything that follows. Lot's of talented product leaders are exploring the market, but our process is designed to help you find the right one.
01
Brief and market reality
We want to understand what you're looking for, challenges you've faced or constraints to hiring. This helps us to assess the market in order to inform you of what the market looks like before you commit to the search - who exists, who is placeable, what comparable businesses are paying, and where the genuine constraints are. The output is a written role definition built around the commercial problem the hire needs to solve, not a copy of the job description.
02
Market mapping
We map every relevant executive in your target market - competitors, adjacent sectors, comparable business models. This can vary, and allows us to build a wider picture of the market. You see this long-list.
03
Outreach to passive candidates
We approach the executives on your market map directly - discreet, personal, specific to your business. They require a personal, informed approach from someone who understands their background. With as little as 5% of applicants actually being suitable for a role, this ensures we have assessed and benchmarked the breadth of talent ahead of shortlisting.
04
Assessment
Structured conversations that assess commercial judgement, how candidates have built and led product organisations, and how their track record maps to your brief. Not a CV summary, but an honest view of what this person will bring and what the risks are.
05
Shortlist - Tailored to your need
For 1st round conversations we also recommend at least between 5-7 high calibre candidates to assess, so the process will filter down to 2 or 3 candidates at the final stage. All motivated, qualified, assessed, breaking down background, motivation, specific reasons we believe they match your brief, and any concerns we have identified.
06
Offer management and first 90 days
We stay engaged through negotiation, notice period management and the first 90 days. We want to improve the way we work and service we deliver, and feel it's essential to understand both sides and ensure we are delivering a high quality service. So we will maintain frequent contact to ensure it has all ran smoothly.
International & cross-border executive briefs
We operate where
your business operates
For all international briefs we offer two services: helping businesses build product leadership directly in the UK or Europe using local talent, and facilitating the relocation of proven executives between markets for international assignments.
Although Solis is Headquartered in London, we have extensive experience working on international mandates, and supporting businesses looking to expand their UK or European teams.
US & APAC into EMEA
Expanding into the UK and Europe
US SaaS, data and AI businesses entering EMEA need CPOs and product leaders who understand how to facilitate product-led growth model, build relations with customers to understand evolving requirement and the European market realities - GDPR implications, longer enterprise sales cycles, the difference between PLG and sales-assisted motions in European markets. We help ambitious businesses to build teams locally in the UK and Europe
Dubai & Abu Dhabi
MENA digital leadership hires
Leveraging over a decade of international headhunting experience, we can support buinesses in the UAE, KSA and GCC regions looking to hire and relocate of UK and European product talent into MENA markets.
We also have a network of international and local product leaders throughout the GCC region, although our strongest reach remains in the UAE, namely Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Europe and UK
London . Amsterdam . Paris . Munich . Berlin
We partner with both UK and European businesses with critical hires for Product Leaders.
This could be for businesses creating new roles, replacing previous employees or looking to build teams in markets i.e UK businesses building executive product leadership in Europe, and European businesses hiring UK-based product leaders, Solis can help leveraging existing networks across the cities.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about
CPO executive search
Tell us about your product leadership challenge
Whether you are making your first senior product hire, reducing founder dependency, preparing for exit, or transforming a sales-led business into a product-led one - submit a brief and we will come back with a view on the market and the right profile before you commit to anything.
