Advanced Product Owner Certification

Foundation

What is Scrum?

Scrum is a lightweight framework that helps individuals, teams, and organisations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems. Created by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, Scrum is the world's most widely adopted agile framework — used by over 58% of software organisations globally and across banking, healthcare, e-commerce, and government sectors.

Scrum breaks complex work into short focused cycles called Sprints — typically 1 to 4 weeks — and continuously inspects and adapts based on real feedback. This allows teams to deliver value early, change direction quickly, and improve continuously.

Official Definition · Scrum Guide 2020

"Scrum is a lightweight framework that helps people, teams and organisations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems."

Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland

The Three Pillars of Scrum

🔍

Transparency

All significant aspects must be visible to those responsible for the outcome.

🔎

Inspection

Practitioners regularly inspect artifacts and progress to detect undesirable variances.

⚡

Adaptation

When inspection reveals problems, the process must be adjusted as soon as possible.

The Five Scrum Values

C

Commitment

The Scrum Team commits to achieving goals and supporting each other — accountability for outcomes.

F

Focus

Primary focus on Sprint work and goals — eliminating multitasking and improving quality.

O

Openness

The team and stakeholders are open about all work and challenges they face.

R

Respect

Team members respect each other as capable, independent individuals — the foundation of trust.

C

Courage

The courage to do the right thing, surface impediments honestly, and have difficult conversations.

The Three Scrum Accountabilities

🎯

Scrum Master

Accountable for establishing Scrum. Coaches the team, facilitates events, removes impediments.

💡

Product Owner

Accountable for maximising product value. Manages the Product Backlog and Product Goal.

⚙️

Developers

Self-managing professionals committed to creating a usable Increment each Sprint.

The Five Scrum Events

🔄 The Sprint

The heart of Scrum — fixed-length event of 1 month or less. All other events happen within the Sprint.

📋 Sprint Planning

Initiates each Sprint. Team defines Sprint Goal and selects backlog items. Max 8 hours.

☀️ Daily Scrum

15-minute daily event for Developers to inspect progress and adapt the Sprint Backlog.

🔍 Sprint Review

Inspect Sprint outcome with stakeholders. Collaborative working session. Max 4 hours.

💬 Sprint Retrospective

Team inspects how the Sprint went and creates improvement plan. Max 3 hours.

The Three Scrum Artifacts

📋

Product Backlog

Commitment: Product Goal

Ordered list of everything needed in the product. Single source of work.

⚡

Sprint Backlog

Commitment: Sprint Goal

Sprint Goal + selected items + delivery plan. Created by Developers.

✅

Increment

Commitment: Definition of Done

Concrete stepping stone toward Product Goal. Must be usable.

Why Scrum Matters — Industry Data

58%

of software organisations use Scrum

37%

faster time-to-market with agile

25%

salary premium for certified professionals

70%

of Indian IT companies use agile

Scrum vs Traditional Project Management

Aspect	Scrum	Traditional
Planning	Adaptive — evolves with learning	Predictive — planned upfront
Delivery	Incremental — value every Sprint	Sequential — value at end
Change	Welcomed — competitive advantage	Resisted — formal process
Customer	Continuous — every Sprint	Minimal — start and end
Team	Self-managing, cross-functional	Hierarchical, specialised

Overview

About Product Owner Plus

The Certified Professional Product Owner Plus is designed for Product Owners who already have hands-on experience managing a backlog and want to master advanced product strategy, stakeholder influence, and outcome-driven decision-making. Where the Associate-level certification builds foundational backlog and prioritization skills, this Professional-level program focuses on the harder parts of the role: navigating competing stakeholder agendas, making data-informed product bets, and driving measurable business outcomes.

As a Professional Product Owner, you move beyond simply maintaining a backlog and start shaping product strategy at a portfolio or multi-team level, using techniques like outcome mapping, experimentation, and advanced prioritization frameworks to maximize the return on your team's effort.

You can complete this certification as a standalone Scrum Intelligence CertiPlus credential, or pair it with an official Professional-level exam from Scrum Alliance (Advanced CSPO) or Scrum.org (PSPO II), giving you a credential that reflects genuine, experience-backed product leadership.

What You Will Learn

Learning Objectives

1

Develop and defend product strategy at a multi-team or portfolio level

2

Use advanced prioritization and outcome-mapping techniques

3

Navigate conflicting stakeholder priorities with confidence

4

Design lightweight experiments to validate product decisions before committing resources

5

Coach other Product Owners and mentor junior product talent

6

Align product strategy with broader business and organizational goals

7

Use data and user feedback loops to continuously refine the product roadmap

8

Manage backlog health across multiple teams working on a shared product

Course Content

Detailed Syllabus

Module 1: Advanced Product Strategy

▾

Connecting product decisions to business strategy, portfolio-level thinking, and long-term roadmap planning beyond a single team's backlog.

Module 2: Outcome-Driven Product Ownership

▾

Moving from output-based thinking (features shipped) to outcome-based thinking (value created), and how to define and track meaningful outcome metrics.

Module 3: Advanced Stakeholder Management

▾

Navigating competing priorities from sales, leadership, customers, and engineering, and building the influence needed to say "no" credibly.

Module 4: Experimentation and Validated Learning

▾

Designing lightweight experiments, MVPs, and feedback loops to de-risk product decisions before full investment.

Module 5: Working Across Multiple Teams

▾

Backlog coordination when a product spans more than one Scrum Team, and an introduction to product ownership at scale.

Module 6: Coaching and Mentoring

▾

Supporting and mentoring other Product Owners as part of a maturing product organization.

Module 7: Exam Preparation

▾

Case-study practice and exam-readiness review for your chosen certification path.

Who Should Attend

Is This Right For You?

This certification is best suited for:

Current Product Owners with at least six months of hands-on backlog and stakeholder management experience
Product professionals looking to formalize and validate advanced product skills
Professionals preparing for roles such as Senior Product Owner, Product Lead, or Group Product Manager
Holders of an Associate-level Product Owner certification who are ready for the next step

Prerequisites

Valid CSPO certification and minimum 1 year of experience in a product role.

Certification Assessment

Exam & Certification Details

📝

60

Questions

⏱️

90

Minutes

🎯

70%

Pass Score

🔄

2

Attempts

Certification Details
Exam Format	Online proctored — take from any location with webcam
Question Type	Scenario-based multiple choice
Passing Score	70% — 42 out of 60 questions correct
Duration	90 minutes
Attempts	2 included in course fee
Certificate	Digital certificate within 24 hours of passing
Digital Badge	LinkedIn-shareable badge within 48 hours
Validity	Lifetime — no expiry, no renewal fee
Language	English
Practice Exams	2 full-length practice exams included

The Scrum Intelligence CertiPlus Professional assessment uses case-study and scenario-based questions testing how you would handle real product strategy and stakeholder situations, not just textbook definitions.

If you choose a combo option, you will also sit the official exam of your selected partner:

A-CSPO (Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner) from Scrum Alliance: builds on the CSPO credential with a focus on advanced product ownership practice.
PSPO II (Professional Scrum Product Owner II) from Scrum.org: a rigorous exam testing advanced product ownership competencies.

Each partner sets its own prerequisites, format, and passing criteria — check the partner's official site for current requirements before booking your exam.

Career Outcomes

Your Career After Certification

Entry Level (0-2 yrs)

₹6–10 LPA

With CertiPlus + CSM

Mid Level (3-5 yrs)

₹10–18 LPA

Senior Scrum Master

Senior (6+ yrs)

₹18–28 LPA

Agile Coach / Lead

Data from Naukri, LinkedIn Salary Insights, Glassdoor India 2024-2025. Individual outcomes vary.

A Professional-level Product Owner credential signals genuine, experience-backed product leadership. It can support your progression into:

Senior Product Owner or Product Lead positions
Group Product Manager or Head of Product roles
Product strategy or product operations positions
Agile product coaching roles supporting multiple product teams

Product leadership is one of the most competitive and well-compensated career tracks in modern technology organizations — but actual role availability and compensation vary significantly by company, industry, and region.

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need the Associate certification first?▾

It is not mandatory, but recommended if you are new to product ownership. If you already have hands-on backlog and stakeholder management experience, you can start directly at the Professional level.

Is this certification relevant if I work at a startup rather than a large company?▾

Yes. The strategic prioritization, experimentation, and stakeholder-management skills covered apply just as much to a small, fast-moving startup as to a large enterprise product organization.

What is the difference between PSPO I and PSPO II?▾

PSPO I validates foundational product ownership knowledge, while PSPO II (available as a combo option here) tests advanced, scenario-based application of product strategy and stakeholder management skills.

Is the Product Owner Plus (Professional) training live or self-paced?▾

Entirely self-paced. Your course material is available online as soon as you enrol and you work through it whenever it suits you. There are no fixed class timings, no need to take leave from work, and the assessment is taken online at a time you choose.

How long is the Product Owner Plus (Professional) credential valid for?▾

Two years from the date of issue. We send renewal reminders as the expiry date approaches, and renewal keeps the same credential ID so anything you have already shared — your CV, LinkedIn profile or email signature — stays accurate. Expired credentials show as expired on our public verification page until renewed.

How can an employer verify this certification?▾

Every certificate carries a unique credential ID and a QR code. An employer can scan the code or enter the ID on our public verification page and immediately see the holder's name, the certification, the issue date and the current status. Because verification is live rather than a static PDF check, suspended, revoked or expired credentials show accordingly.

Do I get a digital badge with the Product Owner Plus (Professional) certification?▾

Yes. Alongside your certificate you receive a digital badge you can download from your dashboard and add to your LinkedIn profile, CV or email signature. A one-click LinkedIn share is included, and it carries your verification link so anyone viewing the post can confirm the credential.

What happens if I do not pass the assessment first time?▾

Your first two attempts are included in the enrolment fee, so a single difficult sitting does not mean paying again. You keep full access to your course material and can retake the assessment once you have reviewed the areas you found hard.

Is the exam fee included in the 299 US dollar price?▾

Yes. The US $299 covers the complete course material, the CertiPlus assessment, your first two attempts, your digital certificate and your digital badge. Nothing is added at checkout. If you choose a combination option that includes an official partner credential, that partner's exam fee is shown separately and clearly before you pay.

How many hours of study does Product Owner Plus (Professional) require?▾

Around 16 hours of material in total. Because the course is self-paced you can spread that across a few weeks of evenings, or work through it in a more concentrated block if you have the time available. Most people complete it within two to three weeks.

Product Owner Plus Certification - Professional Level | Scrum Intelligence