Find the perfect Heads of Product in Hamburg in minutes from 15,000 CVs with the power of AI.
Need a Head of Product for product strategy, roadmap ownership, or discovery-led delivery? Bring in a freelance product leader who can align stakeholders, shape KPIs, and guide cross-functional teams in Hamburg or remotely. Fast, precise matching with vetted, available freelancers.
About the role
Product leadership A Head of Product sets the product direction and turns business goals into a clear roadmap. This role connects customer needs, market signals, and company priorities. In many teams, the person also acts as a Product Director or interim product lead when there is a gap in leadership.
What they deliver
- Product vision, strategy, and roadmap priorities
- Discovery plans, problem framing, and opportunity sizing
- Backlog focus and decision making with design and engineering
- KPI definitions, product reviews, and leadership updates
- Launch support for new features, services, or platform changes
Core skills A strong Head of Product combines product thinking with calm stakeholder management. They know how to question assumptions, simplify trade-offs, and keep teams focused on outcomes.
- Customer discovery and qualitative research
- Roadmap planning and portfolio focus
- OKRs, KPI tracking, and experiment design
- Working with UX, engineering, data, and commercial teams
- Clear communication with founders, C-level leaders, and delivery teams
Tools and methods The role often works with tools such as Jira, Confluence, Productboard, Figma, Miro, Amplitude, and GA4. The exact stack depends on the company, but the method stays the same: understand the user, define the problem, test the solution, and decide what to build next.
When companies bring one in Companies hire a freelance Head of Product when product work has grown faster than internal leadership. This is common during reorganizations, new product launches, growth phases, or after a founder-led setup needs structure. In Hamburg, this often fits digital commerce, logistics, media, and B2B software teams that need senior product support without a long hiring cycle.
What sets strong people apart Strong product leaders make hard choices early and explain them well. They do not only manage a backlog; they build alignment across design, engineering, sales, and leadership. In freelance work, that also means stepping in quickly, reading the situation fast, and making progress with limited context.
Meet FRATCH Heads of Product
Fabian Oechsner
Head of Product / Product Owner
Last position:
Head of Product / Product Owner at XXXLdigital (XXXLutz KG)
Developing a product vision and strategy
Creating a roadmap
Improving stakeholder communication
Introducing an outcome-oriented roadmap
Aligning with stakeholders and creating transparency
Defining relevant product metrics as a KPI tree
Initiating measures to improve product quality and measurability
Supporting the introduction and migration of the new Identity Provider (IDP)
Brintha Koether
Experienced Digital & Transformation Manager
Last position:
Global Head of Digital Solutions, Vodafone Business at Vodafone Group plc
- Directed a 110-strong global team including data scientists, product managers, sales, operations, and developers
- Led investment and strategic reviews of scale-up ventures to drive profitability
- Developed and implemented portfolio strategy focused on IoT, AI, API platforms, and software products
- Restructured portfolio, eliminating unprofitable products and reallocating 70% of investments and resources to AI and platform development
- Delivered Vodafone’s first internal GenAI projects, enhancing sales and marketing efficiency
- Streamlined innovation strategy, reducing initiatives by 80% to focus on AI product enhancements and network APIs
Dietrich Büchner
Head of Office Equipment Solutions
Last position:
Head of Office Equipment Solutions at PEAC Solutions Deutschland GmbH
- Launched a new IT financing and digital solutions vertical, building a $10M pipeline within six months.
- Enabled enterprise clients to shift from CAPEX to subscription-based IT consumption through as-a-service strategies.
- Built senior-level partnerships with vendors and channels to deliver integrated transformation solutions.
Jan Gleske
Interim Senior Application Owner for Pricing, Forecasting and Prognosis Domain
Last position:
Interim Senior Application Owner for Pricing, Forecasting and Prognosis Solutions at International energy trading company
- Collaborated closely with key users, business analysts and product owners to understand requirements, define priorities and derive solutions
- Managed external service providers
- Oversaw and executed updates, patches and release management
- Handled incident, problem and change management according to ITIL
- Analyzed and evaluated incidents and changes for operational impact and business processes
- Monitored systems and interfaces, ensuring IT security and compliance requirements
- Supported IT planning, cost monitoring and contract management
- Created and executed tests for maintenance and projects
- Assisted in designing technical solutions and contributed to projects such as IT landscape harmonization and modernization
- Independently led operations-related projects and continuously optimized processes
- Achieved significant cost savings through supplier negotiations, rightsizing and decommissioning of legacy systems
- Technologies: Azure DevOps, ServiceNow, icinga, metalogic mPE/mPX, FIS, inubit, Oracle, LeanIX, One Identity, Confluence, Copilot, XML, JSON, SQL, RabbitMQ, Python, BPMN, OKR, ITIL, Kanban
Yifan Zhang
Power Plant Solution Engineer
Last position:
Power Plant Solution Engineer at Vestas
- Addressed customers’ electrical and grid-related inquiries to ensure projects were delivered on time and in full compliance with grid code requirements.
- Documented areas for improvement encountered during projects and provided feedback to the R&D team for future product enhancements.
- Supported Nordseecluster (NSC) and Nordlicht (NDL) projects by explaining Vestas PPC and WTG control logic and methods and authoring PPC Function Design Specification (FDS) documents.
- Tuned PPC parameters according to project-specific settings agreed upon by the customer and TSO to ensure full grid code compliance.
- Assisted project managers by clarifying the technical background of contractual agreements and participated in negotiating testing procedures for the Baltic Eagle project, then issued grid code testing procedure documents for NSC and NDL.
- Created grid code compliance statements (GCCS) based on German and Dutch grid codes, assessed Vestas PPC, WTG, and SCADA system capabilities against these requirements, and documented gaps for R&D prioritization.
Domenico Pochiero
Director of Product
Last position:
Director of Product at QT Group
- Own product vision and roadmap for Axivion’s AI-enabled software quality and architecture platform (€35M+ ARR) with 12 direct reports (PMs, Marketers, etc.)
- Expanded TAM by 40% by repositioning the product as a compliance backbone for AI-driven, safety-critical software, generating €5M ARR growth
- Influenced €15M R&D investment through C-suite portfolio reviews, aligning innovation priorities with market and regulatory demand
- Enabled entry into regulated industries by accelerating certification readiness by 30%, improving retention and audit outcomes
Marcel Schuetze
Product Manager | Product Owner | Guidewire Expert | Agile Leader
Last position:
Product Manager | Product Owner | Guidewire Expert | Agile Leader
Mirco Marahrens
Building Resilient Solutions for Real-Time and Data-Driven Decision-Making
Last position:
Senior Software Engineer at Vattenfall
- Lead of the platform engineering team for the development of a platform for energy trading, focusing on high availability, low latency, and scalability of libraries and services
- Supporting quants and market access solutions for energy trading, including market access integration and deployment of algorithmic trading strategies
Stefanie Voß
Head of Production
Last position:
Head of Production at Artificial Rome GmbH
- Cultural immersive projects
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
Heads of Product statistics
Typical experience
21 years
Average project duration
2.7 years
Certifications per freelancer
1
Top business areas
Product Development, Information Technology, Operations
Top industries
Information Technology, Manufacturing, Retail
Most common languages
German, English, Spanish
Bachelor's degree or higher
88%
Master's degree or higher
75%
Doctorate
13%
Salary / Daily Rate Distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of freelancers in this role are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows how many freelancers charge within that range. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Average rates for Heads of Product & Seniority distribution
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Frequently Asked Questions
Got questions? Learn key details about FRATCH right now
A Head of Product defines direction, shapes the roadmap, and helps teams decide what should be built next. They spend time with users, product managers, designers, engineers, and leadership to keep priorities clear. The work often includes discovery, roadmap reviews, launch planning, and KPI follow-up.
A freelance Head of Product makes sense when you need senior product leadership quickly or only for a defined phase. That is common during transitions, new product launches, restructuring, or when the internal team needs a strong product voice before a permanent hire is in place. It is also useful if you want outside perspective without changing the team structure right away.
A strong Head of Product should be able to connect business goals, customer needs, and delivery realities. Look for clear product strategy, strong stakeholder management, and hands-on experience with discovery, prioritization, and metrics. They should also be able to work well with engineering, design, and commercial teams.
A Head of Product usually works one level higher than a Product Manager and often owns the overall product direction for a team or product area. Compared with a Product Lead, the title can be broader and more leadership focused, especially when it includes people management or portfolio oversight. In practice, the exact scope depends on the company’s structure.
A Head of Product is often needed in Hamburg by companies in digital commerce, logistics, media, travel, and B2B software. These teams usually need someone who can bridge customer needs, technical delivery, and business growth. The role is also relevant for scale-ups that work with distributed teams and need senior product structure.
A Head of Product can often work remotely if the team already has clear ways of collaborating. On-site time in Hamburg helps when the role needs to align founders, sales, engineering, and design in the same room, especially at the start. Many projects work best with a hybrid setup and regular in-person workshops.
Assess a Head of Product by the clarity of their product thinking and the impact they have driven in similar situations. Good signals are strong case examples, clear trade-offs, and the ability to explain how they set priorities and handled disagreement. You should also check how they work with data, users, and cross-functional teams.
Freelance Head of Product work usually means fast onboarding, visible responsibility, and close contact with leadership. You will often join when priorities are unclear or when the company needs structure around roadmap, discovery, or product governance. Strong communication and the ability to create trust quickly are essential.
Request a Free Demo
Get in touch with the FRATCH team and we will get back to you within 4 hours.
Would you rather directly get in touch?
We always have the time for a call or email!
Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
