What numbers should I put on my CV as a product leader?
TL;DR
Translate your impact into financial terms: revenue, profit or margin, and cost savings, in that order. If you don't have actual figures, use projected, modelled, or budgeted numbers. The exact figure matters less than the ballpark. A number on your CV anchors the hiring manager on the scale of your impact and makes you stand out against candidates who only describe what they did.
Why do numbers matter on a product CV?
Numbers give the hiring manager a sense of what results you could deliver for their business. Consider these two CV examples:
I led the launch of a new mobile app by coordinating with Marketing and Design, carrying out user research and creating a product strategy.
I launched a new mobile app that delivered an additional £1 million ARR.
The second example is more persuasive, even though it does not contain all the detail of the first bullet point. A hiring manager is scanning CVs and the number will stand out against the text. What's more, it immediately anchors the hiring manager on the scale of your impact. The actual number matters less than the ballpark you are operating in. Compare £1,000 to £1 million. That's the difference a number makes.
What financial metrics should I include?
So far as you can, translate your achievements and impact into financial terms as this is the universal language of business. Hiring managers may not understand what an additional 10,000 customers did for your business, but they understand £1 million revenue. The key metrics to include are revenue, profit or margin, and cost savings, in that order from most to least compelling.
Beyond financial metrics, you can include proxies for revenue such as number of customers acquired, retention or churn, usage or adoption. These all translate back to revenue, profit or margin once calculated. For example, number of new customers acquired multiplied by average order value equals revenue.
Pick the best metric you have available that translates across different business contexts.
What if I don't have the exact numbers?
If the product has been live for some time, you should be able to access the financial information that indicates its performance. If the product is still being built, you will not have actual numbers, so you can use projected, modelled, or budgeted figures instead. As a product leader, you should have engaged with your Finance team to model the return on investment or business case for each initiative to help you prioritise. Those numbers are legitimate to use on your CV.
For example, a candidate led a digitalisation strategy at a B2B health-tech company, creating the product strategy and aligning stakeholders to deliver. Whilst they had started executing the plan, it had not fully realised the benefits. In this case, the candidate framed it in their CV as "Leading digitalisation strategy estimated to save the company £1 million."
What if my numbers feel too small?
This comes up constantly in coaching, particularly with candidates who have worked in smaller organisations, charities, or niche sectors rather than big enterprise. They look at their numbers and think they are not impressive enough compared to someone who has worked at a company with millions of customers.
But it is not a fair comparison, and hiring managers know that. What matters is the impact relative to the context. If you unlocked £500,000 of annual revenue for a 50-person company, that is a significant result. It shows the same commercial thinking as someone who delivered £5 million at a company with 5,000 employees. The number still anchors the reader on the scale you operate at and what you are capable of.
The bigger risk is leaving the number off entirely. A CV with no numbers forces the hiring manager to guess at your impact, and they will almost always guess lower than the reality.
Do I have the right to claim that number?
One pattern I see repeatedly, particularly with women, is hesitating to claim a result because other people were involved in delivering it. The product launched, the revenue came in, but you were not the only person who made it happen, so it feels dishonest to put the number on your CV.
Here is the test: would that result have happened without the decisions you made? If you led the strategy, made the key calls, and drove the work forward, the outcome is yours to claim. Nobody works alone, and hiring managers know that. Your CV is not a legal document. It is a demonstration of the value you can bring to their business. If the number is real and your contribution was central to it, use it.
Last updated September 2026