Every role in a financial institution plays a big part in the overall success of the company and its product. The role of product manager at Bruc Bond is one of the most critical roles. In general, our product manager bridges the gap between customer experience, development and business. The product manager develops guidelines, strategies and clear definitions for constant improvement of the service. It is necessary for the product manager to possess a profound expertise in many different aspects of Bruc Bond, including market conditions, competition, product knowledge, foresight vision, as well as customer needs and demands. Bruc Bond’s product manager focuses on 5 valuable aspects that contribute to the success of the endeavor to including scalability, stability, usability, reliability and security.
Clients are provided with a system when it is developed. At the start, not all products are designed in a way that meet client needs and don’t always include all the features that are necessary for customer satisfaction. This is where the product manager comes in. Bruc Bond sees business and product development as a constant evolution. The product is never set in stone and there is always room for improvement. In order for this evolution to take place, the product manager is in steady contact with clients to ensure that they are receiving what they need from the product. Additionally, the product manager is communicating with company stakeholders to filter applicable information and necessities. This is the first step of the product manager’s enhancement process. Through clients and stakeholders, the product manager is steadily receiving feedback and then makes decisions on how the product can be bettered and how the company can accomplish these changes.
The product manager utilizes their broad knowledge of the field and of the company to evaluate not only the wants and needs presented from clients and stakeholders, but also to determine on their own what is needed from the developing product. Clients might see their need in a specific way and from a specific viewpoint, but the product manager sees all sides of all coins. While a client might say they need X, the product manager will realize that clients actually need Y. It is the product manager’s responsibility to detect the subtleties within the larger dynamic and move forward with a plan of action that is realistic and beneficial.
The product manager acquires all of the relevant data from the relevant teams and then develops a plan of execution. Within Bruc Bond, the product manager is generally in direct contact with team engineers and designers, or the product marketing manager, who take care of sales and marketing. The project manager’s tasks at hand are often related to the design and development of the product. The product marketing manager carries out new approaches provided by the product manager in order to improve sales methods, business expansion and marketing procedures.
The next stage of the process is brainstorming. This involves the product manager’s extensive knowledge of Bruc Bond, the financial industrial climate, possible limitations and product awareness. They communicate often with the business and development teams to come up with a strategies and proposals. One of the most important things that the product manager considers is the priority of the task at hand. This requires a deep analysis of the size of the task and considerable market research that includes competitor’s features and customer reviews. Sometimes a competitor implements a similar feature that is looking to be improved within Bruc Bond. The product manager assesses the success or failure of the system in the arena, and evaluates ways to improve on it. In particular, this includes research of market customer reviews in order to formulate a unique insight into what is working and what is not.
If the task is related to the development side, the product manager must prepare technical requirements for the sake of development. This is a very detail-oriented task and requires analysis and planning. The product manager, along with a team of engineers, will decide if the feature is possible, and then make an executive decision on which features can reasonably be accomplished and when. Sometimes, there is a need for a new feature but it might include major complexities on the development-end of things. Once there is a sprouted plan of action, the product manager convenes with the development team in order to gain feedback from their end. They take all sides into consideration and then go back once again to re-assess the situation. From here, they begin to development an estimated timeline of development and testing. In certain situations, the feature development will be a long-term project. Other times, it will be known as a ‘sprint.’ A sprint is a short time-boxed period in which a ‘scrum team’ works to complete a set amount of work in that period of time. In essence, the project manager is responsible for each sprint’s success. They are organizing time frames, budgets, financial tracking, and more, and ensuring that all of these tasks are completed and functional.
Finally, after the product is released, the product manager must keep a close eye on the client and stakeholder reactions. They still are in constant contact with both factions in order to receive relevant data on the changes. The product manager also advises the sales and marketing team on publishing a release notice, as well as assist in overseeing a marketing strategy to best embody the changes being improved upon in order to notify clients. The product manager is constantly tracking and monitoring all of the feature optimization results. Some of the platforms that they use are google analytics, quality measurements, coding and more.
"Clear and effective communication is what defines us," says Bruc Bond's fintech guru Eyal Nachum. "For us, product managers are vital hubs of communication in the company. Without them we could not be as effective at what we do."
Bruc Bond’s product manager plays a chief role in supporting the success of product development while maintaining open communication among all factions involved. Their goal is to consider all sides, determine realistic aspirations and make decisions regarding what is top priority to ultimately deliver clients with the most optimal customer experience. The role is complex and delicate, but ensures a high-level of trust, communication and knowledgeability between clients, stakeholders, team members and the market at large. As the realm of financial technology continues to grow and develop, a strong product manager guarantees to all parties involved that Bruc Bond are keeping up with the market trends, while always making customer’s needs the number one consideration.