Life at Ometria: Beatriz, Product Manager

We spoke with Beatriz, one of our Technical Project Managers, who is making a remarkable move into a Product Manager role. We had a chance to discuss her time and development at Ometria since 2017 as well as her journey as she moves to the Product team.

What were you doing before Ometria?

Before Ometria, I was working in marketing and advertising focusing on digital marketing and SEO optimisation. After some time in the marketing industry, I realised that I wanted to do more. I had a revelation when a friend of mine told me about her experience at a startup and how fast she was growing personally and professionally.

So how did you find us?

You can say Ometria and I are meant to be! When I decided to transition to the startup world, I started looking for positions that would combine my marketing background with a tech focus. I coincidentally found Ometria and Ivan’s (our CEO) culture deck and saw the values. It was everything I was looking for! I thought: “This place sounds awesome”. 

At the time, the company was advertising a Customer Success/Onboarding Exec role, which sounded cool even though I didn’t have experience in that specific area. Reading about how much value Ometria’s platform brings to retailers as well as the company’s emphasis on values and people, I immediately decided to apply.

Tell us about your role at Ometria?

Initially, I started in the Customer Success/Onboarding team. I was working with clients, understanding their data, which was an exciting place to start and all very new to me. 

At that time, when we were in a small office in Mayfair, everyone was in one room and I could ask everyone questions. I had a lot of support from my colleagues as well as from one of the co-founders. Six months into that role, I was given two options to keep progressing: either become Customer Success Manager or transition to a Technical Project Manager role. I spoke to people in more technical roles to get a better idea of what it would be like and I felt the TPM role was a better fit for me. 

It was hard at the beginning as I was totally outside of my comfort zone, but I grew a lot. There was a huge focus on data and it was great to see the logic behind Ometria’s platform.

What is a TPM?

A Technical Project Manager manages the client onboarding journey after the sales process. During onboarding, a TPM makes sure the clients have everything they need to help them get the best out of the Ometria platform. They have to juggle many tasks and manage any technical queries whilst ensuring there is clear communication. 

What have you loved about being TPM?

My time as a TPM allowed me to really understand the platform to such a high level that I could come up with the best solution that will make the clients happy! I loved my team as well. We worked together so well by helping each other.

Why did you want to move into the Product team?

I’ve decided to take a role in the Product team because I really like the feeling of helping the Ometria platform evolve, grow and move forward whilst still being close to the customers. It’s really exciting!

How have you made that transition?

Ometria has greatly supported me in making this transition happen. I have been working with the People Team on my personal professional development and my transition into a different team. I’m doing a General Assembly course in Product Management to learn the foundations of the Product area. 

Additionally, I will be getting coaching and mentoring from both inside and outside the business, such as an external mentor, and weekly 1:1s with the product team leadership and Product Managers here at Ometria. I’m also going to put a lot of time into doing my own research and going to local meetups.

We caught up with Bea two months into her move to the Product team to see how she was getting on…

How has the transition been to the Product team – how are you finding it?

It’s been a great transition so far! It is only my second month in the role but I am already leading my own product initiatives. 

I thought the transition was going to be a lot harder as the team dynamic and processes are different, but everyone has been really helpful. There’s a lot of user research to do and strategy meetings which have been really interesting. 

I’ve been working closely with Josh, another Product Manager, and the tech team whom we call ProdEng. We have a meeting every Monday to go through projects, the backlog and the team’s capacity to decide who will be doing what. I really enjoy working with our developers and engineers. They’re really smart people who love what they do and I learn a lot from them. It’s great to now have access to their knowledge, which I didn’t have previously. 

I’ve also been working on my own development and product skillset. For instance, I have recently completed a UX bootcamp at General Assembly. It gave me the basics of UX/UI and now I’m doing my own research and seeing the team develop what I’ve learnt. 

Why work at Ometria?

Firstly, I really believe in the product. We have lots of cool and innovative projects in the pipeline, which I am excited to be part of. 

However, my main highlight of Ometria is the people. Being surrounded by smart people that keep improving and constructively challenging everything they see is a great environment to be part of. Ometria believes in you and that trust makes you believe in yourself and your ability to drive value.