Written by: Karolline Marques
Co-authors: Thaynah Corrêa, Jacqueline Costa, Carolina Ishida, Giovana Nogueira
Nubank was born to help people recover control over their financial lives through simple and technological solutions. That is why the need to expand the digital product management field has become even greater.
In 2021, for the first time, we opened a training and hiring program for Associate Product Managers (APMs) to provide a practical and theoretical experience to people who wished to join the area and, therefore, train new product management professionals from Nubank.
Check out the career of an Associate Product Manager at Nubank, according to some members of the first class.
What an Associate Product Manager does
The Associate Product Manager is allocated to a multidisciplinary work team, also known as a squad, which operates with one common goal: to create and improve Nubank’s products. The level of product maturity and the need for different expertise varies a lot between squads and, therefore, the team’s composition also changes.
Overall, this professional will work daily with Software Engineers, Business Analysts, UX Designers, and other professionals to define the goals and targeting of the product. They will also have close support from the Product Manager (PM), someone more experienced in the field that has the role of mentoring, bringing new references, and contributing to the daily decision-making process.
Their routine varies between meetings (internal and external to the squad) and moments of focus. Besides, it is common to participate in interviews with Nubank’s clients or even work on support by chat or phone to deeply understand what are their pains and needs. This helps them develop empathy and make decisions that truly add value to Nubank’s clients.
Scope of Work
Since they are at the beginning of their career, Associate Product Managers are responsible for the implementation or, in other words, ensuring the defined strategy for the product takes place. For that purpose, this professional will help the team to reach its goal within a reduced scope, generally at a functionality level, integrating a full product.
Expected Skills
It is expected that the Associate Product Manager understands and communicates the clients’ needs with clarity, can focus on learning the daily implementation alongside the tech team, knows how to interpret data, and can use tools from this field. All of that with support from their team and a more experienced PM.
It is worth mentioning that, at this stage of their career, there is enough orientation to do the tasks, but there are also opportunities to experiment, make mistakes, and learn.
How Does It Feel to be an Associate Product Manager at Nubank?
Thaynah and Jacqueline are Associate Product Managers from the program’s first class at Nubank. After twelve months since they joined the team, they explain their role and how a day of work is at Nubank:
“I came from a completely different universe than Nubank’s. Since I graduated in architecture and have experience with management in the public sector, working with products in Fintech is a constant challenge. I dedicated my first few months to deeply understanding the core client at Nubank, the context, and the rules of business of my product, and that is how I started to feel more confident to work on more complex activities as time went on.
Three months after I began the program there was a relocation, and I was the only product person on the team. I still got constant support from my leader, but I had to take on bigger responsibilities so the team could perform without roadblocks and the product could be delivered on schedule.
I think this is what working for Nubank is. You will always be put on the spot and challenged to go a bit further and they will trust you with it, no matter how senior you are.”
Thaynah Corrêa – Associate Product Manager
“To be an APM at Nubank is to have the opportunity to learn through practice, with constant support and autonomy. Since I joined the team, I was empowered by my leader to take on challenges: At first, they were simpler tasks that got more complex as I developed myself.
Soon after, I took on a big challenge that involved three different teams and impacted every client at Nubank. I learned that communication is one of the most important skills to manage the interested parties and ensure the project’s success. The biggest highlight of this period was the way I got support from different people—especially my leader. To be an APM at Nubank is far from just being a support role for a senior PM.”
Jacqueline Costa – Associate Product Manager