When it comes to delivering new digital brands using LotusFlare DNO™ Cloud, the role of the Technical Product Manager is critical to both a project and the advancement of LotusFlare DNO Cloud. The role is challenging and complex but also rewarding, as described in our latest interview with Bojan, the original Technical Product Manager in our Belgrade office. Bojan explained his key responsibilities and why market research is a vital step in delivering valuable business outcomes to LotusFlare customers.
Bojan, thanks for joining us today. Please tell us more about your career before LotusFlare.
Before LotusFlare, I spent 8 years in engineering roles that ranged from junior to team leads as well as entry-level engineering management. My work also covered various technology stacks and environments from back-end engineering to embedded systems development. I joined LotusFlare as the first employee in the Technical Product Manager (TPM) role over 5 years ago and that’s been my role ever since. I am proud to say that I have helped to develop what being a TPM is all about at LotusFlare.
What led you to this career path and why did you join LotusFlare?
I learned about LotusFlare through personal connections and I was aware of the newly-opened Belgrade office. I learned about what sort of employment they were offering and what they needed and so I decided to try myself out in a new occupation. My main motivation at the time was to see how I could work in a startup-like environment and grow with the company in a new career path.
What are your key responsibilities and what is the most challenging aspect of your role?
As a TPM, my main responsibility is to understand what the market needs and what the customers are expecting in a given project. Another key aspect of the role is to be able to come up with simple ways of addressing market problems and to be able to present how to solve those problems for the end users and our partners. Last but not least, it’s my responsibility to leverage the internal knowledge base as well as provide explanations to internal engineering, design and business teams to leverage their knowledge which helps deliver results that are beneficial to the company and future customers.
So, what does your typical day at work look like?
Rather than days, I tend to look at recurring events that are typical or regular. A few examples of such events might involve meeting with engineering and design teams to work on new product capabilities or prioritizing work with delivery teams. At other times, I conduct market research, write requirements documentation that helps tune the DNO Cloud roadmap or collaborate with other product managers to make sure roadmaps for the different DNO modules are aligned so no blockers exist in terms of dependencies and timelines.
How would you describe LotusFlare to someone considering joining our team and which advice do you have for them?
I believe that the fastest way to grow professionally and personally is to be surrounded by talented people who are not afraid to tackle complex industry problems and who have the drive to see it through. Having been here for 5 years now, LotusFlare has a lot of those talented and driven people. Looking back and seeing how LotusFlare has developed so far, it’s a very good place to start your career in software engineering and product development while still giving the opportunity to more experienced people, like me, to handle interesting and challenging engineering problems.
