Product Manager Spotlight: Harry De Souza
Hello everyone! Welcome to our first Product Manager spotlight of the year!
We've now opened up a dedicated Q&A board to give you the opportunity to get to know Harry better and ask him questions about the product he manages.
This question board will remain open until 5pm on the 4th February, so make sure you post your question there before its closed.
Now for the exciting part - introducing HARRY!
Name: Harry De Souza
Role: Product Manager
Product/workflow you manage: Procure to Pay, which is our internal name for the purchasing experience in MYOBB and ARL.
How long you have been at MYOB?
Just a tad over three years now.
What inspired you to pursue a career in product management?
Coming from a technical background, I always liked the strategic thinking aspect of software, the engagement with customers and the move from ideation to delivery.
Can you share a little about your background and how you arrived in your current role?
Back in my home country of Brazil, I worked almost my entire career in technical roles in the banking industry. After moving to New Zealand, I found the opportunity to shift to product ownership in a SaaS business, which paved the way for me to land the job at MYOB.
What has been your favorite project or feature to work on, and why?
I can’t share the specifics of my favourite project right now but I like transformation projects. Be it launching a new product or developing new functionality to an existing one. It's a great opportunity to chase greener pastures and really leverage what we can learn from customers.
A project I can share and am excited about is the work to improve our Uploads (In Tray) experience. This has been really rewarding to date and I’m excited to see what we can deliver.
If you could have any superpower to help with product management, what would it be and why?
Oh, omnipresence would be a good start! There are so many people we could engage with to learn more about what they expect from our product, and others we could use to bounce ideas with, but all of that requires engaging with all those individuals, and that takes time.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work? Any hobbies or passions?
I am obsessed with mechanical things such as cars, motorcycles, and even watches. I have a side project where I engage with car and motorbike brands that operate in NZ to review their vehicles, getting to scratch that itch while also working the storytelling and photography muscles.
What’s one thing you’d like the community to know about your product or team?
We are very aware that Procure to Pay (purchasing) is not the reason why someone starts a business. Our customers want to develop their business, and make money through invoicing their customers.
Purchasing/spending money, similar to doing the books is part of the job, so our work is always prioritised from the lens of making that workflow as easy as can be for our customers.
