A day in the life of: Nilendra Fonseka, Senior Product Manager
Our Senior Product Manager (and pioneer of our Employee Share Plans solution), Nilendra, gives us a glimpse into his work world.
What is your role at Automic?
I’m a Product Manager at Automic. The way I look at my role is that I represent the customer at our company, while also having insight to what our business goals are in the organisation. The role is to optimise both sets of knowledge to achieve the greatest value to make business easier for our clients through our products.
What is your approach to managing your daily/weekly workload?
My two main priorities in the week revolve around two things that I feel go hand in hand: prioritising and alignment.
This entails many things from prioritising what I’m working on in the week, to prioritising our backlog or roadmap for each product stream. However, this process is impossible to do well without great alignment between all stakeholders involved in the decision making, or the end-user of the product.
In our fast-paced environment, priorities can change at a pin drop, and you need to accept that even the best laid plans need to be tossed aside if a greater opportunity arises. I feel the skill is quickly adapting your workload to chase the greatest value, rather than committing to a plan because it is a lot of effort to put it together. The goal is to deliver the most exceptional product that makes business easier for our clients and stay winning!
What new skills/professional development have you acquired working at Automic?
Automic is the fastest-paced company I’ve ever worked in. Our IT team and business work so openly together, asking questions, always asking why, and seeking constant feedback from each other.
I think it’s essential to collaborate with a team who cares and will speak up if they do not understand, or do not agree. I’ve been saved a lot of pain during the development cycle because a team member pointed out a risk I didn’t see, or an opportunity to do things a better way. It’s something that’s hard to measure, but it’s worth its weight in gold!
I think this environment has developed my ability to think quicker, be more open, and chase great ideas and opportunities more quickly, which has been great for my professional development.
We are also technology leaders, which means we are always looking at ‘green field’ ideas. I have been fortunate to be a part of our foray into the AI world, workshopping product ideas with potential partners in this space to bring the value of this new technology to our product and customers. Watch this space!
What do you like most about working at Automic Group?
The culture here is second to none – the people are amazing to work with, and motivated. I really enjoy learning from my colleagues in the IT team, it is the perfect balance of youthful energy and wise heads!
We have great leaders to learn from and to model behaviours from. The office is always buzzing with good vibes and good snacks.
What are you looking forward to achieving at Automic Group in future?
We are building something exciting, there doesn’t seem to be a ceiling on how far we can go! It is incredible how many products are being developed at the same time. I’m proud to have been part of the pioneer product build for our incredible Employee Share Plans product, going from zero to disruptor within a few months was something I feel could only be achieved the Automic way. I’m looking forward to releasing some more memorable products while helping define the product path at Automic, and being a part of this great Australian story of disruption and growth.
Nilendra with his fiancé Ananya seeing the Snow Monkeys in Nagano, Japan.
Lastly, what can’t you get through the workday without?
Black coffee! I am intermittent fasting as I am getting married at the end of the year, and I have been given strict weight KPI’s to reach by my partner. Snacking has been deprioritised, and I have strengthened my relationship with black coffee.
For current Automic Group job opportunities, see here.
