Favorite Parts Of Being A Product Manager At Levi Strauss & Co.
Kanika, a product manager at Levi Strauss & Co., most enjoys "working very closely with engineers," a passion stemming from her software engineering background and close friendships with engineers at PayPal. This deep technical understanding, combined with the satisfaction of "launching things" and seeing users engage with the products Kanika helps build, are key sources of professional fulfillment.
Product Management, Software Engineering, Technical Skills, Leadership, Problem-Solving
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Kanika Kapoor
Product Manager
Levi Strauss & Co.
Punjab Technical University
UCLA Anderson school of management- MBA
Engineering - Electrical
Apparel, Beauty, Retail & Fashion
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
Took Out Loans, Immigrant
Video Highlights
1. Kanika enjoys collaborating closely with software engineers, leveraging her background as a software engineer to deeply understand product architecture and technical frameworks.
2. She finds fulfillment in the product owner role, which allows for close collaboration with engineers and direct involvement in product launches.
3. As she's progressed in her career, she's transitioned to a strategic role that involves driving product vision, demonstrating career progression within product management and the evolution of responsibilities.
Transcript
What do you enjoy most about being a product manager?
My answer might be a little different from others, as working with engineers is something I really enjoy. I started my career as a software engineer and made some of my closest friends at PayPal who were also software engineers.
Even when I was a software engineer, they were really nice and taught me a lot about architecture, infrastructure, and the technical frameworks they were using. Understanding the product in depth through a technical lens is really fun for me.
As you grow and rise in your product management career, you might have to step away a bit from engineers and working so closely with them day to day. You'll get into a seat where you're driving more strategy and vision for a product.
Within product management, there are two roles: product owner and product manager, depending on the company. Typically, a product owner works very closely with engineers, while a product manager is a bit further away and may only talk to the CTO or director of engineering. They are more focused on all the initiatives together and where the product is headed.
For me, I still like the product owner responsibilities of working very closely with engineers. I get a lot of joy out of launching things. It feels really good when people are using something that I've built. That's the part I really enjoy.