Day in the Life: Product Manager

Name: Priya K.
Job Title: Product Manager, Value Stream Engineering

17 years of engineering
I’m a Practice Lead and Product Manager on the Value Stream team. We align the delivery of infrastructure product capabilities based on priorities. I’ve been here for 17 years and have worked on many different teams and technologies, including application development and infrastructure.

Focus on continuous improvement
We use many new technologies and products— cloud, containers, platforms and a wide variety of tools. There’s a focus on continuous improvement opportunities in the way we build and operate. Our focus is on extreme automation and self-service for our customers as well as internal consumers of our products.

Staying for the culture
I’ve been at Discover for a long time. It wouldn’t have been possible without the open culture where we trust, support and help each other. We learn a lot from our leaders and colleagues every day as part of our job. It’s great to work in a collaborative environment as a team towards a common goal, encouraging and recognizing each other. The work friendships gives me a sense of belonging and positivity. We care for each other and our extended Discover family members. For anyone new, I’d say bring “collaboration” to Discover! I strongly believe in the phrase “we can’t do it alone.”

Continuous learning
Discover is a continuous learning organization. We truly care about our employees and invest in development. My favorite learning opportunities are the lunch and learns, trainings, volunteer activities, conferences, meetups, employee resource groups, and of course the College Commitment program. Through this program, we financially assist employees with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. I’ve never heard of any other companies that motivate their employees to do so many activities outside their regular job roles.

Leaders who trust and take risks
I work for great leaders who trust my decisions and let me take risks. They’ve positively challenged me and believed in my ability to achieve my full potential, which sometimes I wasn’t even aware of. Our leadership is engaged with our teams. Every week our leaders and engineers across departments meet to sync up and have open discussions. No one is afraid to express their views. Here, leaders build leaders.

Endless opportunity
The environment is very welcoming and transparent. There are endless opportunities and flexibility. When you work at Discover you are not just limited to your job role, you can learn and do much so more than that.