How I got my job in product: Matt Terrington, global digital product owner

Matt Terrington is a global digital product owner at Nissan. He explains what he does in his job in product and how he got it.

What are your main responsibilities?

“My daily schedule is typically structured around the availability of teams in different time zones. Early morning is dedicated to conversations with people in Japan and India, or regional teams east of London. My afternoon/evening is dedicated to the US, or regional teams west of London.

My work is a balance of overseeing design or development of new products or features/optimisation of existing features, and the research and validation of new product strategies. There’s not usually a typical day but I get to work with loads of talented people in many disciplines so can go from an experience strategy workshop, user research observation session, service and UX design reviews, product demos, and activation meetings — which is all great! 

Like everyone else, I also have a lot of emails, comments, notifications, meetings, and admin that can get in the way of creating value. This part is not so great 😉”

No two product career journeys are the same. Discover how others have forged their paths. 

How did you get your job?

“Through a bit of luck and through desire. I’ve worked in a range of industries including interior and furniture design, museums, and galleries, higher education, software development, and automotive. Some of the titles I’ve had are head of digital, head of production, project manager, and product owner.

My formal education has been in the arts: BA Ceramics and Glass Design, and MA Latin American Art History — perfect qualifications for digital product management…

I was contacted by a recruiter, and the opportunity to work in a new industry in a customer-centric team appealed to me.”

Tips on getting a job in product?

1. Be on time.
2. Try to understand at least one challenge the industry might be facing.
3. Be presentable.
4. Don’t be afraid to bring some of your personality into the room or presentation.
5. Be honest.

Team structure

“We’re a global customer experience team working with our regional and market colleagues to create services that improve our customer’s journeys. As a team, we’re focused on different stages of the customer journey and work with in-house and agency specialists to flex our working teams depending on the initiative’s needs.”

How has product management changed?

“I think that the discipline and tools of product management have matured, but that the environments we work in still struggle with what product management is sometimes.”

Follow Matt on Twitter and Linkedin. 

How did you get your job in product?

Discover how others have forged their product paths in our How I got my job content series. If you have an interesting story to tell about how you landed your job in Product we’d love to help you share it. Take this quick survey to get started!