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Getting to know…Damon Anderson, VP Product Management

© Worldpay 2014. All rights reserved.

When and why did you join Worldpay?

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“I joined Worldpay in August 2012 so I’m quickly closing in on two years. I can’t figure out whether it has gone slowly or flown by, but with all the new joiners in eCommerce I do feel like a bit of a veteran.

The opportunity to join Worldpay came out of the blue and at the time I didn’t really know a lot about the journey the company was on. I knew Worldpay was sold by RBS to private equity and had a huge UK business but I didn’t really appreciate it’s global ambitions. I went along for the interview and was intrigued right away. By the time I had my final interview, it was clear that this would be the perfect place for me and I really wanted the job.

Worldpay was experiencing big changes and had even bigger ambitions. I saw Worldpay as a career defining opportunity, so I went for it and thankfully they went for me!”

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“I figured out relatively early on that my ambitions of being an All Black rugby player were probably unrealistic so I focused on studying other areas including IT, marketing and management. Since then, I’ve spent 15 years in various product, technology and marketing roles almost exclusively in financial services.

I spent the first half of my career in my homeland of New Zealand and then moved to the UK in 2004. When I arrived in London, I was lucky enough to land a role at American Express where I spent six years in various product, commercial and marketing roles. The highlight at Amex was launching the Titanium Centurion Card (the super-exclusive Black card which was literally made of titanium metal). I also spent time at Visa Europe and helped grow a card portfolio into an eight figure P&L from a standing start. Throughout this time I was always keeping one eye on the online payments space which was experiencing an innovation boom.

eCommerce was definitely the right place to be and when the Worldpay offer came in, it seemed like all the planets had aligned”.

Can you tell us a little about your career history? How did you end up at Worldpay?

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“I’m VP Product Management for eCommerce which means I’m responsible for all our eCommerce products except Alternative Payments Methods (APMs) so (for now) that means acquiring, gateways, fraud, treasury and mobile. Well, I say I am responsible but this is not strictly true as thankfully I have a fantastic team of product managers who make my life a lot easier as they effectively run each of these product categories.

Together we make sure our products are growing profitably, that we’re developing the right capabilities for our customers (and Worldpay) and that our commercial teams have the right expertise and support.

My role is hugely diverse and while a typical day would vary wildly – it might go something like this. Coffee, a couple of one to ones, interview a product candidate, meet a customer, meet a potential supplier, chair a team meeting, make some product decisions, present an executive update, host a product webinar and of course respond to far too many emails. OK, this would be a fairly busy day but you get the drift!”

What is your role and what do you do every day?

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“One of the reasons I love Worldpay is that we have a very clear strategy that underpins our ambition, to be the world’s most progressive and reliable payments partner.

A core pillar of our eCommerce strategy is that we own, control and provide our products and this gives us an incredible advantage over our competition. As the product team, we must make sure we offer the best products in the market and that we’re able to differentiate them favourably against others. That’s what I love about my role, it’s totally aligned to the business strategy and turning that into actual technology that improves the online world”.

How does your role support our eCommerce and Worldpay strategy?

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“I love the fact that we are transforming an already large and successful business into a true leader in global eCommerce. Very few of our competitors come close to the breadth of services that we offer, yet we still have a lot to do. For me, Product Management sits at the heart of this transformation and we can’t double the size of our business without having the right capabilities. I love the challenge of figuring out what our customers want, what is going to make us profitable and then delivering it.”

What do you enjoy most about your job?

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“The sheer scale of what we’re trying to achieve. We’re building a business in a growth industry with lots of new people, using new technology for new customers. For me this means there’s a lot of pressure to deliver, you guessed it, new products! We still have a lot of work to do to manage all of these conflicting priorities, but no-one said it was going to easy.”

What’s the most challenging part?

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“You have joined a complex organisation, experiencing lots of change, operating across the globe, in a range of verticals with a lot of products. It would be very easy to be overwhelmed by all of this, but it’s important that you embrace this and realise that nothing is perfect and just stick at it. Keep asking questions and keep learning – remembering that everyone else is in the same boat. There are very few opportunities in a career that come close to what we have here at Worldpay. It is an incredible story, not just in the payments industry but in any company. I’m sure that one day we will all look back and realise that all the hard work was worth it.”

There are lots of new joiners in eCommerce, what advice would you give them?