Yana Lohvinenko’s Journey to Becoming a Dev.Pro Product Manager 

Yana Lohvinenko’s career growth at Dev.Pro proves what’s possible when drive is nurtured in the right support system. During her seven-year tenure working with Global Payments as a client, Yana has consistently expanded her skill sets and responsibilities. 

Yana’s work ethic has fueled her success, but her story also highlights how Dev.Pro helps unlock the potential in each of its staff members. Through consistent feedback, mentorship, and hands-on opportunities, Yana advanced from an intermediate-level contributor to a Product Manager.

In this Q&A, Yana reflects on her career journey at Dev.Pro, the lessons that shaped her growth, and the importance of a supportive work environment for realizing success. 

Q&A with Yana Lohvinenko

You’ve been working on the Global Payments account for seven years. What role did you start in, and what were your responsibilities at that time?

I first joined Dev.Pro in May 2018 for an intermediate-level role working for our client Global Payments. My responsibilities were typical for that type of position: writing and clarifying team requirements, learning existing business processes, creating tickets, establishing acceptance criteria, and explaining the Definition of Done (DoD).

How did Dev.Pro support your growth from that starting point to becoming a Product Manager?

The projects I worked on in Global Payments had huge impacts on my progression. Dev.Pro believes feedback is a powerful driver of professional growth. The company conducts formal performance reviews yearly, but team members never wait that long for feedback. 

Dev.Pro prioritizes regular, open communication with contractors, ensuring they receive ongoing guidance. Perhaps most importantly, the company sets clear expectations for team members looking to advance. 

For those eager to grow, Dev.Pro has a well-structured path and an active community where members exchange knowledge, run workshops, analyze cases, and share best practices. The community is open and highly collaborative, with specialists trading tips and tricks and discussing business tactics. 

My growth didn’t happen overnight. It was a steady process that took years of collaborative work with Dev.Pro team members. 

Looking back, what was the turning point when you felt ready to take on a Product Management role?

Honestly, I don’t think I ever felt completely ready. Product Management requires new responsibilities and skills, such as budgeting, market research, identifying product niches, and forecasting. 

I’d say the Product Manager mindset shift happens when you move beyond thinking in terms of tactical changes. You begin asking strategic questions about a product’s performance in the market, how it compares to competitors, and ways to boost customer retention. 

I was fortunate to work with a PM who encouraged me to explore bigger questions about strategy. A major turning point comes when you are not only curious about strategy but also given the space to pursue it. 

Tell us about the Value Added Solutions you manage. Why are these products so important in the payments industry?

Payment products are those that let customers make purchases and allow merchants to track and manage their transactions.

While payments are the foundation, merchants often need more than the basics. That’s where Value Added Solutions comes in. We offer additional tools like transaction analytics, loyalty programs, and customer databases. 

With Value Added Solutions, merchants can better understand their customers and keep them engaged. Whether it be email marketing or loyalty programs, these “extras” boost customer retention and long-term loyalty.

Which personal skills have been most critical to your success in Value Added Solutions?

From my experiences, flexibility, open-mindedness, and critical thinking are key. You also need to actively listen, consider different perspectives, and find solutions that address real problems. I’ve also found that persuasiveness helps get others on board, and a bit of stubbornness can help bring new ideas to life. 

Above all, empathy and a genuine desire to help are essential. You need to understand the problem, feel it yourself, and want to solve it. In the end, truly putting yourself in your customer’s shoes is the best way to offer meaningful solutions. 

From your perspective, how does Dev.Pro’s approach to matching specialists to roles benefit product outcomes?

What sets Dev.Pro apart is their focus on long-term partnerships, not just filling seats for a single project. They make sure specialists are versatile enough to transition and succeed on future projects, even if the original engagement ends or the client moves on.

When staffing a project, Dev.Pro employs a multi-layered process where every detail is considered to ensure the match works for everyone involved. Recruiters begin by assessing hard and soft skills, then managers ensure there’s also a strong cultural and communication fit with the client.

If you had to name Global Payments’ biggest product achievement during your time as a Product Manager, what would it be?

For me, success isn’t just one big win. Rather, it can be found in every Value Added Solution that benefits a client over time. Even small requests that improve a client’s overall product count as wins. My first major project included many complex features that are still in use five years later, which is incredibly rewarding.

If you could give one piece of advice to a CTO or business leader about setting up their product for success, what would it be?

Listen to your team. They are experts in their areas and often notice things you might have missed. I’d also recommend finding a balance between proven processes and innovating. Every new innovation won’t pay off, but some can be real game-changers.

What should clients know about Dev.Pro’s approach to ensuring product success?

Dev.Pro is an outsourcing company, but we always aim to work with clients as true partners. Every client is different, and building strong, trust-based relationships takes time. We value collaborative environments where everyone’s ideas count and every perspective is valued.

Our specialists are highly skilled and experienced. Even more, they are fully committed to helping Dev.Pro clients succeed, now and in the future. 

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned about delivering value through Product Management at this scale?

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is how critical it is to have a good Manager on the team. A good Manager strikes the right balance between giving the team freedom to work and also providing the necessary amount of guidance. 

It is also important that both the client and the product team are genuinely interested in what you, as a Product Manager, have to say. When your perspective is heard and considered, it keeps you motivated and helps the product grow.

Finally, you need to see that what you’re building is actually delivering value. Without feedback from users, it’s hard to understand the true impact of your work.

If you had to sum up your career journey with Dev.Pro in one sentence, what would it be?

I’d sum it up as being in the right place, with the right people, at the right time. Every project, every colleague, and every opportunity over these years has helped me grow into the Product Manager I am today.

A client’s and current manager’s perspective

Paul DeStefano, Sr. Director of Product at Global Payments, has worked closely with Yana throughout her journey. From his perspective, her career growth is also a reflection of how Dev.Pro’s outstaffing approach empowers both specialists and clients:

“Yana’s attention to detail and persistence to making the best possible product for our customers is unmatched. We’ve had to support a variety of different types of customers if the past 8 years, from loyalty programs powering large quick service restaurants with millions of consumers participating, to stadiums and venues where here in the US thousands of fans come in for an event and offering a fan engagement experience where fans can seamlessly receive promotional stored value and single use offers in their digital wallet and in 1 scan at check out, be identified and redeem at the event, to small businesses and local shops in Europe where customers want to be able to participate in a frictionless card-linked loyalty program we offer on behalf of the merchant, Yana’s contributions to these products launched all over the world have been significant and I personally could not be happier to have seen Yana develop to a lead product manager of Global Payments.  Thank you Yana and thank you Dev.Pro for the partnership and for bringing in such great talent which ultimately helps our customers run and grow their businesses.”

Summary

Yana’s seven-year career journey at Dev.Pro is powerful proof of how motivation and solid support can drive career growth. At the same time, her story underscores an important truth: career progression doesn’t happen overnight. Rather, advancement occurs with the right balance of mentorship, feedback, and collaboration in an organization. When achieved, this leads to a mutually beneficial dynamic where engaged team members contribute directly to a thriving business.