Blanca Montoya is a Product Manager for Oceaneering’s Subsea Robotics business unit. She launches new products into the market, manages existing product lines by improving profitability, and drives initiatives to expand product lines to other regions.
Blanca started her career in design engineering, applying her mechanical engineering degree in full.
“I loved designing parts and assemblies and conducting engineering calculations for structural weldments and pressure containing equipment for drilling.”
After four years, she acquired the experience and expertise to move from design to approval status, allowing her to authorize engineering packets and ensure equipment success in the field. Blanca remained in an engineering design role for 10 years before setting her sights on a Black Belt Lean Six Sigma certification, a two-year program qualifying her to lead project teams and manage process improvement initiatives. After achieving her Black Belt, Blanca moved into product management.
“Product management is for people who seek challenge, love leading teams, and working across disciplines. You work in the weeds, immersed in detail, but also must look at the big picture. You need to be visionary to drive and deliver strategies for your product lines.”
Blanca joined Oceaneering in 2021 and was introduced to subsea robotics. On a typical day, she studies industry trends and works with her team to create vision and strategy (product roadmaps) for new products or existing product lines. She also collaborates with the sales team and engages with customers to gain insights and drive product success.
“As a product manager, I’m still in a technical role as the subject matter expert of my product lines, but also a leadership role, managing cross functional teams and convincing key stakeholders to adopt new initiatives.”
Blanca recently applied her vision to the launch of Oceaneering’s Ocean Perception™ Marine Life Monitoring Software, a unique solution that integrates equipment and sensor information to deliver situational awareness to a vessel-based control center, providing real-time detection of marine life and vessel movement.
“Ocean Perception helps operators meet regulatory requirements and is ideal for use during operations that generate significant noise that can disrupt or harm marine wildlife, including pile driving, drilling operations, and seismic and geophysical surveys. We need to ensure marine life is protected, and Ocean Perception supports the safe and timely management of activity when marine life is detected. The product line has already gained significant traction and we’re now looking at applications including vessel strikes and long-term marine life monitoring.”
Blanca’s advice to new recruits is to have confidence, maintain perseverance, and work on things that make you happy and feed your passion.
“If you’re in engineering, you’ll quickly know if the world of design and calculations are for you. If not, there are plenty of other roles requiring a technical background to consider—project management, quality, or even manufacturing.”
Oceaneering offers the opportunity to build interesting careers in an industry where innovation and problem-solving are the order of the day.