What’s up with you in the corporate world? What’s a Requirements Manager?

I’ve been asked this question more times than I can count:
“Mom, what do you actually do at work?”
“So, dear, what does that ‘requirements manager’ thing even mean?”
“Wait… you work with cars, but you don’t build them yourself?”
“Okay, but in simple words… what do you actually do all day?”

Every time, I try to explain as clearly as I can.

But the truth is, my job – 𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 – is one of those professions that sounds very technical, yet at its heart, it’s all about 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.

Imagine a car that knows when to brake by itself, when to avoid an obstacle, or how to help you park without bumping into the curb.

Those “superpowers” of the car are built by many different people: some write code, others design cameras, sensors, or brakes.

But before anyone starts working, someone has to explain exactly what the car is supposed to do.

Not “sort of,” not “something like that,” but 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 — like a magical list of instructions.

That’s what a Requirements Manager does:
✏ listens to what the customer wants (“the car should see pedestrians”),
turns those wishes into precise requirements (“the front camera must detect people at least 30 meters away”),
explains to different teams what they each need to do and how their work connects,
and constantly checks that everyone is talking about the same thing.

In other words, I’m like the conductor of an orchestra of engineers — I don’t play any instrument myself, but I make sure everyone plays the same melody.

And the result is a smart car that knows how to keep you safe on the road.

But that still sounds a bit abstract, doesn’t it?

So I thought — instead of diagrams and flowcharts — I’d explain it through a story.

One that children (and grown-ups outside the engineering world) can understand.

𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭

It was a busy Monday morning in the City of Engineers.
Everyone was running around, getting ready for a big day — the grand launch of the world’s smartest robot: B.R.I.O.-3000! 🤖
(That stood for Brilliant, Rapid, Ingenious, and Organized — at least, that’s what the poster at the lab entrance proudly said.)
The robot was supposed to be helpful, clever, hardworking, and make people’s lives easier.
At least… that was the plan on paper.
But nobody really remembered exactly what the robot was supposed to do anymore.
One engineer said it should dance.
Another insisted it should drive a car.
A technician swore it was designed to bake cookies. 🍪
And someone from the testing team thought its main job was to say “Good morning!” in a thousand languages.
So poor B.R.I.O.-3000 tried to do everything at once.
It danced while pouring flour on a steering wheel, humming a tune that sounded like flamenco mixed with elevator music.
The result? Flying cookies, a sugary steering wheel, and a room full of people who didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
But instead of stopping, the engineers said,
“Don’t worry, we’ll fix it!”
And one by one, they all tried to “improve” the robot in their own way.
The software engineer announced proudly:
“Let’s make it speak Portuguese! It’ll sound so much smarter!”
The algorithm experts shook their heads.
“No, it should only take commands in English! That’s more scientific!”
The mechanic grinned.
“I replaced its arms! Now they’re attached with invisible wires so it can dance more gracefully!”
The hardware guy puffed his chest out.
“And I added wireless charging! Sleek and modern!”
Everyone clapped.
Until… they realized the lab only had electrical sockets.
Not a single wireless charger in sight.
B.R.I.O.-3000 blinked twice and said in Portuguese,
“Erro de processamento… não entendo o que vocês querem!”
The engineers froze.
“What did it just say?”
“I think… it wants a cookie?”
“Or maybe… a dictionary?”
And right then, as the robot took another flamenco step — snap! — the invisible wires broke!
Its hands flew off and started dancing across the room on their own! 💃💃
“Oh no, my hands!” cried the robot.
“Oh no, my code!” shouted the software guy.
“Oh no, my desk!” yelled the hardware engineer.
The lab was in total chaos.
And that’s when Patricia walked in.
She had a thick notebook, a pen, and that calm, confident look that said, “Alright, let’s bring order to this circus.”
“Stop everything!” she said firmly but kindly.
She gathered everyone around the big table.
“You there — what do you want the robot to do?”
“Be safe,” said one.
“And you?”
“Help kids learn better at night!”
“And you?”
“Stop singing while baking cookies!”
Soon, everyone was shouting ideas at once.
“What language should it speak?”
“Romanian!”
“English!”
“Portuguese!”
“Wait, can it read too?”
“How should it dance?”
“With its hands in the air!”
“Lambada!”
“No, cha-cha-cha!”
Patricia grabbed her markers and started writing on the whiteboard.
She drew arrows, stuck colorful notes, and organized all the chaos into something that finally made sense.
She listened to every team, checked that nothing contradicted anything else, and turned the whole mess into a clear plan.
Then she smiled and said,
“Alright. Everyone now knows exactly what to do.”
And for the first time ever… everyone agreed.
🔹 The software team rewrote the code in one language.
🔹 The algorithm team made sure the robot understood every command.
🔹 The mechanic rebuilt solid joints — strong enough for dancing without flying off.
🔹 And the hardware team added both a plug and wireless charging, just in case.
When everything was ready, they pressed the big red button: START.
B.R.I.O.-3000 blinked, smiled, and said clearly,
“Hello! I’m robot B.R.I.O.-3000. I know exactly what to do!”
And then it showed off:
🍽 It made breakfast with heart-shaped pancakes — no syrup explosions this time.
🧹 It cleaned the lab, sorting screws by color and size.
🌻 It watered the plants — without turning them into fountains.
🎵 It played happy music and danced a cheerful little jig… with both hands still attached!
Everyone burst into applause.
The robot worked perfectly, spoke politely, and did exactly what it was meant to do.
B.R.I.O.-3000 turned to Patricia and said,
“Thank you, Patricia. Now I know who I am and what I’m supposed to do.”
Patricia smiled.
“That’s the power of clarity and teamwork, my friend.”
From that day on, in every project across the City of Engineers, Patricia was the one who brought order to the chaos.
Too many ideas? She lined them up.
Complicated explanations? She translated them so everyone could understand.
Someone lost in a maze of spreadsheets? She found the way back.
And whenever someone asked, “How do all your projects run so smoothly?”
everyone just smiled and said,
“Easy. Because we have Patricia.” 🌟

𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚
A project without someone to collect all the ideas, clarify them, and organize them is like a robot that speaks Portuguese, dances flamenco, and loses its hands in the lab.
But when there’s someone like Patricia, everything makes sense — and even robots can work with brio! 🤖✨