LATAM countries your role covers: All countries in Latin America

Career Biography

Susana d’Almeida Farinhas is a technology transactions attorney devoted to developing the legal function and scale organisations. As the Manager of the Commercial Legal team in EMEA and Latin America at OutSystems, Susana leads the team which handles all customer, partner, and vendor negotiations in these regions. Susana also plays a strategic role in defining the programs, motions and templates necessary to operate in each relevant jurisdiction.

What specific challenges have you encountered when managing legal issues related to Latin American markets from a European perspective, and how has your team addressed these challenges?

Latin America is a highly diverse, multi-cultural region encompassing several legal frameworks. This shows both in the legal issues that concern the different internal and external stakeholders operating in Latin America, and in how they think of and do business.

Our team has been able to create and maintain successful relationships with these stakeholders by developing two key characteristics: curiosity and adaptability. We see each challenge as an opportunity to deepen our knowledge of local laws and regulations, and to better understand the business needs and challenges of our internal and external customers. This hands-on approach, together with actively listening to the issues raised, keeping an open mind, and taking cultural differences into consideration when discussing new projects or handling negotiations, allows us to adapt our communication style, adjust the path when needed and propose fit-for-purpose solutions on a case-by-case basis.

We have also developed a network of external counsel that regularly provides legal updates, with whom we discuss legal developments and risk-mitigation, and which plays a relevant part in our strategic thinking when developing country-specific initiatives.

What are your organisation’s plans in the LATAM region over the next 12 months and how will your legal expertise help to achieve these plans?

OutSystems remains focused on growing its business in the LATAM region and on continuing strengthening the existing relationships with customers and partners.

Our Legal team’s focus is to be a true partner to our internal teams and help the business develop in a sustainable manner. We work closely with the local field teams on key initiatives that allow OutSystems to enter new markets and reach new customers. Digital transformation has also been a priority – for example, this year we have implemented a new Contract Lifecycle Management system which has increased speed and efficiency in agreement negotiations and provides data that allows us to measure performance and the value that we bring to the company. This is one of several initiatives we have in flight to decrease the time spent in low-value, repetitive or routine work and free-up time for our team to be more proactive and help enable the broader business strategy.