About
Name: Santiago Ponce de León
Nationality: Uruguayan
Programme: MBA 2018
Education: BBA Business Administration and Management, Universidad Católica del Uruguay ‘Dámaso Antonio Larranaga’, Uruguay
Current role: Senior Vendor Manager, Amazon, London, UK
Pre-MBA role: Business Technology Manager, SKF Group, Uruguay
What stood out about the academic learning experience for you?
Strategy and Finance were particularly interesting. There were a lot of cases that helped you bring them down to earth all the concepts that were taught.
Please tell us about the standout elements of the Cambridge experience or extra-curricular activities you had during your MBA.
Extracurricular activities and, in particular, College life, is the highlight of the Cambridge MBA. Everyone will experience it in their own way, for me it was rowing for my college in ‘the Bumps’.
How would you describe the cohort of people in your class?
Collaborative, thoughtful and smart. The people you share your MBA experience with are the most important aspect of the programme.
What aspect of the MBA learning/experience would you say you find most useful now in your professional life?
Being a Cambridge alumnus and having done an MBA in a top business school brings prestige and access to better jobs.
What impact has the MBA had on your career?
I changed country, industry sector and, to a lesser degree, job function, which is a big jump. It’s very difficult to make a triple jump, so even if you haven’t had the same exact job function before, you’ll always need to tie the gaps to be an attractive candidate.