2019 - Present

NOVAFORI - B2B & B2C DIGITAL MARKETPLACES
(Formerly known as Perfect Channel) 

London / Remote

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January 2022 - present

Head of Product - Next Generation Platform

• Leading two development teams and one Product Owner across two work streams to build the core platform and trading models for a new multi-client Software as a Service (SaaS) platform.

• Collaborating with designers and making design decisions as necessary to deliver a fully responsive and accessible user experience for marketplace operators, buyers and sellers.

• Responsible for prioritising and executing the product roadmap; maintaining alignment between product, sales & marketing stakeholders, senior management and shareholders and attending board meetings to present progress updates and deliver product demonstrations.

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January 2021 - January 2022 

Senior Product Owner - "Labs Team"​

• Senior Product Owner on “Labs” team, developing proofs of concepts for new & existing clients.

• Responded to requests for proposal (RFPs), produced and reviewed sales and marketing collateral and attended client meetings and supported pitches to new prospects.

• Recruited, on-boarded and trained new team members.

• Chaired Product Board and used client personas, based on market and competitor analysis, to influence company-wide product, sales and marketing strategies.

 

April 2019 - January 2021

Product Owner - Negotiation & Trading

• Worked with clients in the UK, US and NZ to propose and develop online auction and negotiation solutions to enable them to scale and diversify their operations.

• Articulated my vision for clients’ products to design and development teams through user journey maps, prototypes, wireframes and user stories, ensuring ongoing alignment with client expectations via demos and releases to UAT at the end of every 2-week sprint.

• Obtained estimates and prioritised backlog to optimise return on investment using Must Should Could, Won’t (MoSCoW) analysis, value score matrices and other prioritisation techniques.

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Key achievements:​

• Released a new commodity negotiation platform for global milk trade client’s buyers to list their supply requirements and invite multiple sellers to place bids and negotiate terms in real time.

• Worked across 4 Scrum teams in UK and Spain, together with 3rd party integration partners, on a complete platform redesign for a global auction house, enabling them to triple their online sales compared to the previous year in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. 

• Developed a new Singapore-based marketplace selling verified carbon credits to offset businesses’ CO2 emissions. Marketplace and auction platform went live in 2022.

• Successfully influenced the CEO to pivot from client services to SaaS model; ultimately getting agreement to build the new multi-client SaaS auction & trading platform.  Went on to lead and deliver the project. 

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2017 - 2019

CONNELLS GROUP - ESTATE AGENCY & PROPERTY SERVICES

Dunstable, Bedfordshire

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Dec 2017 - Mar 2019

Product Owner - Business Solutions

• Hired as Product Owner for customer engagement programme to improve retention.

• Coalesced research data with requirements from multiple departments to shape product roadmap across 3 work streams: customer portal, digital communications and updating the brands' public facing websites.

• Evaluated CMS platforms (Sitecore, Umbraco, Homeflow) as part of vendor selection process.

• Achieved senior stakeholder buy-in for new feature ideas using wireframes and prototypes (Balsamiq, Axure RP), before collaborating with user experience (UX) Designer and Solutions Architect on the front-end user interface (UI) design and solution definition.

• Delivered staff training and materials and videos for company-wide conferences ahead of first portal release.

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Key achievements:​

• Pilot customer portal successfully launched in February 2019 with 15% take-up from portal activation emails sent to new customers booking a viewing or market appraisal in the first week after go-live.

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2007 - 2017

TOTALJOBS GROUP / STEPSTONE - ONLINE RECRUITMENT

(Totaljobs Group acquired by StepStone in 2012)

London

 

2017

Product Owner - StepStone Group Search Services

• Delivered and supported 6 search and recommendation products for over 20 job boards in 9 countries, working with distributed Agile development teams in Brussels, Munich and Berlin.

• Managed relationships with all group businesses, including MDs, CTOs and Product Directors; negotiating and justifying prioritisation of multiple competing product requests using data.

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Key achievements:​

• Migrated UK search applications from legacy infrastructure to SaaS cloud-based (AWS) model.

• Implemented search & recommendation engine for job boards in Eire, N Ireland and Caribbean.

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2013 - 2017

​Product Manager - Jobseeker Services - Totaljobs Group

• Used split testing, analytics, user research and feedback to inform product roadmap prioritisation.

• Collaborated with User Experience (UX) and other stakeholders to create concepts for new and improvements to existing products, interfaces and user journeys.

• Worked with Scrum teams in London and Warsaw: articulated product vision and minimum viable feature sets, prioritised backlog and saw development through full delivery lifecycle. 

• Acted as product subject matter expert, delivering product training and go-to-market collateral.

• Seconded to StepStone Group Search Team in January 2017.

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Key achievements:​

• Integrated 3rd party API to show candidates potential commute time to jobs listed on the site.

• Replaced in-house search engine, winning StepStone IT Initiative of the Year Award in 2015.

• Relaunched Instant Job Match (IJM) alert product, using new recommendation engine, driving 52% year-on-year increase in applications on flagship site Totaljobs.com in September 2015.

• Presented new products and initiatives at town halls and annual ‘kick-off’ to 1,500 employees.

• Awarded place on “Tigers” trip to Austria in 2016 for outstanding contribution to the Group.

 

2011 - 2013

​Product Owner - Recruiter Services - Totaljobs Group

• Worked with Business Analysts to define user stories and acceptance criteria and attended Scrum teams’ backlog sessions to convey product vision, answer questions, understand technical complexity of work and perform cost benefit analysis of solution options, presenting recommendations to the Product Director.

• Approved live releases and held training webinars for Sales and Customer Service teams.

• Held webinars and training for sales and customer service teams to enable them to support clients through product changes.

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Key achievements:​

• Delivered new self-service client reporting portal, showing performance of job postings and CV Database usage.

• Implemented change from single price CV Database to licence-based model.

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2007 - 2011

Business Analyst - Product Development & Support - Totaljobs Group

• Investigated business problems and ideas originating from all areas of the organisation, eliciting and documenting requirements from stakeholders at all levels. 

• Facilitated planning sessions and workshops with development teams, technical architects and other subject matter experts to discuss, identify and estimate technical solution options.

• Worked with 2 Scrum teams following migration to Agile in 2009, creating user stories, driving Agile best practice and taking on Scrum Master role in absence of permanent Scrum Master.

• Latterly acted as proxy Product Owner, presenting the teams’ proposed solution options to the Product Owner, conducting quality reviews prior to demonstrating them to the PO for sign-off and creating internal and external communications and training materials for each release.

 

Key achievements:​

• Launched new job boards in Scotland and Germany.

• Delivered programme of enhancements to candidate search and job posting user interfaces.

• Assessed responses to request for Proposal (RFP) for Content Management System (CMS) vendor selection.

• Spoke at International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) conferences on Delivering Incremental Value (2010) and Incorporating Specialist Requirements in Agile Environments (2011).

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2002 - 2007

HEWITT ASSOCIATES - HR & BENEFITS OUTSOURCING 

(now known as AON)

Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

 

2005 - 2007

Implementation Analyst - Transition & Transformation

• Implementation Analyst on Transition & Transformation Team, charged with transferring clients’ local HR functions across EMEA into centralised HR service hubs:

• Captured clients’ high level requirements and engaged with employees to document detailed requirements and current-state processes in preparation for transition.

• Designed future-state operating procedures for go-to teams.

• Acted as subject matter expert, providing support, training and reference materials to transitioning teams prior to, during and immediately after transition.

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2004 - 2005

HR Administrator - HR Delivery

• Managed voluntary and involuntary terminations of employment on behalf of a global investment bank.

• Conducted exit interviews and compiled summaries, coordinated final payments, prepared reports and leavers' letters.

• Delivered exit interview training to Chicago team, enabling them to offer the service to US-based clients.

• Completed CIPD Certificate in Personnel Practice.

• Latterly supported implementation of new self-service HR web portal: trained and guided the client’s employees, line managers and HR professionals in use of the portal and worked with technical team to resolve issues.

• Promoted to Implementation Analyst in 2005.

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2002 - 2004

Customer Services Associate - Member Services Centre / HR Delivery

• Initially hired on temporary basis, answering queries regarding employees' flexible benefits during their annual enrolment window. 

• Offered permanent role in HR Delivery, advising employees on HR policies and administering maternity cases. 

• Promoted to HR Administrator, serving a new high-profile client, in 2004.

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