DANIELLE DOWNS
ABOUT ME
I am a seasoned Agile Practitioner and product management professional with over 15 years’ experience in business analysis, product, project and scaled-up Agile programme delivery, in sectors including recruitment, digital marketplaces, auctions, property and telecoms.
A lot of consultants specialise in a specific 'breed' of Agile theory e.g. Kanban, Scrum, Lean, Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS), or Scaled Agile Frameworks (SAFe), but I prefer to focus on the practical application of Agile concepts to deliver business objectives within the present organisational constraints; whether they be historical, political, budgetary or due to the sheer scale, nature or urgency of the task at hand.
While I am well versed in a number of Agile methodologies and hold Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)®,
Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (A-CSPO)® and Certified Scrum Master (CSM)® certifications, I like to support organisations in achieving their goals through whatever means necessary to enable them to succeed.
HOW I WORK
When I work with an organisation, I like to observe the current situation and initially suggest small, practical changes that can realistically be implemented from day one, while working towards a more optimal end state. The main reasons I have seen Agile implementations fail is that the organisation tries to "run before they can walk", forcing changes to processes that have been in place for years, literally overnight, and / or they fail to consider the human element, resulting in scepticism and inconsistent adoption across business units.
I will recommend a framework and tools that can realistically be adopted in the immediate term and work with key personnel to establish a pathway to an even better future.
MY SKILLS
AGILE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Having been an Agile Coach, Scrum Master and Product Owner / Manager on a number of Scrum Teams, I have first-hand knowledge and experience of all Agile practices, including writing user stories, using 'gherkin' or behaviour-driven development (BDD) acceptance criteria, facilitating backlog refinement and sprint planning sessions and running retrospectives.
I have created and developed product roadmaps; breaking large programmes of work, key business objectives or an overarching product vision into a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and subsequent iterations that can be refined and adapted as business needs change.
I use data and business value to aid prioritisation of the product backlog, using techniques such as value score matrices, MoSCoW (Must, Should, Could, Won't) and Kano analysis.
Whether co-located, off-shore, remote or distributed, I enjoy collaborating with developers, user experience (UX) specialists, designers and quality assurance (QA) analysts to create products and experiences that the whole team are proud to have played a part in delivering.
AGILE TOOLS & METRICS REPORTING
Although the Agile Manifesto values Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools, I still find that organisations need somewhere to store and display the outputs of those interactions.
Answers to questions and architectural diagrams can easily get lost on Teams or Slack and it's important that they can easily be found, so as not to reinvent the wheel next time the question is asked.
Love it or hate it, there is also almost always a need for some form of documentation and reporting of key metrics to business stakeholders and sponsors.
I have experience with Azure DevOps (formerly known as Team Foundation Server or TFS), Jira, Confluence and Miro and can quickly produce product roadmaps and dashboards, offering at-a-glance views of burn-up or burn-down charts, sprint velocity, cross-workstream dependencies, blocked stories and backlog readiness, all in user friendly formats.
If an organisation is new to Agile or doesn't yet have these tools in place, I can also work with MS Excel while recommending and implementing longer term, more scalable solutions.
BUSINESS IMPLEMENTATION
An Agile team's role doesn't stop once development is complete. To get maximum value from a new product or feature, it is essential the whole business knows about it, not just the IT department.
The method of business implementation obviously depends on the nature and scale of the product or feature and whether or not it merits a public launch. I have found a stakeholder matrix useful for identifying the business units that just need awareness of a product release vs. those that will require additional training or collateral to support, market or sell the product.
I have held training sessions and webinars for customer service, provided screenshots and videos for directors to share at conferences and produced fact-sheets, presentation materials and monthly product newsletters for marketing and sales. I have also presented products and initiatives myself at 'town halls' and roadshows in regional, national and international offices, including an annual company-wide 'kick-off' event to 1,500 employees in Berlin.
Based on the business context and the product or feature being delivered, I can recommend a communications plan that will keep the right people informed at the right time; enabling stakeholders to get the most from the product, platform or service being delivered and establishing a feedback loop to elicit valuable, honest feedback that can inform future roadmap prioritisation.
STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
Whether it's a new, green-field venture or legacy feature in need of a refresh, stakeholders will always have an opinion on what it should look like or how it should work!
I believe that good stakeholder management is about taking the time to understand the origin of individuals' concerns and ensuring they feel involved as the product or project evolves.
I have a strong track record in coaching individuals in building positive working relationships with stakeholders to reach mutually beneficial outcomes.
PROCESS MAPPING
Throughout my career, I have used MS Visio, Draw.io, Stories on Board and Miro to draw up as-is and to-be process flows, user journeys and user story maps.
It has proved to be an effective way to illustrate proposed changes to business processes and identify areas that may require staff training, a change to an existing process, or a 'gap' in need of a new user story or additional acceptance criteria.
I am happy to run process and story mapping workshops to facilitate the identification of use cases and personas, prioritise a product roadmap, or enable release planning.
PROTOTYPING & WIREFRAMING
While I strongly believe in collaborating with UX specialists and designers on the user interface (UI), I have been in situations where this isn't possible, especially at the very early stages of conceptualisation, when you just have an "idea" that you need to articulate to set the wheels in motion.
I have found creating low-fidelity wireframes and prototypes, using tools such as Balsamiq, Axure and even Chrome's developer tools and MS Paint, extremely useful in conveying a vision for a product without straying too far into the realm of design. The key for me is to keep wireframes generic and monochrome and prototypes purely functional, to define the information architecture, rather than prescribe the look and feel.
I can facilitate or participate in wireframing and prototyping workshops to help UX, Design and Development teams visualise the product vision. Alternatively, I can coach an existing Product Owner or Product Manager in creating their own wireframes and prototypes, without "solutionising" or constraining the team's thinking.
CAREER HISTORY
Oct 2002 - Mar 2007 (4.5 years)
Oct 2005 - Mar 2007 (18 months)
Mar 2004 - Oct 2005 (20 months)
Oct 2002 - Mar 2004 (18 months)
HEWITT ASSOCIATES - HR & BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING (now known as AON)
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.
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.
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.
May 2007 - Nov 2017 (10.5 years)
April - November 2017 (8 months)
Feb 2013 - Apr 2017 (~4 years)
Apr 2011 - Feb 2013 (~2 years)
May 2007 - Apr 2011 (4 years)
TOTALJOBS GROUP / STEPSTONE - ONLINE RECRUITMENT
Key achievements
-
Launched new job boards in Scotland and Germany.
-
Conducted A/B test of new search engine, winning StepStone IT Initiative of the Year.
-
Collaborated with Data Science, Machine Learning and NLP specialists to deliver and support 6 search & recommendation products for over 20 job boards in 9 countries.
-
Migrated UK search from legacy infrastructure to SaaS cloud-hosted model (AWS).
-
Delivered new job recommendation algorithm for Ireland & Caribbean.
-
Relaunched Instant Job Match (IJM), driving 52% YOY increase in job applications.
-
Awarded “Tigers” trip to Austria for outstanding contribution to the Group.
-
Spoke at 2 International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) conferences on Delivering Incremental Value & Incorporating Specialist Requirements in Agile.
Product Owner - StepStone Group Search Services
-
Secured permanent secondment to StepStone in April 2017.
-
Collaborated with Data Science, Machine Learning and Development teams in London, Brussels, Berlin and Munich to deliver and support 6 search and recommendation products for over 20 job boards in 9 countries.
-
Managed relationships with local MDs, CTOs and Product Directors.
Product Manager - B2C Jobseeker Services - Totaljobs Group
-
Used split testing, analytics, user research and feedback to inform prioritisation.
-
Collaborated with User Experience (UX) and other stakeholders to evolve concepts for new and iterative improvements to initiatives to maximise traffic and job applications.
-
Oversaw Scrum teams in London and Warsaw: articulated vision and minimum viable feature sets, prioritised backlog and saw development through full delivery lifecycle.
-
Recruited, onboarded, trained & mentored new Product Owners.
-
Go-to product subject matter expert for product training and sales collateral.
-
Seconded to StepStone Group Search Team in January 2017.
Product Owner - B2B Recruiter Services - Totaljobs Group
-
Worked with Business Analysts to define user stories and acceptance criteria. Attended Scrum teams' backlog sessions to convey product vision, understand technical complexity of work and perform cost benefit analysis of solution options, presenting recommendations to the Product Director.
-
Approved live releases and held webinars and training for sales and customer service teams to enable them to support clients through product changes.
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.
Dec 2017 - March 2019 (15 months)
CONNELLS GROUP - PROPERTY SERVICES
Key achievements:
-
Launched pilot portal 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.
Product Owner - Business Solutions
-
Spearheaded client engagement & retention programme, coalescing user research data with requirements from multiple business units to shape product roadmap across 3 workstreams: B2C customer portal, digital communications and the brands' websites.
-
Achieved senior stakeholder buy-in for new feature ideas using wireframes and prototypes before collaborating with UX and Solutions Architect on the user interface (UI) design and solution definition.
December 2024 - Present
VIRGIN MEDIA O2 - B2B TRANSFORMATION PROGRAMME
Agile Product Owner (Contractor)
Lead Agile Consultant on multi-million pound nationwide transformation programme, comprising 3 concurrent workstreams and in excess of 100 personnel.
Key Achievements:
-
Replaced programme-level "Stand-ups" with Scrum of Scrums focused on resolving impediments vs. status updates, reducing meeting duration from 30 to 10-15 minutes.
-
Enabled Workstream Leads to set up their own "Stand-ups" with smaller groups.
-
Eliminated need for mid-sprint clarifications by introducing Definition of Ready (DOR) and implementing refinement sessions to ensure all stories met DOR before going into sprint.
-
Coached Workstream Leads and team members in best practice use of Jira & Confluence.
-
Created Jira dashboards showing current sprint progress and overall backlog readiness.
-
Compiled reports highlighting stable average velocity and primary causes of carry-over.
-
Produced programme level roadmap in Miro to visualise inter-workstream dependencies.
-
Facilitated Retrospectives, PI and Sprint Planning sessions and Release Reviews.
April 2019 - October 2024 (5+ years)
Jan 2022 - October 2024 (2.75 years)
Jan 2021 - Jan 2022 (1 year)
April 2019 - Jan 2021 (21 months)
NOVAFORI - B2B & B2C DIGITAL MARKETPLACES
(formerly known as Perfect Channel)
Key achievements:
-
Successfully influenced CEO and Board to pivot from client services monolith architecture to scalable SaaS model; gaining approval to build the new platform.
-
Delivered new cloud-hosted SaaS auction and trading platform from ideation to completion, realising vision of reducing client onboarding from 3-6 months to 2 weeks.
-
Launched marketplace for verified carbon credits, balancing supply and demand and facilitating fair price discovery in a nascent market; involving complex API integrations with Carbon Registry, CMS, 3rd party data providers, inventory management and payment & settlement engine.
-
Managed 4 Scrum Teams across the UK & Spain on complete platform redesign for a global auction house, requiring API integrations with inventory management, Sitecore CMS and Adyen payment gateway.
Head of Product
-
Developed and executed product strategy and roadmap in line with business goals, fostering alignment with stakeholders from Sales, Marketing, IT and the C-suite.
-
Led 2 full-stack development teams in end-to-end design & development of SaaS auction & trading platform on best-of-breed tech stack.
-
Held weekly “Amigo” sessions with Head of Solutions, Tech Leads, Designers and Product Owner to maintain consistency of design and technical approach across teams.
-
Partnered with Data Science on behavioural and transactional analytics dashboard.
-
Enabled Sales & Marketing with regular product updates, demonstrations, training and by providing technical expertise in client meetings and pitches to new prospects.
-
Took on Scrum Master and programme management responsibilities, including budget management, estimation, forecasting, release planning and resolution of dependencies, risks and issues.
Senior Product Owner
-
Compiled compelling Request for Proposal (RFP) responses and sales & marketing collateral to secure new business and expand market presence.
-
Conducted competitor analysis and market research to create data-driven client personas, informing strategic product roadmap decisions and influencing sales and marketing initiatives.
-
Recruited, onboarded and mentored other POs and led Community of Practice.
Product Owner
-
Collaborated with Scrum teams in London & Malaga on innovative proofs of concept for clients in the UK, US and New Zealand to transform, diversify and scale their marketplace operations
-
Translated my product vision into actionable user stories and acceptance criteria, alongside user journey maps, process flows, prototypes and wireframes.
-
Optimised Return on Investment (ROI) using MoSCoW, value score matrices and other techniques to prioritise enhancements and new requests according to business value.
-
Delivered consistent value through fortnightly sprint reviews, ensuring alignment with client expectations via product demos and User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
EDUCATION & TRAINING
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
-
Agile Certified Practitioner Project Management Institute
-
AI for Product Management Pendo.io
-
Advanced Product Owner Masterclass Roman Pichler
-
Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner Scrum Alliance
-
Certified Scrum Product Owner Scrum Alliance
-
StepStone "Stepping Up" Management Success THM
-
Leadership for Product Managers & Product Owners Roman Pichler
-
Agile Product Planning Roman Pichler
-
Certified Scrum Master Scrum Alliance
-
ISEB Diploma in Requirements Engineering ISEB
-
ISEB Fundamentals of Business Analysis ISEB
-
CIPD Certificate in Personnel Practice CIPD
SYSTEMS EXPERIENCE
-
Aha!
-
Balsamiq
-
Confluence
-
Figma
-
Jira
-
Miro
-
MS Azure DevOps
-
MS Office 365
-
MS Teams
-
MS Visio
-
Notion
-
Pendo Analytics
-
Slack
-
Stories on Board
-
Trello
-
Zoom
EDUCATION
-
BA Hons French & German Studies, University of Birmingham
-
4 A-levels:
-
French B
-
German B
-
Maths B
-
General Studies B
-
-
9 GCSEs (A-C)
NON-WORK RELATED
-
Pet Psychology Diploma New Skills Academy
-
Enriched Air Diver PADI
-
Advanced Open Water Diver PADI
-
Fish Identification Speciality PADI
-
Diploma in Pet Obedience ICS
GET IN TOUCH
Or drop me a note:
