Katarina Seach, Product Manager in Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Katarina Seach

Verified Expert  in Product Management

Product Manager

Location
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Toptal Member Since
September 16, 2021

Katarina has over nine years of tech experience with global brands in the music, sustainability, edtech, and service industries. As a product manager, she has worked on consumer, B2B, eCommerce, and SaaS products. Katarina has built products from seed ideas to go-to-market and scaled products with hundreds of thousands of end users.

Project Highlights

B2B Sustainability Reporting Product for Global Financial Companies
Launched a sustainability reporting tool for 250 financial companies worth €10+ billion within one quarter.
Song Collaboration Marketplace Strategy and Launch
Developed two concepts, then launched a marketplace for musicians, using a track recommendation algorithm.
Suite of digital products for 180,000 restaurants in Europe
With a budget of €1.2 million euro, launched a suite of products to allow 180,000 restaurants to be more productive via technology.

Expertise

Work Experience

Business Analyst

2023 - PRESENT
Medecins Sans Frontieres
  • Analyzed the patient safety incident processes in all operational centers of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) that were introduced in over 40 countries globally. Performed an intersectional analysis of the data models and typology across all systems.
  • Conducted over 10 interviews with patient safety/quality advisors and end-users of the system in French and English. Led a workshop to identify common pain points and have a bird's view of all interview findings with key highlights and conclusions.
  • Wrote a business proposal including an implementation plan for every operational center, six detailed process diagrams for every operational center and a general standardized one, and detailed feature requirements for a new 3rd-party software tool.

Senior Product Manager—Artist Financing Product

2023 - 2023
SNAFU Records
  • Led the project of an interactive fitting room for H&M Group powered with AI (launch in Berlin in winter 2023).
  • Worked on fitting rooms equipped with RFID scanners that scanned individual clothing pieces (RFID tags). The clothing metadata was interpreted by AI and suggested matching songs that were then played in the fitting room with synced visuals.
  • Launched an artist-financing product that helped musicians receive loans for producing and releasing new music.
  • Managed a team of software engineers, a product owner, data scientists, and a designer.

Product Manager—Community-based Learning SaaS

2022 - 2022
Peppermint, Inc.
  • Planned the design thinking framework for the first month of concept design for an online education community targeting middle-aged individuals who desire to learn new skills.
  • Ran daily workshops with a team of designers and the head of product.
  • Planned and conducted around 20 user interviews during the validation phase.
  • Reviewed and drove the initial product wireframes based on identified persona needs.
  • Translated final high-fidelity prototypes to over 50 thorough product requirement documentation pages for the engineering team.
  • Planned and structured the six-month MVP launch together with the head of product.

Product Lead

2022 - 2022
Plan A
  • Handled the B2B ESG-reporting product that serves global financial companies in their sustainability reporting.
  • Launched an ESG reporting tool used by over 250 companies (worth €10+ billion) for financial disclosure.
  • Built a questionnaire-building tool specific to the ESG reporting use case that supports over 200 questions and different standards (NFRD, etc.).
  • Worked on agile sprints, roadmap planning, design workshops, managing a team of eight developers.

Senior Product Manager

2021 - 2022
SNAFU Records
  • Built two concepts for a music marketplace, musicians, producers, lyricists, and songwriters worldwide.
  • Tracked recommendation algorithm, using machine learning to transform inputs, such as role, location, and activity data (from over 150k songs/week) into suggestions for track collaboration.
  • Created activation campaigns targeting musicians, resulting in +800% engagement on Instagram and TikTok.
  • Led a remote development team of 11 (a product owner, tech lead, two designers, two data analysts, and five developers).
  • Led 20+ interviews and focus groups with musicians.

Product Lead

2021 - 2022
TinQwise
  • Managed three scrum teams of over 14 developers, handling operations for the product department, product roadmap, content sourcing, and product strategy.
  • Led quarterly customer advisory board meetings, product monthly release sessions with 80 clients, and the company-wide product bi-weekly training for 70 employees.
  • Streamlined customer and internal feedback with the product board and increased transparency by introducing a UX feedback cycle with 10 key customers as part of the product development cycle.
  • Integrated product support with Intercom. Set up a messaging app and over 80 knowledge articles with over 100 views per article within two months.

Senior Product Manager

2020 - 2021
TinQwise
  • Managed a B2B2C online education product with over 120,000 end-users.
  • Shipped over 40 education platforms for global companies, such as Ikea, Rituals, and Hunkemöller.
  • Charged with leading a scrum team of eight developers, feature. ideation, LMS migration, and content automation.

Founder | Product Lead

2020 - 2021
Purple Cream
  • Launched a carbon-neutral eCommerce store of sustainable apparel. All products are made to order.
  • Sold 100+ orders in Europe, America, and Asia within the first quarter of launch.
  • Set up a program to plant one tree/order and integrated a Shopify store with the Printful Print-on-Demand service.
  • Offered 5% of the benefits to nature protection non-profits.
  • Partnered with Mindspace, a co-working spaces company, to offer their members 10% off on their global app and Fitbit to feature Purple Cream clothing in their commercial for the summer of 2021.

Founder, Product Lead

2019 - 2020
Freshloo
  • Launched an eCommerce store at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, focusing on the emerging US market for smart bidet seats.
  • Performed initial user research, then conducted target advertising campaigns to narrow down the opportunity segment to married females aged 35-50.
  • Implemented A/B testing on product messaging across different landing pages before deciding to focus branding on women's hygiene.
  • Developed an eCommerce store on Shopify's platform, designing the theme and integrating various payment systems.
  • Launched the initial social media campaign, resulting in over 10,000 types of engagement over Instagram and Facebook.

Product Manager

2019 - 2020
METRO
  • Led twice agile development teams consisting of developers, copywriters, designers, analysts, and product marketers.
  • With an annual budget of €1.2 million, managed a suite of products on a platform with 180,000 restaurants in Europe.
  • Charged with scouting third-party businesses with the investment arm of Metro to integrate with the main app.
  • Developed a business case for a product, servicing 20,000 employees (including P&L, user migration, and go-to-market).

Product Owner

2018 - 2019
METRO
  • Created a knowledge platform for 100,000+ restaurants, localized in four languages (DE, EN, FR, and IT).
  • Outlined a 12-month product vision for a shift planning tool, built prototypes, and interviewed 50+ restaurant customers to identify pain points in their staff management and shift systems.
  • Managed the entire product development lifecycle, including problem identification, customer research, ideation, prioritization, development, deployment, and A/B testing.

Operations Manager

2018 - 2018
Mosimann
  • Served as an operations manager of the VIP and athletes lounges of the House of Switzerland at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games 2018.
  • Took responsibility for the operations and events of the VIP, athletes, and media lounges of the Swiss Olympic House.
  • Organized and managed daily events with up to 300 guests.
  • Installed and managed the evening bar in the VIP lounge with up to 100 guests and led it to the highest revenue source of the location.

Technology Analyst

2017 - 2018
EHL Advisory Services
  • Conducted market research on the impact of technology trends in the hospitality industry.
  • Interviewed thought leaders at global conferences for their industry insights and expertise.
  • Developed reports used by a global education group on how to add more technology components to the students' curriculum.

Co-founder

2012 - 2014
SHOLK
  • Founded an eCommerce store of bespoke chocolate boxes with a sustainable business model—carbon-free delivery, recycled packaging, and no offline sales—together with three partners.
  • Received funding from local banks and ranked in the top 50 startups in Switzerland.
  • Led the product development of high-quality local chocolate boxes with a personal message and the choice between five different flavors.
  • Reached over 400 orders within six months, achieving the break-even point after the 1st year.

B2B Sustainability Reporting Product for Global Financial Companies

Launched a sustainability reporting tool for 250 financial companies worth €10+ billion within one quarter.

The B2B reporting tool was launched with 250 financial companies
(worth €10+ billion) for their 2021 financial disclosure in sustainability reporting. I was in charge of planning the roadmap towards launch, scoping the MVP, sprint planning, and go-to-market in three markets. I also implemented a localization infrastructure with Phrase to translate the product and support different alphabets. I carried out design thinking workshops with sales and customer success teams to define the long-term roadmap. And I teamed up with the design lead to automate the design system and increase design efficiency. I also advised Plan A on product development cycles and QA framework implementation.

Song Collaboration Marketplace Strategy and Launch

Developed two concepts, then launched a marketplace for musicians, using a track recommendation algorithm.

I was in charge of engineering hiring (team of 11) and budget planning for the marketplace launch. I worked with a design agency and UI/UX designers—leading 20+ interviews and focus groups with musicians—to develop and test two concepts. The winning concept was then scoped to MVP and planned into sprints and other high-impact features on a long-term roadmap. The concept included a track recommendation algorithm for artists to collaborate on. Using machine learning, the engineering team scraped social music platforms, such as Spotify to collect inputs, such as role, location, and streams from over 150,000 songs/week. Together with the marketing team, I was in charge of activation marketing campaigns for the marketplace launch, resulting in +800% engagement on Instagram and TikTok. I guaranteed transparency and buy-in by conducting weekly pitches and updates with the board members.

Suite of digital products for 180,000 restaurants in Europe

http://www.hd.digital/en/

With a budget of €1.2 million euro, launched a suite of products to allow 180,000 restaurants to be more productive via technology.

I led twice agile development teams consisting of developers, copywriters, designers, analysts, and product marketers. With an annual budget of €1.2 million, I managed a suite of products on a platform with 180,000 restaurants in Europe as part of Metro’s portfolio. I created a knowledge platform for 100,000+ restaurants, localized in four languages (DE, EN, FR, and IT). I also outlined a 12-month product vision for a shift planning tool, built prototypes, and interviewed 50+ restaurant customers to identify pain points in their staff management and shift systems. I was in charge of scouting third-party businesses with the investment arm of Metro to integrate into the main app. Finally, I developed a business case for a product servicing 20,000 employees (including P&L, user migration, and go-to-market).

Learning Experience Platform for Employees' Empowerment

Redesigned the core edtech product, prioritized features to increase learners' engagement, and reached 10% daily active users.

Companies need to provide exciting learning experience platforms (LXP) that meet employees' expectations and demands. Edtech companies must focus on learners' engagement and build features that showcase content in different forms like interactive games coupled with fill-in-the-blanks content.

In this project, I redesigned the product to implement a content creation studio with new features backed by AI, helping content creators to think out of the box to create engaging content experiences for their learners. In the LXP, I prioritized features that boosted engagement through gamification, such as badge achievements, certificates, and a buddy program.

We reached 10% daily active users in the quarter following the launch of these features.

Sustainable Apparel Business Launch

http://purple-cream.com/

Launched a carbon-neutral apparel business featuring distinctive nature-inspired prints.

Purple Cream is a brand designed to change the relationship between people and their clothes. It is a slow fashion brand, with clothes manufactured regionally and made to order. When a client places an order, the final carbon emission cost is covered by financing projects like forest restoration in Alaska, resulting in carbon-neutral shipping worldwide. Plus, one mangrove tree is planted by Ecologi per each order. Mangrove trees capture 5x more carbon than regular forest trees and the organization supports local communities in Madagascar by creating jobs to grow these mangrove forests. All Purple Cream designs showcase elements of nature we fight to preserve and are born from the collaboration with photographers and artists worldwide. We focused on the ocean and the coral reef in this collection, donating 5% of benefits to nonprofit organizations like the Ocean Clean-Up and the Coral Reef Care foundation.

I founded the business during the COVID-19 pandemic when shopping stores were closed and eCommerce took over the market.

During the first quarter of 2021, sales rose in the Netherlands, Switzerland, UK, Germany, and US. Following three months of the launch, 100 orders were already placed.

Personalized Confectionery eCommerce Launch

Founded a personalized confectionery business that made it in the top 50 startups in Switzerland.

SHOLK is a personalized confectionery eCommerce company that was built to send personalized and sustainable gifts. A shop was created to let customers compile chocolate flavors in boxes and choose packaging with a personal message. It was one of the first startups in Switzerland to take chocolate box purchases from door to door entirely online. The company was selected as part of the top 50 startups after one year of launch. I was CEO of the company and built up the supply chain, designed the eCommerce site experience, and was responsible for the company's strategy with a team of five. We received funding from local banks and broke even within one year.

Concept and Launch of Music Matching with AI in Retail

Launched a project with a large retailer to develop a music and clothing matching powered with AI.

Designed the experience of shoppers entering an interactive fitting room. The music playing in the fitting room is individual to the shopper's outfit and adapts to different clothing pieces tried on. The products are scanned with RFID and prompt the music matched with AI and played with the help of a software product. I was in charge of the conceptualization, music selection, production, and user experience. The interactive fitting room will launch as a pilot in one retailer's outlets in November 2023.
2014 - 2018

Bachelor's Degree in Hotel and Hospitality Management

Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne - Switzerland

SEPTEMBER 2019 - PRESENT

Brand Management: Aligning Business, Brand and Behaviour

London Business School

MAY 2019 - PRESENT

Data Science for Executives

Columbia University

MARCH 2019 - PRESENT

Agile with Atlassian Jira

Atlassian | via Coursera

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