Vandana S.

Director of Engineering

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India10 yrs 9 mos experience

Most Likely To Switch

Key Highlights

Decade of experience in digital product management.
Expertise in launching emotionally intelligent consumer products.
Passionate about empowering women through entrepreneurship.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Product Management expert in B2C digital products with a focus on user experience and emotional connection.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Product ManagementProduct StrategyCustomer AcquisitionProduct Marketing

Other Skills

Agile MethodologiesAgile Project ManagementBioinformaticsBusiness AnalysisBusiness DevelopmentDesign ThinkingInternational BusinessMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft OfficeOrganic GrowthOrganisational LeadershipPeople ManagementPricing StrategyProduct DevelopmentProject Management

About

A decade long experience in digital products, mostly building and managing them and a short stint at entrepreneurship. My interest mostly lies in 0-1 journeys and super ambitious products. I write about Product Management, startups, corporate culture, jobs - things which I have learnt first hand in my career so far. I write to spread knowledge, share my thought process and most importantly to get clarity myself. Apart from work and work community, I am trying to build my life around health(fitness/diet) and travel. Feel free to connect, share your feedback on vandana.iitkgp2015@gmail.com

Experience

Lokal

2 roles

Director - Social & Marketplace Products at @Lokal

Promoted

Nov 2024 – Present · 1 yr 4 mos

I lead the Social & Marketplace Products charter at Lokal, where we build emotionally intelligent, scalable consumer experiences rooted in real human connection.
Under this charter, we’ve launched:
🔹 Dostt – a space to find a friend for a heart-to-heart, a non-judgemental chat, or just someone to vibe with. What might seem trivial — two friends singing together, gossiping about Bigg Boss, or venting about work — is what makes Dostt special. It’s these deeply personal, everyday moments that build real connection. www.dostt.in
🔹 Eaze – for those seeking emotional support through trained wellness buddies. It’s built to be comforting, reliable, and always human. www.eazeapp.com
🔹 AstroLokal – our clean, trustworthy take on astrology for the modern Indian user. www.astrolokal.com
We’re designing for scale, connection, and authenticity — not just features. Watch this space.

Product ManagementUser ResearchProduct StrategyStakeholder Management

Strategy Lead - New Products

Oct 2023 – Oct 2024 · 1 yr

Product StrategyPricing StrategyCustomer AcquisitionInternational Business

Pocket fm

Associate Director of Products

Jun 2022 – Oct 2023 · 1 yr 4 mos

Pocket FM is a leading global audio‑series platform (founded in Bengaluru in 2018, now serving 130M+ users with over 100,000 hours of binge‑worthy content and daily engagement averaging ~115 minutes)
I led pricing strategy, deep user research, and targeted monetization experiments (7+ tests) focused on high‑value whales and super‑whales, collaborating with marketing and cross‑functional teams to drive revenue growth. Managed and mentored a team of 5 product managers to successfully execute these experiments.

Product StrategyPricing StrategyProduct MarketingOrganic Growth

Mobile premier league (mpl)

Product Management

Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 · 2 yrs · Bengaluru, Karnataka

Alankrita - celebrating womenhood

Founder

Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 · 2 yrs · Bengaluru Area, India

Alankrita is a startup(for-profit) with the vision of empowering women by helping them become financially independent.
❏ Alankrita has an active and growing community of 2000+ women 75% of which are from tier 2,3 cities across India.
❏ Providing training and stable work opportunities to over 600 women 90% of which are home makers, single mothers, victims of domestic violence or sex abuse.
❏ Building a product(platform) to handle the end to end flow of matching the user(woman) with the right project/opportunity and enabling her to complete and submit the project in a timely and regulated way.
❏ Experimenting on business models around content development & marketing, local travel experiences, child-rearing/caregiving services to devise the right problem-solution fit at scale.
We identify the skills & interests of non-English speaking women with limited educational background, no professional experience, up-skill and employ them for stable work from home opportunities.