Nov 2023 – Present · 2 yrs 6 mos

• I help companies transform their approach to design by focusing on customer-centric solutions rather than static UI artifacts. I specialize in:
• Advising startups on building scalable, future-proof design foundations
• Establishing efficient workflows that leverage AI-powered tools to dramatically reduce time from idea to production
• Cultivating high-performing multicultural teams dedicated to holistic customer experiences for global audiences
• Empowering user research, interviews, and rapid solution validation
• I've guided teams across Fintech, Marketplaces, B2B, and SaaS projects, always bringing together the sometimes conflicting worlds of design, business goals, and technical constraints. I believe great products happen when these different perspectives work in harmony.
• What gets me out of bed in the morning? Watching designers shift from creating beautiful but static mockups to digging into user research, conducting meaningful interviews, and testing ideas quickly. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing a team start to think in terms of customer needs instead of feature lists.
• I thrive in multicultural environments and believe the best ideas come from diverse perspectives working together. If your organization wants to build better products faster while staying focused on what really matters—the people who'll use them—let's talk.

Jan 2020 – Oct 2023 · 3 yrs 9 mos · Munich Area, Germany

• Leadership:
• Recruited, mentored, and led a team of 8 Mid to Senior product designers
• Collaborated with Product leadership to establish scalable organizational structure, frameworks, and processes for cross-functional teams
• Partnered with Product and Business stakeholders to define product strategy, set goals, and create a roadmap
• Guided design team through company acquisition, periods of rapid growth and transitions to remote work, strategy changes, and intercultural challenges
• Established research practices such as interviews, usability testing, experiments, and data analytics to guide design decisions
• Cultivated a design culture that emphasized ownership, critical thinking, customer-centricity, and excellence
• Promoted cross-functional collaboration, partnering with frontend engineering, business strategy, sales and marketing, customer success and integration teams
• Oversaw the adoption of a new design toolbox (Figma, Dovetail, Userflow, Google Analytics, Storybook and Material UI (in cooperation with devs))
• Design direction setting (hands on):
• Led the design and development of a new Design System, adopted across all design and brand teams
• Directed the creation of a new cross-border Payment Acceptance product (Payoneer Checkout) from conception to launch and post-launch iterations (Agile)
• Guided the redesign and migration of legacy product onto a new frontend layer
• Oversaw the design of product architecture and end-to-end customer experience, including the conceptual design of complex and new product modules

Jul 2019 – Dec 2019 · 5 mos · Munich Area, Germany

• Product: Defined the new product strategy and roadmap, based on user research and business goals
• UX: Refined product architecture and customer journey, focusing on aggregating and sorting customer feedback with NLP technology (with early generations of AI)
• Visual design hands-on: Created a new visual language and tone of voice, a new website and marketing materials
• UX hands-on: Developed a new Design System, redesigned and improved the functionality of existing product modules
• Frontend hands-on: Assisted in the development of frontend components of a Design System (VueJS) and product UI

Aug 2017 – Nov 2018 · 1 yr 3 mos · Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

• Conducted product use research, including behavioral data analytics, customer interviews, and user testing
• Led the redesign of the Degiro trading app, including navigation, architecture, user journey, and visual/UI design
• Developed a new Design System, including highly responsive layouts (from mobile to mega-size screens)
• Collaborated closely with frontend to create a prototype of a new trading app

Aug 2016 – Dec 2017 · 1 yr 4 mos · Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

• Conducted research and defined architecture and design of an outdoor advertising marketplace (SaaS and B2B)
• Created a new brand visual language, marketing website, and product Design System
• Designed and developed product UI
• Frontend: Defined frontend architecture (AngularJS), developed components-based Design System, and product modules

Nov 2015 – Dec 2016 · 1 yr 1 mo · Rotterdam Area, Netherlands

• Conducted UX and Visual Design of a housing rental marketplace
• Designed and developed Design System (Sketch + HTML/CSS)
• Implemented analytics and continuous user feedback funnels analysis to guide product improvements

Jan 2011 – May 2012 · 1 yr 4 mos · Saint Petersburg Metropolitan Area · Remote

Jan 2010 – Jan 2018 · 8 yrs · Remote

• Conducted architecture, UX and visual design of a SaaS-model outdoor advertising marketplace
• Customized product for a major client in the Middle East

Jan 2010 – Feb 2011 · 1 yr 1 mo · Saint Petersburg Metropolitan Area · On-site