Neelanja Makhija

CEO

India15 yrs experience

Most Likely To SwitchHighly Stable

Key Highlights

15+ years in Product Management and Ownership.
Expert in navigating PM vs PO positioning.
Proven track record in AI product leadership.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Fintech Product Management expert with a strong focus on AI and data governance.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Product ManagementProduct StrategyData GovernanceRisk AnalyticsPayments PlatformsBusiness AnalysisFinancial SystemsTestingCore Banking

Other Skills

Product ManagerProduct DesignProduct RequirementsInterviewingLeadershipHiringRecruitingClaude AITeam ManagementGenerative AI ToolsMicrosoft CopilotAgile MethodologiesGenerative AIData AnalysisFinancial Analysis

About

Most experienced PMs don’t get rejected because they lack experience. They get rejected because their ownership signal is unclear. Hiring panels look for: • Decision authority • Scope • Outcome accountability • Clear role alignment If that isn’t obvious in 30 seconds, you don’t get shortlisted. I work with experienced PMs and POs who are at a transition point — especially those navigating PM vs PO positioning, senior role shifts, or market misalignment. I bring 15+ years across Product Management, Product Ownership, and Business Consulting. Currently Vice President of AI Product Management at Citi India (ex-UBS), leading complex product platforms in regulated environments. My approach is simple: Clarity before application. We determine: → Which role truly fits your background → How your resume is being interpreted → Whether you are market-ready — or mispositioned → What must change before you apply further No resume formatting. No generic interview prep. No guaranteed outcomes. Just direct feedback grounded in real hiring expectations. If you are applying without clarity, you are gambling time. If you want clarity before the next move, DM “PM vs PO” or book the Pre-Application Clarity Session. 👉 https://topmate.io/neelanja_makhija/1886338

Experience

15 yrs

Total Experience

3 yrs

Average Tenure

5 yrs 8 mos

Current Experience

Citi

Vice President | AI Product

Sep 2020 – Present · 5 yrs 8 mos · Hybrid

Product Manager in the Financial Markets domain, specializing in Derivatives and enterprise data platforms.
Leading the design and evolution of banking data products that power risk, trading, and regulatory workflows across Wholesale and Retail banking.
Key responsibilities include:
Owning the product strategy and roadmap for enterprise data mart solutions used across multiple banking product lines.
Driving end-to-end product development from requirements discovery to delivery, ensuring reliable data flows from source systems → data marts → downstream consumers.
Partnering with risk, trading, data engineering, and business stakeholders to design scalable solutions for data quality validation, reconciliation, and regulatory reporting.
Establishing data governance and quality frameworks to improve trust and usability of financial data across internal platforms.
Translating complex financial market requirements into scalable data products that support analytics, reporting, and operational decision-making.
Focus Areas:
Product Strategy · Financial Markets · Data Platforms · Derivatives · Data Governance · Enterprise Data Products

Product ManagerProduct ManagementProduct StrategyProduct DesignProduct RequirementsInterviewing+10

Ubs

Product Manager (Risk Data & Analytics)

Jul 2018 – Sep 2020 · 2 yrs 2 mos · Pune Area, India · Hybrid

Product Manager supporting Global Equity Derivatives Risk platforms, responsible for translating front-office and risk management needs into scalable product capabilities used across trading and risk teams.
Key responsibilities and impact
Owned the product requirements and delivery roadmap for enhancements to derivatives risk analytics and reporting platforms.
Partnered with traders, risk managers, and engineering teams to design solutions supporting exposure calculation, regulatory reporting, and risk monitoring.
Led end-to-end product discovery and requirements definition, translating complex financial market workflows into actionable product features.
Improved data accuracy and transparency across risk reporting pipelines by driving enhancements in data validation, reconciliation, and reporting logic.
Facilitated cross-functional alignment between business stakeholders, technology teams, and risk governance functions to ensure reliable delivery of critical risk systems.
Focus Areas
Financial Markets · Equity Derivatives · Risk Analytics Platforms · Product Requirements · Data Platforms · Stakeholder Strategy

Product ManagerProduct StrategyProduct ManagementProduct DesignHiringData Analysis+10

Cognizant

Product Analyst / Product Owner – Payments Platforms

Mar 2016 – Jun 2018 · 2 yrs 3 mos · Pune/Pimpri-Chinchwad Area · Hybrid

Worked with enterprise banking clients to support the evolution of digital payment processing platforms, contributing to product feature definition, platform workflows, and transaction lifecycle improvements.
Key Contributions
Translated banking and payments requirements into prioritized product features and user stories for digital payment platforms supporting enterprise clients.
Partnered with engineering teams to shape platform workflows, solution capabilities, and delivery priorities, ensuring alignment between product functionality and operational needs.
Contributed to payment modernization initiatives, improving transaction processing flows and operational efficiency across digital payments infrastructure.
Facilitated collaboration between business stakeholders, product teams, and engineering, ensuring clarity on product requirements, delivery scope, and platform capabilities.
Developed deep domain understanding of payments ecosystems, transaction processing lifecycles, and financial services technology platforms.
Focus Areas
Payments Platforms • Digital Banking • Product Requirements • Backlog Grooming • Stakeholder Alignment • Platform Workflow Optimization

Product ownerProduct RequirementsProductProduct StrategyProduct ManagementProduct Design+4

Infosys

2 roles

Business Analyst – Financial Systems & Data Platforms

Promoted

Nov 2012 – Feb 2016 · 3 yrs 3 mos

Worked on large-scale financial systems and decision analytics platforms, building strong domain understanding of trading infrastructure, regulatory reporting systems, and enterprise data pipelines used by global financial institutions.
Key Contributions
Analyzed business and system requirements for enterprise financial platforms, supporting delivery of solutions used by global banks and credit analytics providers.
Contributed to initiatives involving CFTC regulatory reporting systems, developing architectural understanding of multi-asset trading environments spanning rates, credit, FX, commodities, and equities.
Collaborated with engineering and data teams to analyze system behavior, identify bottlenecks, and improve reliability of high-volume financial data platforms.
Designed and executed workload and performance analysis strategies to evaluate trade ingestion pipelines and ensure stability during peak market activity.
Built real-time workload simulations and analytical models to assess transaction throughput and validate platform scalability.
Gained hands-on exposure to decision analytics platforms such as Experian PowerCurve, used by financial institutions for credit risk evaluation and automated decisioning.
Career Impact
This role provided early exposure to financial data systems, regulatory infrastructure, and large-scale platform architectures, forming the foundation for my later transition into product ownership and financial markets product management.
Focus Areas
Financial Systems • Regulatory Reporting • Data Pipelines • Decision Analytics • Stakeholder Analysis • Platform Reliability

Business AnalysisBusiness RequirementsBusiness Process ManagementStrategic ThinkingDecision-MakingCollaborative Decision-making+2

Test Software Engineer

Aug 2011 – Oct 2012 · 1 yr 2 mos

Worked on core banking platforms (Finacle) supporting banking operations such as loans, deposits, multicurrency accounts, taxation, and CRM modules.
Key contributions:
Executed functional and system testing for core banking applications used by global financial institutions.
Designed test cases and validation scenarios for complex banking workflows and transaction processing.
Collaborated with development teams to ensure system reliability and accuracy in financial transaction processing.
Built early experience with banking product architecture and enterprise financial software systems.

Test AutomationCore banking Finacle product testingUser Acceptance TestingTestingCore Banking

Ericsson

Project Trainee

Sep 2010 – Feb 2011 · 5 mos · Ericsson Site, Bhopal

Completed vocational certification in Networking and GSM systems, gaining foundational exposure to telecommunications infrastructure and distributed systems.

Collaborative Decision-makingCommunication