Roman A. Abashin, Product Manager in Vienna, Austria
Roman A. Abashin

Product Manager in Vienna, Austria

Member since June 25, 2019
Roman is a product team lead with 12+ years of experience in startups, mid-sized enterprises, and large international corporations. He is well-versed in data analytics, requirements engineering, and user experience. With his relentless drive for growth and a triple background in tech, business, and data engineering, Roman is most effective in a fast-growing SaaS environment. He excels as a technical product lead at the interface between business and IT teams.
Roman is now available for hire

Project Highlights

Expertise

Employment

  • Freelance Senior Product Manager

    2019 - PRESENT
    Toptal Clients
    • Increased monthly recurring revenue (MRR) and the number of active users of edtech company seven times in year-over-year (YOY).
    • Transformed B2B service provider from a cost-based to a value-based revenue model.
    • Led distributed scrum team and improved processes.
  • Founder

    2019 - PRESENT
    Nougat.ai
    • Analyzed risk of flooding in the Ugandan road network in a spatio-temporal research project.
    • Revealed betweenness of critical nodes in spatio-temporal analysis of Middle Eastern mobile cell receiver data.
    • Determined location scores for French mortuary services based on both publicly available and mined data.
  • Manager of Business Analytics

    2019 - 2020
    Prescreen.io
    • Created the sales and reporting dashboards for all departments.
    • Restructured sales pipeline and reporting from lead to after-sales.
    • Improved the processes and workflows to increase MRR and drive down churn across all stages of the customer lifecycle.
    • Oversaw and was responsible for a team of two junior employees.
  • Product Manager

    2018 - 2019
    Prescreen.io
    • Shipped a new capstone SaaS feature for tens of thousands of HR professionals across Europe.
    • Facilitated workshops with team and clients.
    • Helped to improve Scrum/Agile development process.
    • Coached junior employees.
  • IT Consultant

    2016 - 2018
    adesso AG
    • Fulfilled the role of project lead and was responsible for the deliverables of teams up to five people.
    • Facilitated workshops with C-suite and departments.
    • Supported clients' product managers with workshops, product management methodology, user stories, UX concepts, and UI mockups.
    • Assisted clients' engineering teams with requirements engineering, implementation recommendations, acceptance criteria.
    • Supported clients' leadership with project management and planning, success metrics, and status reporting.
  • Project Manager

    2015 - 2016
    ibis acam
    • Shipped in nine months from concept to market.
    • Facilitated product workshops with the C-suite and departments.
    • Created personas, user stories, and user flows.
    • Established Agile development methodology.
    • Implemented a human resources tool (HR tech) to improve recruitment.

Project History

  • Business Analytics Dashboard for Sales Teams (B2B SaaS)
    Rolled out cutting-edge business analytics dashboard to a fast-growing German B2B SaaS company.

    I was responsible for the design, plan, and roll-out of a highly successful internal KPI dashboard for the fastest-growing recruitment software company in the DACH region, part of a corporation with over 1,500 employees.

    This project included:
    • Analyzing B2B sales processes at different phases in the customer lifecycle
    • Understanding the business, technology, and operations/administration perspectives of the sales process
    • Breaking down complex accounting-based figures into simple KPIs and metrics like MRR and monthly churn rate
    • Setting up a clean, reproducible data pipeline from Salesforce and the production database (MariaDB/MySQL) to the dashboard via R Server
    • Rolling out the dashboard to pre-sales, sales, customer success, and customer support teams throughout the company

    Deliverables:
    • KPI dashboard for B2B SaaS sales teams

  • Technical Growth Lead for the Netflix of Coaching
    Decreased bounce rates by almost 50%, increased conversion, implemented GTM, and enhanced the eCommerce.

    The client was the most successful coaching platform in the German-speaking market—think Netflix/Coursera for self-improvement—was looking to improve their customer lifecycle.

    Customer Lifecycle Improvement Goals:
    • Effectiveness of organic, referral, and paid traffic
    • Conversion rates and website performance
    • Engagement and upsell rates among existing customers

    (The engagement is still ongoing.)

    Tools:
    • Google Marketing Platform (Analytics, Tag Manager, Optimize)

  • Product Management for Business Intelligence
    Shipped cutting-edge business analytics to over 40,000 business users.

    I was responsible for the design, plan, and shipment of business analytics to over 40,000 HR professionals.

    We worked closely with customers, designed mock-ups, facilitated workshops, and delivered the product in budget and ahead of schedule. Furthermore, I played an active part in the scrum development process as a product owner.

    Deliverables:
    • Shipped the product in record time

  • Requirements Engineering for an Edtech Platform
    Led the requirements project for the first digital educational marketplace in Austria—from concept to product in nine months.

    The client was the largest Austrian privately-held educational provider with 20,000+ yearly clients and 600+ employees in 50+ locations.

    I led the requirements project that delivered the specification for a new platform that was to become Aspidoo.com, the first digital educational marketplace in Austria.

    Deliverables:
    • Provided the user requirements, user stories, UX, mockups, and success metrics
    • Facilitated workshops with C-level, middle management, and operations

  • Conversion Optimization for a Chinese-European Web Shop
    Led a team that set up an online shop with Google PageSpeed ratings of over 90/100 and conversion rates of up to 15%.

    The client was a Europe-based online shop that was looking to quickly sell a large number of products in a hot, highly competitive market.

    I assembled and led the team (tech, operations, and sales) that set up an online shop, automated fulfillment, and optimized all elements along the lead-to-sales process. Furthermore, we penetrated deeply into adjacent regions via highly targeted long-tail advertising.

    Deliverables:
    • Achieved a Google PageSpeed Rating of 90+/100 (mobile and desktop)
    • Built a fully automated, mobile-friendly webshop based on WordPress/Woocommerce
    • Improved Google Ad conversion rates by up to 15%

  • Product Requirements for a Self-service Web Configurator
    Designed, in eight weeks, a product for the leading regional utility company that caters to over 1.5 million people.

    The client, the number-one utility company in the region, was looking to enable potential photovoltaic (PV) clients to configure their products via a mobile-friendly web application. It should be accessible from tablets and easy-to-use even for elderly customers.

    We facilitated workshops with the client, wrote Agile-friendly user requirements, and designed user workflows as well as mock-ups.

    Deliverables:
    • Crafted personas, UX, mock-ups, and user stories

  • Geospatial Location Scoring Tool
    Developed a visual dashboard to find hidden, profitable building sites in untapped areas.

    The client was an enterprise specialized in the delivery of funeral services across France. They were looking for untapped, niche markets where service density was low, but the demand was high.

    I combined geospatial and demographic data, developed a scoring formula to assess market attractiveness, and visualized the data in an accessible way for easy access by business users.

    Deliverables:
    • Built a visual dashboard with locations across all of France

  • Digital Transformation in the Public Sector
    Led a team in the implementation of an engineering project with complex requirements for a large public organization.

    The client was a large organization in the public sector that was looking for a new document management system (DMS) that would support their core business.

    I led the project team that was hired to analyze and document all processes, create requirements and user stories, and help to the shape the look and feel of the new DMS product.

    Deliverables:
    • Created user stories, acceptance criteria, and UI mockups

  • Lead for Geospatial Data Analysis
    Developed methods to map large amounts of data to geospatial and temporal features.

    The client was an international project (based in the UK) which was researching the effects of different weather patterns on the economy in a Central African country.

    I developed innovative ways to map large amounts of remote sensing data to economic and geographic features as well as development indices of various regions. Furthermore, there was a need to create geodesic calculation methods in R that are more efficient than those currently publicly available.

    Deliverables:
    • Mapped the weather data to various natural and calculated geospatial and temporal features
    • Extracted, cleaned, structured, and combined all the data from different sources
    • Created scripts and functions that are usable for reproducible research

  • Data Product for B2B Clients
    Led and shipped a client-facing visualization dashboard for an innovative startup.

    The client was a startup that has developed new methods to passively measure footfall (foot traffic) in areas that are interesting for retail companies.

    Deliverables:
    • Created a geospatial heatmap dashboard
    • Extracted, cleaned raw GPS data
    • Set up a data pipeline with R and SQL
    • Supported the CEO with sales slide decks

  • Flagship Artificial Intelligence (AI) for a Central Bank
    Helped team set up an artificial intelligence project, taking a credit risk model from 65% to 90% weighted accuracy.

    The client was a large European central bank that asked for consulting support in setting up their first AI project.

    I reviewed the initiative and helped the project team ensure complete success. We set up a hypothesis-driven project workflow, defined success metrics, and reported to the C-suite with success metrics.

    Deliverables:
    • Consulted for the project team
    • Composed a project review document for the C-suite

  • Product Innovation in a Metal Foundry
    Delivered more than ten actionable product ideas to the C-suite.

    The client was a publicly-held Central European metal foundry. They were looking for new ideas on how to stay attractive in a changing market environment and become more appealing to a younger target audience.

    I analyzed the processes and current products and created personas with the project team, applied business model innovation patterns, and extracted concrete business ideas that fall in line with the capabilities of the client but targeted an untapped market.

    Deliverables:
    • Produced personas, product ideas, UX concepts, and UI mockups

  • Product Leadership for Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing
    Led the product team that delivered a tool which was over 10x faster and 3x more accurate than the best human operator.

    The client was a large Chinese solar manufacturer looking to improve the QA processes for three factories with a combined output of over 200,000 photovoltaic panels per day.

    I led the product side of the team that delivered a visual panel testing tool which was over 10x faster and 3x more accurate than the best human operator in the factory.

    Deliverables:
    • Provided the user requirements, user stories, UX, mock-ups, and success metrics

  • Product Requirements for Sales and Project Management
    Led a 12-month requirement project for the largest regional utility company, catering to 1.5+ million people.

    The client, the number-one utility company in the region, was looking to analyze, overhaul, and integrate their sales and project management systems.

    We facilitated workshops with the client, wrote Agile-friendly user requirements, and designed user workflows as well as mock-ups.

    Deliverables:
    • Produced personas, UX, mock-ups, user stories, and API documentation

  • CRM Implementation for a B2B Sales Team
    Analyzed sales teams processes and requirements and implemented a leading CRM solution at an edtech company.

    I was responsible for the analysis, planning, and roll-out of a CRM solution an innovative edtech company in Austria.

    This project included:
    • Analyzing B2B sales processes at different phases in the customer lifecycle
    • Understanding the business, technology, and operations/administration perspectives of the sales process
    • Match various market-leading solutions against requirements, keeping projected costs under budget
    • Roll-out of the winning system (Pipedrive)

  • Improving Usability in a Multi-Tenant Salesforce CRM Installation.
    Vastly improved usability and data quality in a complex and historically grown Salesforce environment.

    I was responsible for the analysis and improvement of sales processes along the full customer lifecycle of a recruitment software company in the DACH region with 300,000+ daily users.

    This project included:
    • Analyzing B2B sales processes at different phases in the customer lifecycle
    • Communicating and coordinating all teams with a customer focus: marketing, product, pre-sales, sales, customers success, and customer support
    • Structuring and cleaning messy data from the CRM
    • Identifying churn predictors
    • Identifying low- and high-performing sales teams
    • Implementing a sales prediction system based on behavioral variables
    • Enabling Salesforce to handle multi-touchpoint, multi-campaign leads for better marketing attribution
    • Being the go-to-guy for any data and process questions for marketing, product, pre-sales, sales, customer success, and customer support teams throughout the company

    Deliverables:
    • Improved workflows along the sales funnel
    • Self-service KPIs for sales teams
    • One source of truth for sales data

  • Growth Hacker | Product Lead for the Netflix for Coaching
    Spearheaded the following 12-months achievements: monthly recurring revenue (MRR) from €50,000 to €275,000, six times more subscribed users, Black Friday sales of €875,000, €3 million additional revenue in one-off order entries.

    A B2C SaaS in the education space (ongoing project via Toptal).
    Started as a dedicated growth hacker/data specialist, I now lead product management and marketing. I am m deeply involved with the client and act as a trusted advisor for all kinds of strategic product questions.

  • Improving ROAS—Clothing Manufacturer/Retail
    Led a project to identify gaps and improve return on ad spend (ROAS) for a B2C brand.

    The client is an avant-garde high-end clothing brand from Vienna, Austria, and was looking to improve ROAS through various measures.

    Functional improvements:
    • Matching campaigns and budget to available marketing signals.
    • AI-assisted selection of marketing audiences.
    • Various measures to improve user experience (UX) and conversion rates.

    Technical improvements:
    • Implemented measures to cluster users.
    • Implemented tracking of product views for usage in dynamic remarketing campaigns.
    • Implemented remarketing for users with abandoned carts.
    • Various measures to improve website performance using Google PageSpeed score.
    • Custom JavaScript coding to improve tracking of customer identifiers and bridge gaps related to cross-site issues.

    Tools:
    Google Marketing Platform including Analytics, Tag Manager, Adwords, and Dynamic Remarketing, and Shopify,

  • Conversion Tracking for Performance Marketing | US Platform for Brain/Mind Sound Technology
    Implemented effective conversion tracking on a complex web platform for a global B2C brand.

    The client is the leading global sound-based brain/mind technology provider and was looking to scale their business through performance marketing.

    Deliverables:
    • Implemented tracking measures to send signals to all relevant platforms such as Google Ads, Google Analytics, and Facebook Pixel.
    • Set up events to cluster users by specific actions like showing interest in a specific product type.
    • Fixed various issues arising from the legacy sales platform.

    Tools:
    Google Marketing Platform including Analytics, Tag Manager, Adwords, and Dynamic Remarketing, and FastSpring

  • Black Friday Campaign | German B2C SaaS
    Successfully implemented a Black Friday campaign for a B2C SaaS platform, resulting in €800,000 revenue over five days.

    Deliverables:
    • Defined product and sales strategy.
    • Helped creating marketing assets such as visuals and copy.
    • Set up high-converting landing pages for different stages of the campaign.
    • Tracked and improved UX and conversion through A/B testing.

    Tools:
    Google Marketing Platform including Analytics, Tag Manager, Adwords, and Dynamic Remarketing, and Facebook Pixel.

Education

  • Bachelor of Science Degree in International Business | Management Information Systems
    2019 - 2019
    Vienna University of Economics and Business - Vienna, Austria

Certifications

  • How Google Does Machine Learning
    APRIL 2019 - PRESENT
    Google
  • Top 5% in R
    NOVEMBER 2018 - PRESENT
    Stack Overflow (Stackoverflow.com)
  • Google Digital Garage (Online Marketing)
    AUGUST 2018 - PRESENT
    Google
  • Certified Professional for Usability and User Experience (CPUX)
    DECEMBER 2016 - PRESENT
    UXQB
  • Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering (CPRE)
    JULY 2016 - PRESENT
    IREB
  • Computer Science 101
    JULY 2015 - PRESENT
    Stanford Online
  • Innovation Warp Boost Camp
    MAY 2015 - PRESENT
    42Angelitos
  • International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
    OCTOBER 2007 - OCTOBER 2009
    British Council

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