Katie Mills, Finance Expert in Portland, OR, United States
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Katie Mills

Verified Expert  in Finance

Management Consulting Expert

Location
Portland, OR, United States
Toptal Member Since
March 20, 2023

Katie has over 15 years of experience leading product management, consumer insight, and user experience efforts for Fortune 500 companies and small consumer tech startups. She has successfully taken products from concept through launch and drove ongoing product innovation and improvements. She has worked for and with B2C and B2B2C companies across a wide range of industries, including consumer electronics, food tech, and health and wellness.

Market ResearchGrowth StrategyBusiness Development

Career Highlights

Head of Product
The Dyrt
VP of Product
Circle Media Inc.
Director of User Experience and Insights
Intel

Case Studies

Work Experience

Head of Product

2021 - 2022
The Dyrt
  • Built the product team at a scaling startup, including product management, analytics, design, and customer support. Hired six product managers and product designers in three months.
  • Built KPI dashboards that provided daily tracking of SaaS conversion metrics to identify product issues and key levers for increasing conversion KPIs.
  • Assisted in implementing Agile product development processes and re-structured teams around feature squads to increase cross-team collaboration and improve product delivery cadence.
Focus areas: Product Analytics, Product Roadmaps, Stakeholder Management, Agile Product Management, Product Design, Agile UX, Head of Product, Feature Prioritization, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Strategy, Business Strategy, Product Leadership, Product Research, Lean, Lean Research, SaaS, Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), Conversion, Atlassian, User Surveys, Digital Product Management, Lean Startups, Chief Product Officer (CPO), Mobile, Mentorship & Coaching, Consumer Products, Feature Roadmaps, User Requirements, Product Launch, Cross-functional Collaboration, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Iterative Development, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Data Analytics, Feature Planning, Monetization, Competition Research, Project Timelines, Customer Interviews, Competitive Analysis, Lean Testing, iOS, Scrum, Growth Marketing, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Analytics, Business to Consumer (B2C), B2C, New Product Development, Product Management, Market Research & Analysis, User Experience (UX), Growth, Startup Growth Strategy Development, Product Growth, Pricing Strategy, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Figma, Miro, Google, Slack, Collaboration

VP of Product

2019 - 2020
Circle Media Inc.
  • Led a small team conducting design, product management, analytics, and user research efforts.
  • Created the product roadmap for Circle's consumer and partner products. My key accomplishments include increasing product NPS scores (30 points) and app ratings and doubling the trial sign-up conversion.
  • Implemented a new product analytics tool, instituting first-ever companywide product KPIs.
Focus areas: Product Analytics, Product Strategy, Product-market Fit, SaaS Product Management, Mobile Apps, Agile, Product Roadmaps, User Experience (UX), User Research, Partner Management, Market Research, User Personas, Qualitative Research, Product Management, Jobs to be Done (JTBD), Product Development, Product Ownership, Agile Product Management, Customer Journeys, B2C, Business to Consumer (B2C), Onboarding, Data Analysis, Mobile Analytics, Analytics, Growth Strategy, Design Thinking, Agile UX, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Rapid Prototyping, UX Analysis, Product Growth, Startup Growth Strategy Development, Growth, Growth Marketing, Startups, Head of Product, App UX, Mobile UX, Feature Prioritization, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Strategy, Business Strategy, Continuous Discovery, Product Leadership, Product Research, Lean, Lean Research, SaaS, Conversion, Atlassian, User Interviews, User Surveys, Digital Product Management, Lean Startups, Chief Product Officer (CPO), Mobile, Mentorship & Coaching, Consumer Products, Feature Roadmaps, User Requirements, Product Launch, Cross-functional Collaboration, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Iterative Development, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Data Analytics, Feature Planning, Competition Research, Project Timelines, Consumer Insights, Customer Interviews, Competitive Analysis, UX Research, Lean Testing, iOS, Scrum, Discovery, New Product Development, Product Discovery, Market Research & Analysis, Pricing Strategy, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Google, Slack, Jira

Principal Product Manager

2016 - 2017
Intel
  • Drove product and business development for a new business startup within Intel's new business group.
  • Negotiated the largest and most profitable deal for Intel's low-power chip line. Jointly defined the consumer product with customers and co-pitched to retailers resulting in holiday sell-in to several key retail accounts.
  • Contributed to consumer product development, working with customers from concept through development. Led product ideation sessions and user testing, product definition, and co-pitching to retailers.
  • Recruited and mentored a team of female engineers tasked with developing a STEM toy to encourage girls' interest in science and engineering. Collaborated with marketing to spotlight their contributions to partner's Emmy award-winning Netflix show.
Focus areas: Product Strategy, Product-market Fit, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Mobile Apps, Agile, Product Roadmaps, Pricing Strategy, User Experience (UX), User Research, Stakeholder Management, Partner Management, Product Marketing, Business Development, Market Research, Ideation, User Personas, Qualitative Research, Product Management, Product Development, Product Ownership, Agile Product Management, Product Discovery, New Product Development, Customer Journeys, Product Design, B2C, Business to Consumer (B2C), Design Thinking, Agile UX, Rapid Prototyping, UX Analysis, Startup Growth Strategy Development, Startups, Head of Product, App UX, Mobile UX, App Product Management, Feature Prioritization, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Strategy, Business Strategy, Continuous Discovery, Product Leadership, Product Research, Lean Research, User Interviews, User Surveys, Digital Product Management, Lean Startups, Consumer Products, iOS, User Requirements, Product Launch, Cross-functional Collaboration, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Feature Planning, Competition Research, Project Timelines, Consumer Insights, Innovation, Customer Interviews, UX Research, UX Prototyping, Lean Testing, Incubator Management, Market Research & Analysis, Surveys, Quantitative Research, Microsoft

Director of User Experience and Insights

2011 - 2015
Intel
  • Led a cross-functional team of user experience designers, researchers, and developers chartered to build differentiated software products for Intel's mobile and IoT product segments.
  • Partnered cross-functionally with the brand, product, and technology teams to translate user experience targets into tangible product requirements and showcase applications.
  • Drove the user experience strategy for Intel's smartphone reference design. Developed target user personas and use cases and led design efforts.
Focus areas: Product Strategy, Product Roadmaps, User Research, Stakeholder Management, Prototyping, Market Research, Ideation, User Personas, Product Development, Product Discovery, New Product Development, Product Design, B2C, Design Thinking, Agile UX, Rapid Prototyping, UX Analysis, Mobile UX, App Product Management, Strategy, Business Strategy, Continuous Discovery, Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), Mentorship & Coaching, Consumer Products, User Requirements, Cross-functional Collaboration, Feature Planning, Competition Research, Project Timelines, Consumer Insights, Innovation, UX Research, UX Prototyping, Market Research & Analysis, User Experience (UX), Microsoft

Product Marketing and Consumer Insights Manager

2003 - 2010
Intel
  • Spearheaded new consumer research techniques to extrapolate future consumer usage trends and product implications. Presented to the CEO and executive team on user and market insights, forecasts, and product marketing strategy recommendations.
  • Developed several mobile PC concept designs that earned International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). Managed target user definition, concept ideation, and market requirements documentation.
  • Defined the co-marketing plan with a key OEM customer and managed events, demos, and PR.
Focus areas: Competitor Analysis & Profiling, User Research, Stakeholder Management, Prototyping, Market Research, Go-to-market Plans, Ideation, User Personas, Qualitative Research, Product Discovery, Product Design, B2C, Rapid Prototyping, Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), User Interviews, User Surveys, Mentorship & Coaching, Consumer Products, Consumer Insights, Innovation, UX Research, Market Research & Analysis, User Experience (UX), Microsoft
1998 - 2000

Master of Business Administration (MBA) in International Business

Georgetown University - Washington, DC, USA

1990 - 1994

Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration

Wake Forest University - Winston-Salem, NC, USA

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