Alistair Wearmouth
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Arlington, VA, United States
Toptal member since April 30, 2020
Alistair offers over 15 years of experience designing, delivering, and managing ambitious digital experiences for globally recognized brands such as Orbitz.com, USA Today, Apartments.com, and National Geographic. With a record of success across industries including travel, real estate, and the news media, Alistair thrives on tackling new challenges and marshaling the teams and resources required to bring world-class digital products to market on time and on budget.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Agile Product Management
- Content Management Systems (CMS)
- Content Marketing
- Content Strategy
- Digital Media
- Team Leadership
- Travel
- WordPress
Work Experience
Product Director, Content
CoStar Group (Owner of Apartments.com, LoopNet.com and Land.com)
- Directed content strategy and development for LoopNet, the leading online marketplace for leasing and buying commercial real estate. Launched new content experience on the LoopNet website and iOS/Android app.
- Product owned content-development initiatives on the Apartments.com network, including the relaunch of Apartments.com's 'Renter's Resources' blog.
- Led project to generate SEO content on 50,000+ landing pages utilizing machine-generated language; resulted in +20% YoY organic search and keyword growth.
- Managed daily and weekly scrum ceremonies for agile development teams and acted as product lead with responsibility for sprint planning, delivery, and execution. Led development teams of up to six people.
Content Consultant and Strategist
Self-employed
- Contributed to publications including USA TODAY Travel’s GoEscape, Backpacker, The Washington Post, Smithsonian.com, and various in-flight magazines.
- Authored Sutro Media’s “D.C. Essential Family Guide” iPhone and iPad app.
- Copy edited Richard Garriott’s 2008 mission to space, who chronicled his training, and orbital experience at www.richardinspace.com.
- Acted as the technical editor for the Inter-American Development Bank’s Jamaica’s Informal Sector study.
- Acted as product reviewer for Active Interest Media titles including Backpacker and Clean Eating magazines.
Product Manager
USA TODAY/Gannett
- Managed desktop and mobile-web development for USAToday.com, including USA TODAY Travel brand, and Gannett’s 92 local media properties.
- Product owned USA TODAY Travel’s ‘Experience Travel’ portfolio of websites. Increased year-over-year performance by +180% in 2014. Delivered over $2 million in annual revenue.
- Led teams of up to 10 people during daily and weekly scrum ceremonies to meet sprint and release commitments, and fulfill ongoing product roadmap deliverables.
- Managed successful on-deadline migration of EntertainThis and OnPolitics blogs from standalone WordPress installations to products supported within Gannett’s proprietary CMS.
Product Manager
Orbitz Worldwide
- Product managed the Away.com brand, with responsibility for directing business strategy, traffic analysis, and day-to-day operations.
- Managed teams of 12+ developers and producers (offshore and onshore), with accountability for meeting business and technology-delivery objectives.
- Led the delivery of innovative new products including new Travel Q&A forum and the Best Resorts & Lodges awards program.
Online Manager
National Geographic Society
- Managed the day-to-day operations of kids.nationalgeographic.com, a site receiving over one million unique visitors and 13 million-page views each month.
- Managed the successful relaunch of kids.nationalgeographic.com in December 2006, including integration of the new Vignette content-management system.
- Maximized promotional opportunities across the entire NGS network and worked to incorporate successful SEO strategies into editorial and programming efforts.
Product Owner
Away.com
- Performed as senior editor for Away.com and GORP.com, websites covering adventure travel and outdoor recreation.
- Acted as associate editor for OutsideOnline.com, the website for Outside magazine.
- Led product delivery to provide live coverage from international events including the Tour de France coverage and 2006 Winter Olympics.
Project History
LoopNet Content Experience
Led product to deliver new content experience on LoopNet.com, the leading commercial real estate marketplace. Successfully launched in June 2019 with 300+ articles published in less than six months, increasing organic visits to site by over 20%.
Team: Led a team of six developers (front end, back end, QA) and three editors.
Technology: Built on .NET platform, supported with BrightSpot CMS.
Experience Travel by USA Today Travel
https://www.usatoday.com/travel/experience/Led development of USA Today Travel's "Experience Travel" portfolio, a series of immersive websites focused on various travel markets including cruises, beach vacations, weekend getaways, and more. Delivered over $2 million in advertising revenue.
Team: Led development team of up to ten developers and designers to deliver on initial product launch and post-launch support and enhancements.
Technology: Built on Python framework supported by Gannett Digital's proprietary CMS.
SEO Content Automation
Led project to generate SEO content on 50,000+ landing pages utilizing machine-generated language; resulted in +20% YoY organic search and keyword growth.
Team: Led a team of two developers to create and integrate the project into the framework.
Technology: Supported with Automated Insights' Wordsmith platform and SQL database queries.
Education
Master's Degree in Japanese Language and Society
University of Sheffield - Sheffield, United Kingdom
Bachelor's Degree in English and Related Literature
University of York - York, United Kingdom
Skills
Tools
Slack, Jira, Zapier, Google Docs, Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools, Trello, Basecamp, InVision, Balsamiq Mockups, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Team Foundation Server, Asana, Mailchimp, Usertesting.com, Balsamiq, Zoom, Sketch
Paradigms
Agile Product Management, B2C, Marketplace Platforms, Scrum
Platforms
Adobe Suite
Industry Expertise
Real Estate
Other
Travel, Content Strategy, User Stories, Content Marketing, Content Management Systems (CMS), Writing & Editing, Digital Media, Product Management, Digital Product Management, Articles, Travel & Leisure, Digital Advertising, Organic SEO, SEO Content, Content Creation, Web Content, Product Strategy, Landing Page Optimization, Communication, Microsoft Office, Stakeholder Management, Content, eCommerce Platforms, WordPress, B2B, SEO Tools, On-page SEO, Use Cases, Team Leadership, Startups, eCommerce, Go-to-market Plans, Product Ownership, User Requirements, Design Requirements, Business to Business (B2B), Booking Apps, eCommerce UI, Branded Content, Social Media Content, Online Marketing, Product Journeys, Wireframing, Product Delivery, Offshore Team Management, Early-stage Startups, Backlog Grooming, Backlog Management, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Semrush, Story Mapping, Stakeholder Engagement, Project Scoping, Project Timelines, Stakeholder Interviews, Business Process Automation, Google SEO, WordPress Multisite, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, Google Sheets, Feature Prioritization, SurveyMonkey, A/B Testing, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Functional Requirements, Aha!, Google, LeanKit, SQL
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