Bogdan Marin
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Bucharest, Romania
Toptal member since October 13, 2021
Bogdan is a consulting expert with a proven track record of delivering strategies and complex projects across various industries, including banking, energy, airlines, and telecom. He has led teams in implementing digital transformation initiatives for large enterprises and SaaS startups, resulting in improved operational or financial results.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Digital Transformation
- Product Management
- Project Management
- Technology Consulting
Work Experience
Director Consulting Services
MindCell Systems SRL
- Sold and delivered IT and digital transformation consultancy projects to multi-sector organizations. Used BI, business process management, CRM, HR, HCM, custom software development, and PM, as well as management consulting.
- Supported growth and improvements of digital channels for a sizeable Romanian airline operator. Revamped their website, worked on a digital ancillary product design and delivery, and developed a mobile app prototype.
- Implemented business continuity for the Romanian airline operator using hybrid Agile and Waterfall methodologies, established sales KPI reporting, and set up UX process.
- Drove process efficiency in customer and passenger services for the Romanian airline operator by analyzing capacity needs, designing new organizational infrastructure, and implementing analytics to track performance.
- Initiated and delivered projects for the Romanian airline operator to digitally transform ground and flight operations, including a new departure control system ready for rollout, crew rosters, and Operations Control Center requests for proposal.
- Created a project prioritization framework to inform digital and IT delivery strategy for the Romanian airline operator, effort estimation, capacity sizing, and capabilities required for delivery, recruitment, and vendor management.
- Built and launched a startup B2B SaaS platform “Oraroo” for operations management and employee administration in professional service businesses. Worked on product management, business plan, investor relations, and business development.
Managing Director
Serrala Services
- Established and led a nearshore IT services delivery center for a German fintech company and reported to the international board. This greenfield Romanian office achieved revenue of €1.2 million.
- Sold the Romanian nearshore center capacity internally by expanding it from SAP consulting to new IT services, using software development, Java development, BI development, and managed services.
- Recruited and retained approximately 20 top SAP FI consultants, BI QlikView, and Java full-stack software developers.
- Established and managed the local office operations and processes, including accounting, tax, and HR.
- Created the delivery model integrated with consulting, product development, and managed services, as well as the operational model with global support functions, including HR, finance, and IT.
- Headed a delivery of SAP FI bank statement add-ons in consulting implementation projects. Turned around a project for a global telco. Managed a project for an oil and gas regional leader.
Senior Manager
Deloitte
- Sold and led the delivery of large and complex growth and efficiency engagements for FSI, telco (TMT), and energy clients in the areas of strategy, operations, and IT advisory in technology. Reported to a partner management consultancy.
- Led sales and engagement delivery for market entry, strategy, and implementation of mobile financial services for a mobile telco operator worth over €1 million.
- Sold an implementation of workforce management solution in consortium with a specialized software provider for an energy company. Developed market entry options in consumer and B2B energy-related services and a competitive landscape assessment.
- Assessed the eligibility of investment projects for EU funding and financing as the sales and engagement delivery lead at an energy company valued at over €1 million.
- Created a pension simulation model with the data processing and actuarial application for the Romanian state pension fund (insurance). Led the engagement delivery.
- Assessed the organizational efficiency of the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority while specifically focusing on data management and governance.
- Provided a competitive landscape analysis for digital services for a regional professional service firm.
- Established a project board at the CEO level to support strategic projects governance for an electro IT retailer and ran their weekly projects' review.
- Undertook commercial due diligence of an SME and retail bank for an investment fund. Delivered redesigned activity reports of the taxpayer services using a multichannel approach for the tax authority in Romania.
- Contributed to market eminence with Digital Banking Maturity and CEE Banking Outlook studies and spoke at Online Banking Gala.
Digital Banking | Retail Channels – Executive Director
Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) | Erste Bank Group
- Established a digital bank concept and implemented it across the bank.
- Aligned and delivered the retail management on target sales and service roles of all distribution channels under the multichannel strategy concept.
- Launched remote sales for consumer loans and credit cards. We were the first bank on the market to close sales processes remotely.
- Set up a cash-in ATM network, an investment worth €2 million, covering 85% of branches. Shifted both 60% cash transactions from teller to cash-in equipment and non-cash transactions to internet and phone banking.
- Established a new product – a mobile channel that includes smartphone apps, a mobile browser for feature phones, and mobile alerts.
- Measured product and channel metrics to build insight and support the decision-making process with facts and data, including online, mobile, and phone banking, cash-in ATM, automated currency exchange ATMs, website, and contact center.
Head of Business Organization to IT Executive Director
Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) | Erste Bank Group
- Ensured IT solutions delivery, including design, development, vendor management for external solutions, and testing.
- Defined a target IT architectural vision and managed the roadmap towards it.
- Redesigned the IT organization. Delivered an evolved change management process with more clarity on roles and responsibilities and a gating framework aligned with best industry practices.
- Supported profitability and Basel II by turning around a multi-vendor, multi-year program valued at over €10 million. Used a data warehouse system, business intelligence (BI), and analytics.
Director of Billing | Service Delivery Manager
Orange
- Led, managed, and was actively involved in all phases of group-wide programs like convergent billing, provisioning, and business process management.
- Secured a buy-in of billing strategy at a group level, which included 15 companies in nine countries and a corporate group organization, and initiated a new billing strategy with program budgets of €500 million.
- Collaborated on developing cost allocation principles for cross-country recharge mechanisms and contractually formalized them after the negotiation. Held P&L responsibility, including revenues, costs, and a group depreciation for common assets.
Billing and CRM Manager | Deputy IT Director
Orange
- Spearheaded the billing and CRM department consisting of 40 people (50% of the IT staff) and oversaw billing and customer management development and operation.
- Created a team that received special recognition within the company.
- Implemented a flexible and modern commercial information system based on a functional and technical architecture that supported, with minimal investment, the complexities of significant growth from three million to 10 million subscribers.
- Reorganized billing and CRM department's activities on the principle of separation between design, development, and operations and created efficient and professional delivery and operations teams.
- Headed and successfully delivered a critical CRM project for customer systems and IT that yielded $3 million and was a core of the further information system architecture evolution.
- Gained experience in a project-managing role while delivering a challenging multi-million transversal project with an intensive level of communication and tight scope management and solving highly complex technical issues related to the integration.
Value-added Service (VAS) and Unix Team Leader
Orange
- Implemented a short message service (SMS) center.
- Set up the prepaid service for voice and SMS communication.
- Led a team of up to five technical experts, including system administrators and value-added service (VAS) application specialists.
Unix Engineer
Orange
- Implemented a voice mail service and integrated the mainframe technology with the communication network.
- Worked on implementing the operation and maintenance center systems (OMC-R) for a GSM radio network.
- Provided support Level 2 for Unix and mainframe systems, as well as application services, including voice mail and OMC-R.
Project History
Digital Transformation for an Airline Operator
Delivered a digital transformation for the leading Romanian airline with up to five million annual travelers. Impacted digital channels’ growth as well as ground and flight operations efficiencies.
Nearshore IT Services Center Set-up in Romania
I established this Romanian nearshore IT service center from greenfield for a German fintech. It has a staff of 20 and turns over €1.2 million while delivering financial automation and global B2B payment solutions to 2,800 world’s leading brands.
• Drafted and signed off an interfirm agreement, including transfer pricing.
• Designed a local support operational model, including global support functions.
• Created a client delivery model integrated with global consulting and managed services.
• Built a team of SAP consultants.
• Expanded it from SAP consultancy to IT services by selling it internally.
Low-value Cash Transactions Shift
Advocated, initiated, approved, and established a cash-in ATM network for the Romanian bank with 1.3 million current account customers. Delivered a shift of low-value cash transactions across the retail branch network from cash desk to equipment.
As the executive director, I delivered and implemented a network of cash-in equipment and drove the adoption process across retail branches.
• Initiated, advocated, and approved the investment.
• Oversaw the deployment of the technical solution, which included 400 cash-in ATMs.
• Managed the shift of payments with new pricing for payments at the cash desk.
• Reduced teller headcount by 200.
• Succeeded in establishing a cash-in ATM network, an investment valued at €2 million, covering 85% of branches with 60% of transactions shifting from a teller to cash-in equipment in less than a year.
Education
Master of Business Administration (MBA) in International Business
Vienna University of Economics - Vienna, Austria
Master's Degree in Computer Science
Politehnica University of Bucharest - Bucharest, Romania
Certifications
Data Protection Certification
Romanian National Authority of Certification (ANC) | EU accredited
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Skills
Tools
Board Reporting
Industry Expertise
Banking & Finance
Paradigms
B2C, Agile, Change Management
Other
Business Strategy, Time Management, Cost Management, Human Capital Management, Procurement, Project Initiation, Project Planning, Execution, Monitoring, Digital Transformation, Digital Transformation Program Management, Solution Design, Vendor Management, IT Strategy, Business Cases, Financial Modeling, Operations Management, Project Management, Business Models, Human Resources (HR), Business Unit Management, Mobile Banking, Online Banking, Startup Consulting, Early-stage Startups, Multi-channel, P&L Management, IT Governance, IT Management, IT Program Management, IT Business Analysis, Technology, Scope of Work (SOW), Technical Project Management, Business Analysis, Data, Pricing, Budgeting, Customer Service, Direct to Consumer (D2C), Forecasting, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Operations, Digital Strategy, Data Analysis, Data Analytics, Requirements & Specifications, Vendor Selection, Business, Executive Support, Business Technology, Technology Consulting, Market Entry, Communication, Risk Management, Product Management, Business Model Canvas, Value Proposition Design, Pricing Models, Financial Management, Intrapreneurship, Organizational Design, Process Design, Board Presentations, Commercial Banking, Public Speaking, IT Systems Architecture, Channel Management, Business Management, Consulting, Product Roadmaps, Software as a Service (SaaS), Technical Writing, Consumer Banking, Finance, Business Transformation, eCommerce Management, eCommerce Analysis, Dynamic Pricing, Product Analytics, User Behavior, Consumer Behavior, User Experience (UX), Portfolio Management, International Finance, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Scope Management, Quality Management, Stakeholder Management, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Protection, Business Development, Market Research, Power Generation, Grants, Startup Funding, Governance, IT Infrastructure, Strategy, Requirements, Billing Systems, Order Management, Profit & Loss (P&L), Project Rescue, Budget Management, Projects, Project Scoping, Value-added Services (VAS), Unix Shell Scripting, Fintech, Mainframe Systems, Software & Hardware Maintenance, System Administration, Networks, Product Strategy, eCommerce, SaaS Product Management, B2B, User Research, Technical Product Management, Integration, Business Consulting, Mobile Apps, Customer Analysis, Startups, Hiring, Pricing Strategy, Product Growth, Sales Growth, Hypothesis Testing, Solution Architecture, Request for Proposal (RFP)
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