Edgar Emilio Polanco Gomez
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Colima, Mexico
Toptal member since December 27, 2024
Edgar is a seasoned engineering and product management professional with over 20 years of IT experience. He specializes in driving software development, leading global teams, and delivering high-quality solutions. With expertise across industries like healthcare and eCommerce, Edgar excels at managing the product lifecycle, from discovery to delivery. His user-focused approach, technical expertise, and leadership skills uniquely position him to drive impactful product success.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Agile Product Management
- Cross-functional Collaboration
- Feature Backlog Prioritization
- Product Discovery
- Product Management
- Product Roadmaps
- Stakeholder Management
- Strategic Decision-making
Work Experience
Engineering Manager
Toptal
- Headed globally distributed teams of four to nine back- and front-end software engineers working on multiple products and technologies, including Ruby on Rails, TypeScript, React, Node.js, and OpenAI API integrations.
- Partnered with product managers and stakeholders to analyze, refine, and prioritize product requirements, ensuring alignment with business objectives.
- Conducted product discovery sessions to uncover user needs, define project scopes, and drive actionable outcomes.
- Deconstructed the agreed requirements into user stories and estimated the effort for new projects or features as a technical product manager.
- Delivered regular updates and highlights to stakeholders and the director of engineering using customized dashboards.
- Collaborated on roadmap planning, effort estimation, and architectural design proposals for new features and projects to deliver scalable, high-value solutions.
- Advocated for quality and technical excellence by reviewing PRs, addressing team incidents, and maintaining accurate, up-to-date API documentation using GraphQL and REST. Implemented process automation to enhance team workflows.
- Customized Agile processes to align with stakeholder needs, introducing tailored ceremonies, reporting, and team rituals that improved delivery efficiency and transparency.
- Mentored and coached engineers on their career growth, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. When necessary, took corrective actions, including performance management and restructuring.
- Recognized as a high potential (HiPo) leader at Toptal and selected for the 2022/2023 leadership program, further enhancing strategic decision-making and leadership capabilities.
Software Engineering Manager
Aurea
- Partnered with stakeholders and leadership to define and execute roadmaps for over ten products, balancing quality, speed, and cost to meet business objectives.
- Developed custom Google Sheets dashboards using Python scripts to pull summarized data from Jira and other tools, enabling informed decisions on team performance, task progress, and automation metrics.
- Analyzed project goals and aligned product priorities based on compliance requirements, cost per unit, and team capacity, ensuring value delivery.
- Acted as a bridge between the QA team, product owners, and VPs of engineering, resolving escalations, aligning on goals, and improving overall delivery efficiency.
- Designed and owned Jira dashboards, Allure Reports, Jenkins, and other reporting tools to track specific KPIs for test automation, ensuring alignment with product requirements.
- Performed weekly tracking of hours, costs, intensity, and focus, optimizing resources to meet aggressive compliance and product delivery targets.
- Conducted Gemba walks to identify best practices and bottlenecks, improving workflows and team performance across multiple products.
- Presented progress reports to VPs of engineering and leadership, fostering transparency and building confidence in product delivery outcomes.
- Identified blockers proactively, reallocated resources, and managed plans to mitigate risks and meet delivery deadlines.
- Managed a team of 20 QA engineers across global locations, ensuring alignment on product goals, quality expectations, and performance metrics.
Agile Project Manager | Senior Software QA Manager
Unosquare
- Collaborated with customers to gather, analyze, and document product requirements, translating them into prioritized user stories and actionable backlogs aligned with business goals.
- Designed workflow charts and user interaction diagrams to streamline features and ensure alignment with customer expectations, enabling seamless product delivery and improved user experiences.
- Partnered with UI/UX designers to clarify product interfaces and user journeys, ensuring a user-centric design approach and seamless user experience for customer projects.
- Demonstrated product deliverables to customer executives during releases, gathering valuable feedback to prioritize refinements and ensure product-market fit.
- Formalized project management processes, workflows, and templates for the PMO, including SOPs, metrics, and project scorecards to evaluate team performance and milestones.
- Tracked project progress, risks, and issues across multiple Scrum and Kanban teams. Ensured alignment with timelines, budgets, and quality standards while managing stakeholder expectations.
- Developed and presented project review scorecards such as milestones, risks, and deliverables to stakeholders, including executive-level updates, ensuring transparency and alignment.
- Headed and facilitated key Agile ceremonies, including daily standups, sprint planning, grooming, reviews, and retrospectives, driving team collaboration and efficiency. Provided one-on-one coaching to remove blockers and foster growth.
- Coordinated with QA teams to align on testing plans, acceptance criteria, and performance testing strategies, ensuring high product quality for end users.
- Played a critical role in hiring and interviewing candidates for PMO and QA roles to build high-performing, cross-functional teams.
Project Manager | Business Analyst
IBM
- Led the Agile coaching group for the IBM CIO Mexico group. Coached multiple teams to transition from Waterfall development to Scrum methodology on complex projects, enabling shorter deployment cycles and improving delivery timelines.
- Created a worldwide project plan, budget, and schedule for the divestiture and acquisition of order-to-cash (O2C) projects, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and on-time execution across global geographies.
- Led the global order management PM team in the divestiture of the RSS business to ToshibaGCS (Waves 1-4 and ISC), ensuring on-time delivery by managing risks, budgets, and stakeholder expectations for a seamless transition.
- Managed the project portfolio for the O2C Hardware (HW) Latin America tower. Consolidated portfolio status, streamlined project reporting, and created a regional HW architecture based on asset information and application feedback.
- Documented and improved workflows and project management structures, focusing on scalability and alignment across geographies.
- Facilitated collaboration with cross-functional stakeholders to successfully complete complex, large-scale initiatives, including global divestiture projects.
- Headed the Students for a Smarter Planet (SFSP) program. Managed the Mexico Cybersecurity Challenge, a nationwide university contest sponsored by IBM leadership, with a significant impact across the education sector.
- Managed the IBM Mexico Smartcamp 2013 event project in Guadalajara, driving end-to-end planning, stakeholder coordination, and successful execution.
Software Quality Assurance Manager
Unosquare
- Collaborated directly with customers to gather, document, and manage requirements, ensuring alignment with business goals and user needs across multiple high-visibility projects.
- Created and reported actionable metrics to executive leadership (CTO and CEO), delivering insights on software development and testing project performance to inform data-driven decisions.
- Consulted and improved software development life cycles (SDLC) by integrating QA processes and aligning Agile and Waterfall methodologies to drive efficiency and product quality for internal and external customers.
- Managed multiple nearshore teams under tight deadlines, ensuring delivery of customer-centric solutions with high quality and visibility.
- Prepared and reviewed statement of work (SOW) documents for various projects and customers, defining scope, timelines, and deliverables to meet business requirements.
- Trained and coached QA teams from scratch based on customer needs, building strong teams capable of delivering software that met technical and business expectations.
- Planned and executed QA ISTQB certification efforts, ensuring team skills aligned with global standards and enhancing the delivery of high-quality products.
- Worked on site with customers in Missouri, Seattle, and Portland to provide tools and process training, fostering collaboration and alignment with stakeholder expectations.
Software Engineer | Staff Software Engineer | Architect
IBM
- Led the design and development of the RIPng routing protocol for the IBM iSeries, ensuring robust and scalable system architecture while collaborating with cross-functional teams.
- Played a key role in designing and implementing SNA EE/IPv6 and supporting the OSPF IPv4 and IPv6 routing protocols, showcasing technical expertise in emerging network technologies.
- Participated in crafting the strategic direction for the IBM Mexico System and Technology Lab, aligning technical initiatives with organizational goals.
- Spearheaded the adoption of service science, management, and engineering (SSME) and ITIL V3 in Mexican universities, fostering innovation in service management education.
- Acted as the IBM group leader in Mexico's national Community of Theory and Practice for SSME and ITSM, driving collaboration between academia and industry.
- Provided technical leadership during critical system outages, i.e., CritSit and SEV1 incidents, for the AS/400 iSeries Kernel operating system, ensuring timely resolution and stability.
- Earned two iSeries Large User Group (LUG) memento awards for significant contributions to system design and protocol implementation.
- Worked on designing, developing, and testing communication systems for the AS/400 iSeries Kernel operating system, including support for the Code Programming Support (CPS) system.
- Created and presented a compelling business case to IBM executives, leading to the formalization of a national SSME team.
- Contributed to the architecture and development of communication systems, enhancing the AS/400's operational capabilities.
CEO | Co-founder
SDNet
- Created and executed a comprehensive business plan for IT consulting services, aligning business goals with client needs to establish a successful startup.
- Led strategic decisions in marketing, sales, and technology research to identify opportunities and secure key client engagements.
- Designed and developed web solutions using PHP and ASP.NET and Windows applications using Visual Basic 6 (VB6), ensuring they met the specific needs of local clients in Colima and Jalisco.
- Communicated the value of IT services to clients effectively, leading to successful sales and long-term relationships.
- Conducted thorough analyses of marketing strategies and results, making data-driven adjustments to improve customer acquisition and retention.
Software Engineer
University of Colima
- Researched, developed, and documented a cross-platform web-based library system for the UNESCO Biblioteca Digital Latinoamericana, addressing user needs across Linux and Windows environments.
- Created IT systems for internal controls and external university customers, delivering tailored Windows and web-based applications to streamline operations and enhance productivity.
- Built a web platform linked to Unix scripts for user management, demonstrating innovative problem-solving and process automation.
- Oversaw Windows server administration and IT security, implementing updates and monitoring system logs to maintain security and reliability.
- Led the software development area at DIGESET, fostering innovation and process improvements within the department.
Project History
Implementation of Incident Management Framework at Toptal
Designed and implemented an organization-wide incident management framework, integrating processes and tools to streamline operations and improve response times.
Additionally, I designed and coded a custom Jira add-on to track incident SLAs based on priority, enabling better adherence to timelines. After implementing integrations with Slack and other 3rd-party tools to streamline notifications and escalation processes, I leveraged Jira to implement automated tracking and reporting, providing real-time updates on incidents.
This initiative improved incident response efficiency by 30% and aligned teams across different geographies.
Online Payment Processing Tool Requirements Gathering at TrustVesta
Spearheaded the requirements gathering for an online payment processing tool integrated with fraud prevention systems, ensuring PCI DSS compliance.
This project enhanced transaction security and streamlined client operations.
Development of a Performance Management Tool at Toptal
Led product discovery and development for a performance management tool that enhanced team accountability and efficiency across the organization.
Migration from YouTrack to Jira
Led the migration of Toptal's internal teams from YouTrack to Jira, optimizing workflows and implementing automation to improve team collaboration and delivery efficiency, including a customized Jira add-on for comprehensive initiative oversight.
After developing a customized Jira add-on to provide a hierarchical view of all initiatives, projects, and tasks, from broad overviews to detailed insights, I created documentation and delivered training sessions to ensure smooth adoption.
Divestiture of IBM Retail Store Solutions to Toshiba GCS
Spearheaded the order management vertical of the IBM RSS divestiture project, ensuring on-time delivery of all milestones while managing global stakeholders and adhering to budget constraints.
Education
Master's Degree in Computer Science
Autonomous University of Guadalajara - Guadalajara, Mexico
Bachelor's Degree in Telematics Engineering
University of Colima - Colima, Mexico
Certifications
Executive Leadership Certification
Cornell University
Atlassian Certified in Managing Jira Projects for Cloud
Atlassian
Certified Scrum Master
Scrum Alliance
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
Scrum Alliance
IBM Experienced Project Manager
IBM
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Skills
Tools
Jira, Zoom, Google Slides, Slack, Microsoft Word, Board Reporting, Provisioning Tools, BigQuery, Looker, Jenkins, Cucumber
Paradigms
Agile, Scrum, Agile Project Management, Kanban, Continuous Delivery (CD), Requirements Analysis, Waterfall Development, Iterative Development, Agile Software Development, Change Management, Agile Product Management, Continuous Deployment, Key Performance Metrics, Agile Workflow
Other
Jira Administrator, Google Sheets, Project Management, Project Management Professional (PMP), Cost Estimation, Project Planning, Waterfall Methodology, Agile Program Management, Software, Microsoft PowerPoint, SQL, Software Development, Product Discovery, People Management, Stakeholder Management, People Development, Product Roadmaps, Career Coaching, Task Management, APIs, Communication, Coaching, Escalation Handling, Dashboards, Data-driven Dashboards, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Process Improvement, Backlog Management, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Resource Planning and Analysis, User Stories, Stakeholder Analysis, Scope Management, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Data-driven Metrics, Web App Development, Microsoft Excel, Project Leadership, Product Delivery, Leadership, Executive Presentations, Team Leadership, Mentorship & Coaching, Motivation, Collaboration, Conflict Resolution, Quality Management, Presentations, Executive Reporting, Organizational Change Management (OCM), Jira Administration, Sprint Planning, Project Tracking, Sprint Backlog, Backlog Grooming, Requirements, Dashboard Design, Scrum Master, Scrum Coaching, Team Coaching, Incident Management, Engineering Management, Dashboard Development, App Integration, Enterprise Project Management, Financial Modeling, Project Management Office (PMO), Data Analysis, Networking, IP Networks, Linux, Stakeholder Interviews, Technical Product Management, Agile Product Delivery, Scrumban, Continuous Discovery, Compliance, Cross-functional Collaboration, Product Owner, Risk Management, Product Management, User Interface (UI), Metrics, Agile Coaching, Strategic Planning, Project Budget Management, User Workflows, Business Analysis, Technical Documentation, Web Applications, Mobile/Web Project Management, Consulting, User Experience (UX), Strategy Development, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), Routing Protocol Design, IT Systems Architecture, Strategic Decision-making, Product Development, Process Automation, Cross-platform App Development, Decision Analysis, Service Excellence, Workflow, Jira Align, Team Building, Continuous Improvement, Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Scrum Product Owner, Product Design, Stakeholder Engagement, Product Vision, Product Strategy, Requirements Matrices, Integrated Communication Systems, API Integration, PCI DSS, PCI Compliance, Fraud Prevention, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Miro, Java, Protractor, Python, Customer Success, Program Management, Portfolio Management, IPv6, ITIL, IT Service Management (ITSM), Business Planning
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