Fergal Kelly
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Cork, Ireland
Toptal member since June 17, 2019
Fergal has 15 years of experience successfully launching software portfolios across airline pricing, travel distribution merchandising, and digital solutions for millions of travelers. He has worked with both startups, and NYSE listed companies. Fergal brings to the table a commercially focused set of leadership skills to help globally distributed teams deliver successful products.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Global Distribution Systems (GDS)
- Portfolio Management
- Product Evangelism
- Product Launch
- Product Management
- Product Marketing
- Strategy
- Travel & Leisure
Work Experience
Vice President of Product, and Merchandising
Travelport
- Launched market leading merchandising solutions for the airline industry.
- Researched the market and competition, building a clear profile of unmet needs.
- Developed and secured C-Level commitment to a multi-year business case to create a leadership position in merchandising for airlines.
- Oversaw the leadership of a multi-site product and technology team, while developing merchandising capability.
- Worked as the industry representative with a focus on key issues such as the IATA New Distribution Capability.
Chief Commercial Officer
Travelport Digital
- Pivoted professional services business to a product-led business model.
- Built and launched new digital (mobile app) products aimed at the travel agency, and airline space.
- Built a global travel brand (Travelport Digital) from scratch with a new digital marketing strategy and team.
- Led rebranding of a product portfolio to set out a new positioning for mobile based on an engagement economy paradigm.
- Worked closely with customers and market to define new capabilities for a mobile push notification solution.
Head of Commercial Strategy
Travelport
- Led the commercial strategy on behalf of the Travelport Commercial Organisation.
- Applied influencing leadership skills to align key deilverables across multiple business units.
- Led the commercial due diligence on a $57 million acquisition of a mobile development team in Ireland.
Director and Vice President of Product
Travelport
- Launched a new version of the Travelport ePricing solutions to 67,000 agency customers worldwide.
- Researched the market to create a key customer facing team called 'Bookability' team. This created new value for the Online Travel Agency, customers in particular.
- Led hotel, car, and advertising product teams to research the market, and build new capability with compelling user stories.
Product Director
SITA
- Researched the market and competition through market research. New user stories were developed via customer interviews.
- Built a new portfolio solution set called Total Fare Management.
- Led and mentored product teams in the UK, and North America.
- Developed a strategic portfolio business case working through internal financial approval processes resulting in C-level pitch and approval for a three year investment case.
Head of Product
Marrakech
- Managed multiple product teams and backlogs to deliver procurement to the payment platform.
- Worked closely with the sales channels to land new major accounts.
- Mentored and developed product leaders.
- Presented and worked alongside C-Suite in investment rounds.
- Researched the market and competition, worked closely with existing customers and prospects to generate compelling user stories.
Project History
Travelport TripAssist
Led the product and marketing teams to launch Trip Assist, a configurable itinerary management platform for travel agencies.
Travelport Trip Assist is a configurable mobile app which was designed to address a need for a lower cost entry point for small to medium travel agencies seeking to offer a branded mobile itinerary experience to their travelers. The product was heavily focused on helping agencies extend their brand proposition, and engage with their travelers after booking. The solution was launched in 2017 and required a significant retooling of the underlying technology as well as the building of new product teams and capabilities to address this market need.
Travelport Merchandising Solutions
Led the initial development and launch of Travelport Merchandising. Supported the airline retailing in the indirect channel.
Travelport Merchandising Solutions is a multi-product suite which, when launched in 2013, was the first in the market to support airlines in using their retailing capabilities in the indirect channel. The project had three key elements to it, 1) To do the market research and crystallize complex needs from airlines worldwide into a set of clearly defined user stories, 2) Work with C-level leadership to build the multi-year business case with key delivery milestones, 3) Build the multi-site and multi-team program of work to implement new capabilities across the global technology stack, and 4) Launch and win new business.
Education
Master's Degree in Statistics
Trinity College Dublin - Dublin, Ireland
Bachelor's Degree in Management Science
Trinity College Dublin - Dublin, Ireland
Skills
Industry Expertise
High-tech Startups
Other
Product Management, Digital Product Management, Portfolio Management, Product Marketing, Global Distribution Systems (GDS), Travel & Leisure, Product Launch, Product Evangelism, Strategy, Strategy Planning, People Management, Business Analysis, Requirements, Product Strategy, Product Roadmaps, Go-to-market Plans, User Research, Business Models, Product Design, Product Frameworks, Innovation, Product Ownership, Product Discovery, Early-stage Startups
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