Mateo Fernández
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Montevideo, Montevideo Department, Uruguay
Toptal member since April 17, 2022
Mateo is a certified product management professional with experience in startups, SMBs, and enterprises, including The Nature Conservancy, Rockwell Automation, Inter-American Development Bank, Humana, and Pearson. He excels at bringing new things to life by unlocking innovation through creativity and goal setting and building awesome teams through great communication and co-creation. Mateo is a mentor at heart, advocating the mindset of making others successful to be successful.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Design Sprints
- Design Thinking
- Discovery Workshops
- Ideation Workshops
- Innovation
- Product Leadership
- Product Roadmaps
- Product Strategy
Work Experience
Senior AI Product Manager
RightSource.ai
- Guided the team in creating the MVP of the product.
- Set the product utilization tool to measure usage.
- Conducted user testing to gather insights during product development.
Senior Lean Experimentation Facilitator
The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
- Facilitated a road mapping workshop for the Gran Chaco conservation team. I led a business model creation workshop for two conservation teams. Led and facilitated a design sprint workshop and retreat for two more conservation teams this year.
- Conducted a theory of change workshop for the regenerative ranching and agriculture team.
- Connected with other facilitators and advocated best practices to grow the practice across the organization.
Product Coach
Workshops by Mateo
- Trained a 15-person team on product discovery best practices for a company named UruIT.
- Delivered Design Sprint trainings for different agencies, and as a product discovery practice for more than 10 different clients.
- Delivered Lean Inception trainings for different agencies, and as a product discovery practice for more than 10 different clients.
Product Manager
Giftly Inc
- Acted as the fraud lead product manager. I led fraud efforts, including signal/pattern identification.
- Led weekly fraud meetings. A quantitative meeting based on numbers that I built from a Metabase database. From that, I prepared presentations to hold discussions and prioritize based on facts.
- Spearheaded a vast PII analysis to identify which information can be shared with the AI, reviewing contracts, talking with stakeholders, and creating artifacts to lead discussions.
- Led the definition of two AI solutions: a machine learning model (ML) trained with fraud signals and an agentic solution to recommend steps after fraud is identified.
Fraud Product Manager
Giftly Inc
- Led PII discussions across multiple stakeholders, converging on decisions on which proprietary information can be safely and legally shared with AI.
- Created a quantitative system based on real data to make product decisions on priority and impact.
- Led the fraud department efforts on catching fraud, integrating AI tools like Sardine.ai and Claude.
- Documented processes across the company, such as fraud, as well as purchase and redemption workflows.
Tech Product Manager
SoundExchange
- Integrated the client app with the Stripe API for ID verification services.
- Implemented Claude as a large language model (LLM) for transcribing audio into text.
- Implemented ACH as an extra option for royalty payments.
- Delivered registration features and an admin aligned with business requirements and user engagement metrics.
- Implemented DocuSign for users to sign special documents and consents.
Conceptualization Product Manager
Leonardspoon Executive Management LLC
- Conducted the product discovery and conceptualization of the product.
- Refined the product vision and created the roadmap.
- Made technical recommendations for the development.
Product Manager
Freelance | via Toptal
- Conducted the product discovery and conceptualization of the product.
- Refined the product vision and created the roadmap.
- Made technical recommendations for the development.
Conceptualization Product Manager
CONLEYO LLC
- Assisted the client in conceptualizing his product idea by creating a clickable prototype for idea validation.
- Created a sketched journey to keep the right conversations with the client before creating the prototype.
- Collected the client's feedback and iterated the prototype twice.
Product Manager Microsite Design and Development
Toptal
- Led the development of a microsite for a Toptal marketing campaign. I collaborated with 20+ people to get the information we needed and get the most to achieve our goals.
- Worked closely with a UX writer and a marketing specialist to define the vision of the microsite aligned with the marketing vision.
- Crafted the concept of the microsite with the product designers and UX writers.
- Crafted the requirements and user stories for developers.
- Crafted a roadmap for the upcoming months to develop the product.
Product Manager for Environmental Product Certification Platform
Nicholson Consulting LLC
- Helped the client conceptualize the product in a miro board, craft a vision, set a strategy, and run competitive and market research.
- Completed the engagement, and the client asked me if she could hire me again for the tactic part of development.
- Led the development and set a Scrum methodology to work organized and deliver value iteratively.
Product Manager for Environmental Product Certification Platform
Nicholson Consulting LLC
- Led the product conceptualization with a toolset I defined based on my previous experiences working as a product manager, from the idea to execution.
- Created a set of tech recommendations to build the product. I interviewed the tech candidates and helped the client select the best ones to craft the product.
- Prepared a roadmap and conducted user research to learn and validate our thoughts.
Senior Product Manager | Product Ops Manager
Rootstrap Inc.
- Facilitated product thinking across the organization and fostered cross-department collaboration while serving as a product practices coach.
- Trained and mentored a product owner team on best practices for product strategy, development, and tactics and coached multiple teams on the same.
- Facilitated a product principles initiative across all departments.
- Redefined and led the organization's product discovery practice.
- Introduced and served as the subject matter expert for facilitating workshops on product discovery, problem solving, team alignment, MVP design and creation, and continuous discovery.
- Established Rootstrap's dual-track continuous discovery practice and led the entire lifecycle, from the client sales pitch to execution.
Senior Product Manager
Rockwell Automation
- Managed a distributed multidisciplinary team of 18 professionals.
- Built the product strategy for the UI vertical that I was leading.
- Mentored the team on Agile and Lean practices by applying a learn-by-doing approach.
- Created the roadmap and validated it with internal stakeholders.
- Set up an experiment framework for testing assumptions with real IDE users.
Senior Product Manager
Rockwell Automation
- Led a product team through the complete product lifecycle, from idea to production.
- Managed and mentored a distributed, multidisciplinary team on product management best practices. The team had in-house and client members.
- Created six-month roadmaps with program increment (PI) planning for SAFe 4.0.
- Conducted product workshops, coaching the team on collaboration, co-creation, problem solving, and discovering new opportunities.
- Co-facilitated a product discovery workshop as a design sprint when the project started.
Senior Product Manager
Inter-American Development Bank
- Managed product planning and conducted a one-week, onsite product discovery process to create a new global business intelligence dashboard.
- Created the product roadmap and led a distributed, multidisciplinary, 12-person Agile team to deliver the product.
- Led the entire product lifecycle and Scrum execution and mentored the team on best practices.
- Created and refined all requirements with the team on a weekly basis and reported to the executives on the project status.
- Participated in the go-to-market strategy, making recommendations and communicating best practices to executives and the team.
Senior Product Owner
Humana
- Led an on-site product discovery workshop to kick off the project.
- Collaborated with the UX team to produce wireframes.
- Mentored the team on Agile practices, including Scrum and Kanban.
- Led product development and mentored the team on best practices for delivery.
Product Owner
Pearson
- Worked with the client to understand requirements and translate them into user stories.
- Led two 8-person outsourced and distributed teams to deliver the Poptropica product.
- Collaborated and coordinated team efforts with a client project manager and a UX designer.
Technical Leader
RelateIQ
- Led the development team while migrating the billing system from Recurly to Zuora. Mentored the team on good product development practices.
- Developed a clear understanding of how the system worked, handed off the information to the team, and proposed new solutions.
- Managed the outsourced development team while serving as the key contact for the client and owning all project communications between the executives and the team.
Project History
Skypod
https://www.skypod.com/Led a product team to build Skypod from idea to production.
I led the product strategy and development while serving as the product manager and mentoring the team. The team included two product designers, four senior developers, one QA, and one scrum master. I also participated in the go-to-market strategy for the product.
What's the Play App
Led the product team to deliver the product, from the idea to production, while serving as the product manager.
I connected with the client to understand the requirements and create a roadmap to deliver the product. As the product manager, I led the entire product lifecycle process, including requirements elicitation, roadmap creation, backlog creation and refinement, team mentoring, development, and launch.
Poptropica E-learning
https://www.poptropica.com/Led the entire product lifecycle and team for the Poptropica product.
Poptropica is an e-learning product that was built to help kids learn. After joining the team when the project started, I led the team and the entire development lifecycle, from the product strategy to launch.
Environmental Product Definition and Certification Web App Development
http://www.smartepd.comLed the design, MVP definition, and development of a product that encapsulated a workflow for creating certified EPDs.
Smart EPD is leading the EPD certification process in the USA, with over 5,000 active users.
During the engagement, I led the product discovery of the business idea, defined the MVP, and created the requirements before jumping into the application development.
Certifications
Building Systems with the ChatGPT API
DeepLearning.AI
Human-centered Service Design
IDEO U
Lean Inception Certified Trainer
Caroli.org
Certified Lean Inception Facilitator
Caroli.org
Design Sprints Certified Facilitator
AJ&Smart
Design Thinking for Innovation
University of Virginia | via Coursera
From Ideas to Action (Design Thinking Techniques)
IDEO U
Storytelling for Influence
IDEO U
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
Scrum Alliance
Skills
Tools
Google Workspace, Jira, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Asana, Figma, GitHub, Google Analytics, Microsoft Visio, Slack, iOS SDK, AWS SDK
Paradigms
Scrum, Agile, Agile Product Management, Agile Project Management, Requirements Analysis, Agile Software Development, Design Thinking, Human-centered Design (HCD), Scalable Application, Marketplace Platforms, Gamification, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Industry Expertise
Product Ideation, Healthcare, Event Ticketing, Logistics, Electronics, Sustainability, Real Estate, Education Technology (Edtech), Renewable Energy, Commercial Real Estate, Pets, Marketplaces, eBay
Platforms
WooCommerce, Shopify
Other
Miro, Murals, Notion, Product Roadmaps, Collaboration, Communication, Story Mapping, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), MVP Design, Discovery Workshops, Ideation Workshops, User Journeys, Product Discovery, Lean Product Manager, Project Management, Roadmaps, Product Owner, User Stories, Lean Inception, Workshops, Business Requirements, Journey Mapping, Sprint Planning, Planning, Requirements, Discovery, Project Planning, Web Development, Web Project Management, Stakeholder Management, Conceptualization, Ideation, Digital Product Management, Agile Leadership, Product Conceptualization, Backlog Grooming, Product Consultant, Consulting, Third-party Management, Remote Team Leadership, Feature Prioritization, Business Analysis, Diagrams, Microsoft Office, Acceptance Criteria, Backlog Management, Functional Requirements, Program Management, Leadership, Product Leadership, Storytelling, Design Sprints, Research, User Interviews, Double Diamond, Innovation, Service Blueprints, User Personas, UX Design, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Dual Track Agile, Business Coaching, Lean Experiments, Experimental Design, User Research, Innovation Strategy, Design Strategy, Strategic Design, UX Workshops, Product Requirements Documentation (PRD), Startups, Early-stage Startups, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Management Consulting, Business Models, Design, Feature Backlog Prioritization, User Experience (UX), Web Applications, Technical Product Management, Integration, Websites, Content Management Systems (CMS), Software Development, Presentations, Web UX, Web App Development, Game Development, Wireframing, Mockups, Mobile Apps, User Interface (UI), Product Design, New Product Development, Mobile Applications, Mobile UX, Digital Transformation, Pitch Decks, SaaS, Management, Business Strategy, Go-to-market (GTM) Strategy, Budgeting, Monetization, Health IT, Technical Project Management, Databases, Project Timelines, Software as a Service (SaaS), Healthcare IT, Medtech, APIs, Dashboards, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Reporting, Business to Consumer (B2C), B2B Product Management, Product Vision, Market Research, Competition Research, Scope, Benchmarking, Fitness, Mobile App Development, Request for Proposal (RFP), RFPs, RFQs, ITTs, Responses, Proposals & Quotes, Optimization, Inventory Management, Inventory Management Systems, Business Consulting, Market Fit, Machine Learning, Pricing Models, React Native, Node.js, Customer Experience, Customer Success, Healthcare Services, Manufacturing, Business Processes, Quality Management, Web & Mobile Applications, Education, Business Proposals, Investor Presentations, Project Review, Waste Management, Social Networks, Growth Strategy, Web Services, Card Payments, API Integration, Holistic UX Design, Apple, App Design, Electronic Payments, Process Optimization, Process Improvement, Data Management, Analytics, Software Architecture, User Behavior, Business Intelligence (BI) Platforms, Partnerships, Workflow Tools, Data Analytics, Data Visualization, UI Design, Quality Assurance (QA), UX Assessment, Project Tracking, IT Audits, Product Descriptions, Documentation, Restaurants & Dining, Order Management, Energy Utilities, Plaid API, Release Management, Two-sided Marketplaces, Business Planning, Product Growth, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), E-learning, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Feature Roadmaps, Executive Presentations, Market Research Analyst, A/B Testing, Competitive Analysis, Social Media, Travel, Proof of Concept (POC), Product Marketing, Product Positioning, Messaging, Product-market Fit, Windows 10, OpenAI GPT-4 API, Claude Code, Semrush, Program Increment Planning, AI Integration, AI Tools, Brainstorming, Service Design, Product Strategy, Strategy, Lean, Product Development, Team Mentoring, Product Coach, Workshop Facilitation, Product Management, Sprints, User Requirements, Product Delivery, Product Launch, Digital Asset Management, eCommerce, Architecture, Web Design, Non-fungible Tokens (NFT), Digital Marketing, Microsites, Booking Systems, Booking Apps, Workflow, Marketing, Automation, Process Automation, Product Ownership, iOS, iOS Native Libraries, Catalogs, Robotics, Supply Chain, Operations, Fulfillment, eCommerce Fulfillment, Online Auctions, Startup Funding, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Large Language Models (LLMs), Retail & Wholesale, ChatGPT, Deep Learning, AI Chatbots, Chatbots, Stripe API, Gemini, Metabase
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