
Morné Wiggins
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Mali Losinj, Croatia
Toptal member since August 6, 2019
Over the last 30+ years, Morne has worked with leaders and teams of multiple Fortune 500 companies, helping them adopt better ways of working. He focuses on achieving measurable improvements in speed, quality, predictability, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction by applying decades of leadership experience and deep knowledge of Lean and Agile methodologies. He has 20+ years of experience working as an enterprise lean-agile coach on multiple agile transformation projects.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Agile Transformation
- Enterprise
- Facilitation
- Innovation Strategy
- Organizational Design
- Product Management
- Product Strategy
- Value Stream Identification
Work Experience
Enterprise Transformation Consultant | Enterprise Agile Coach
Gartner
- Facilitated strategic planning workshops with senior leaders to map company financial, customer, process, and resource objectives.
- Developed and delivered a custom leadership development program for senior leadership across multiple business units.
- Improved product portfolio and product management disciplines across multiple business units.
- Established the Lean-Agile Centre of Excellence and led multiple process improvement projects.
- Performed a comprehensive assessment of the organization's current state and developed a transformation roadmap comprising a prioritized list of improvement interventions.
Enterprise Transformation Consultant | Enterprise Agile Coach
Pfizer - Digital Manufacturing
- Served as a key member of the agile transformation program, working with product and engineering teams across multiple R&D functions, building augmented reality, virtual reality, and IoT products.
- Assisted with an agile transformation project, supporting quarterly planning and coordination across multiple business units.
- Implemented a custom training program for product managers and engineers.
Enterprise Transformation Consultant
Fortune 500 Real Estate Company
- Implemented Agile in non-technology verticals, including sales, project implementation, and customer support at a Fortune 500 real estate investment company with 98,000 employees in 80 countries.
- Provided Agile advice to leadership in analyzing business value and prioritizing initiatives. Developed the agility roadmap, agenda, and implementation plan with business outcomes.
- Identified opportunities for continuous improvements and influenced change at all organizational levels.
Enterprise Agile Coach | VP of Product | VP of Engineering
Tookitaki
- Provided thought leadership, strategic insight, and clear communication on the transformation strategy.
- Trained leadership on agile mindset and practices, portfolio management, and continuous delivery.
- Coached and trained the product, project, research, and engineering teams.
- Guided the organization in adopting an agile mindset with supportive leadership styles.
- Identified opportunities for continuous improvements and influenced change at all organizational levels.
- Guided the teams towards a mindset where they would continuously improve themselves.
- Trained and mentored prospective and established agile coaches.
Enterprise Agile Coach | Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Stableton Financial Services
- Led and facilitated agile practices and coaching activities with senior stakeholders.
- Implemented metrics and measures to provide direction on performance improvements.
- Trained new teams in Agile methodologies. Facilitated learning and development through individual and team coaching.
- Developed the product vision and roadmap using stakeholder interviews and market research. Led user studies, market research, and UX design process. Identified key features and unpacked user stories for the development teams.
- Championed the MVP concept, distilling the product to what is desirable, viable, and feasible. Worked with the early team to continue driving product/market fit with existing and new offerings.
- Identified the appropriate technology platform, sourcing strategy, and team structure. Recruited the agile team and managed the development process. Implemented and trained teams on the use of collaboration and project management tools.
- Owned the product launch, campaign management, A/B testing, and continuous improvements. Established key performance indicators to track product usage and growth.
Enterprise Agile Coach | Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)
Oradian
- Trained and coached leaders and product and engineering teams on Lean and Agile methodologies.
- Facilitated and developed strategic goals and implementation plans to support growth targets. Translated strategic goals into quarterly priorities, objectives, and key results.
- Defined and implemented mature business processes to support the organization's hyper-growth targets. Developed a business improvement plan to achieve a mature, sustainable business model.
- Worked closely with the product team to prioritize the roadmaps for new and existing markets.
- Implemented the B2B sales methodology and retrained the global sales. Mentored and coached individual contributors in sales operations, account management, and business development.
- Acted as the reporting line for CEOs and operations in 11 global markets.
- Provided thought leadership, ensuring successful design and implementation of delivery strategies.
Founder | Partner
Cillion
- Built and managed a dynamic senior management team.
- Developed a culture that supports team engagement and high performance.
- Recruited, managed, and retained top talent, ensuring the successful delivery of all projects.
- Managed strategic partner and customer relationships.
- Owned the launching and building of new services and products.
- Led the delivery of complex projects for enterprise clients and NGOs.
- Collaborated with diverse, geographically dispersed, remote teams in 80 countries.
- Built and launched enterprise, B2B, and B2C on-premise and cloud software products.
- Led the transformation initiatives across client organizations.
- Provided specialist consulting in financial services, fintech, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
Co-founder
Britehouse
- Assisted with the development of the company value proposition and go-to-market strategy.
- Closed several key deals and managed the resulting projects at the key startup phase of the business.
- Served as part of the team that built the company from 20 employees to 300.
- Participated in several fundraising rounds up to $10 million with a successful exit in 2004.
- Managed the strategic relationship with Microsoft.
Project History
VP of Product and VP of Engineering for AI and Fintech Product Suite
https://www.tookitaki.ai/Conducted successful launches of six product modules and closed strategic deals with some of Asia's largest banks and fintech, including Tencent, UOB, and Grab.
• Built the product team as VP of product.
• Transformed the research and engineering teams, growing from 40 to 100 people.
• Led the Agile transformation project, implementing Lean product management and Agile development practices.
Multi-sided Marketplace for Alternative Investments
https://marketplace.stableton.com/Designed, developed, and launched a multi-sided marketplace for alternative investment products.
SaaS Digital Core Banking Platform
https://oradian.com/Played a strategic role in the critical high-growth phase of a hypergrowth fintech startup.
I worked closely with the founders and shareholders, who took ownership of the company strategy and product positioning. Based on market research and product fit analysis, I developed the company's expansion plans to Africa and Asia. I recruited, trained, and coached managing directors and in-country teams in five new markets, eventually leading the sales effort.
I implemented new and Lean-Agile business processes across the organization, including sales, human resources, and finance departments. I also established new competencies and organizational units.
Social Media and Financial Services Platform
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaY8E78g-_kDeveloped MVP, funding proposal, and raised $26 million in series-A funding.
I led the market research and validation project across 14 countries in four languages. Definition and prioritization of the product roadmap, technology architecture, business case development, and lobbying investors to raise $26 million in funding were also part of my achievements. Finally, I led the go-to-market product strategy for new market expansion.
Mobile Payments and Financial Services Platform
Established a pan-African network of integrated financial services providers, delivering cross-border financial services to previously unreachable or underserved areas.
My role:
• Got involved from project inception to performing initial diagnostics of all investee's processes, technology systems, and staff competency levels.
• Developed a single integrated technology strategy for all FSPs.
• Led the CEO and CIO summit, where we integrated teams and processes and ratified the technology and business strategy across 16 countries, four economic zones, and three languages.
• Rolled out new cloud-based core banking systems and developed innovative mobile apps, enabling financial services without the need for heavy and expensive physical infrastructure.
• Built an agency banking framework, empowering field agents and further lowering the costs of financial services to underserved markets.
• Got involved with lobbying central banks and assisted with creating digital banking policy frameworks across multiple countries.
Connected Armored Vehicles
https://www.sbv.co.zaDesigned onboard security, monitoring, communications, remote control, and management systems for armored vehicles. Built a centralized command center, managing approximately 1,000 armored vehicles across South Africa.
The vehicles included onboard tracking and surveillance systems, enabling the central command center to connect with any vehicle at any time. The command center could also take responsibility for certain operational aspects (for example, remote triggering of drop safes, or security doors), or override the vehicle controls when required.
A new centralized command center was also built in a high-security location running a 24x7 operation. It included various back-end systems, such as cash management, vehicle tracking, logistics, operations, remote management, monitoring, and response operations.
I was responsible for the overall management of the project, and also led the technical design aspects such as the command center systems, onboard electronics, and software for the vehicles.
National Companies and Intellectual Property Platform
Built, launched, and maintained South Africa's national Companies and Intellectual Property platform for a period of 15 years.
• Registration of companies, co-operatives, and intellectual property rights, including trademarks, patents, designs, and copyright
• Disclosure of information on its business registers
Property Management Monitoring and Analytics Platform
Built an integrated property management platform for Barclays Bank as part of a $100 million outsource project to Johnson Controls (JCI)
The platform used advanced analytics to preemptively detect problems and equipment failures, decrease the planning and costs of maintenance activities and increase the security of the bank's assets.
Google Startup Mentor
https://startup.google.com/accelerator/I was a mentor to multiple startups in a Google accelerator program.
Google for startups accelerators serves top growth-stage startups with tailored technical, product, and leadership training from Google experts.
Product, Research and Engineering Organizational Design
https://www.tookitaki.aiRe-organized the Product, Research, and Engineering teams for a fintech company, achieving a 300% improvement in quality 500% improvement in speed of delivery. Adapted the organizational design to support the company’s hyper-growth.
After a fundraising round, the company was required to scale rapidly to meet the shareholders' new aggressive growth and delivery targets.
They were struggling with poor quality, unpredictable delivery, poor performance, low team morale, pervasive inefficiencies, and they were unable to adequately service their existing customer base.
Morné established a new product management discipline - recruited, onboarded, trained, and coached a team of product managers and project managers - to enable the company to increase visibility and take control of their end-to-end delivery process.
He then reorganized the research and engineering teams, creating a scalable team-based model, which could easily be replicated to support the rapidly growing engineering organization.
He joined the leadership team and implemented a new planning and execution process. He coached the co-founders and worked closely with the sales, CS, HR, and finance teams to create a cohesive, high-functioning leadership organization.
Customer Acquisition, Product, Customer Success, Delivery Organization Design
https://oradian.comGrew the Customer Acquisition team from 5 people to 5, to enter new markets. Integrated with the Product, Customer Success and Delivery teams to improve communication and customer service in 14 countries.
The existing organizational structures were not scalable, and the command and control management structure was causing communication bottlenecks and inefficiencies, which constrained the company’s growth.
Morné built five regional offices, hiring local CEOs and establishing cross-functional teams in each country. He standardized operational processes implemented a training academy, knowledge management systems, and best practices.
As a result, the company met its required 300% ARR growth targets and tripled its headcount in 18 months while continuously improving operational efficiencies.
Social Media & Fintech Company Organizational Design
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaY8E78g-_kBuilt a Social Media and Fintech company from the ground up, starting at 1 employee, scaling to 250.
Morné started with the project at the conception phase, validating the business model, building the MVP, field-testing the concept. After passing the initial tests, he assisted with the fundraising, and manage to secure $26m in donor funding for the start-up venture.
Since there is a lack of infrastructure across Africa, the organizational design required regional operations in 4 languages to cover 54 African countries. In addition to building the UX, Research, Product, Project and Engineering teams, there were also field operations in 14 countries, working with local partners to assist with the promotion, uptake and adoption of the platform and services to end-users.
As a multi-sided marketplace, the organization also had to interface with financial institutions, investors and donors, which required separate dedicated teams.
Organizational Transformation for a Fortune 500 Real Estate Company
Designed a new operating model for the technology products division.
Organizational Transformation Consultant | Chief of Staff
Transformed the product and engineering teams for the digital manufacturing business unit of a leading pharmaceutical company.
Enterprise Transformation Consultant for a Global Research and Consulting Company
Led an agile transformation project for a global research and consulting company, implementing cross-business unit product and portfolio management processes.
Certifications
ICAgile Certified Expert in Enterprise Coaching (ICE-EC)
ICAgile
ICAgile Certified Professional - Coaching Agile Transitions (ICP-CAT)
ICAgile
ICAgile Certified Professional in Agility in the Enterprise (ICP-ENT)
ICAgile
Certified SASM - SAFe Advanced Scrum Master
Scaled Agile, Inc.
Certified SSM - SAFe Scrum Master
Scaled Agile, Inc.
Certified SAFe Architect (SAFe ARCH)
Scaled Agile, Inc.
Certified SAFe Agile Software Engineer (SAFe ASE)
Scaled Agile, Inc.
Certified SAFe DevOps Practitioner (SAFe SDP)
Scaled Agile, Inc.
Certified SAFe Product Owner & Product Manager (SAFe POPM)
Scaled Agile, Inc.
Certified SAFe Release Train Engineer (SAFe RTE)
Scaled Agile, Inc.
Certified SAFe Lean Portfolio Management (SAFe LPM)
Scaled Agile, Inc.
SAFe Remote Trainer
Scaled Agile, Inc.
Certified SAFe 5 Program Consultant
Scaled Agile, Inc.
Skills
Tools
Google Docs, Jira, Confluence, Atlassian Suite, Slack, MURAL
Paradigms
Agile Product Management, Value Stream Identification, DevOps, Agile Project Management, Kanban, Agile Software Development, Scrum, Agile, Agile UX, Requirements Analysis, Team Development, Change Management, Augmented Reality (AR), Scalable Application
Industry Expertise
Professional Services, Startup Accelerators, Financial Services, Venture Capital, Banking & Finance, Automotive, Digital Banking
Other
Mobile Banking, Product Management, Product Strategy, Coaching, Mentorship & Coaching, Scrum Coaching, Business Coaching, Instruction & Coaching, Facilitation, Lean Portfolio Management, APIs, Automation, Cloud, SaaS, Core Banking Systems, Innovation Strategy, Payment Gateways, Integration, Software Integration, Product Discovery, Project Management, Lean Manufacturing, Agile Product Delivery, Monetization, Product Owner, Technical Design, User Experience (UX), Research, Fundraising, Stakeholder Management, Architecture, Execution, Feature Analysis, Feature Planning, Feature Roadmaps, User Stories, Budget Management, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Resource Allocation, Agile Leadership, Client Management, Client Reporting, Early-stage Startups, Startup Consulting, Startups, Software as a Service (SaaS), Product Development, Fintech, Organizational Design, Analytics, Big Data, Product Roadmaps, Business Strategy, Senior Executive Management, Digital Transformation, User-centered Design (UCD), eCommerce, WordPress eCommerce, eCommerce Payments, eCommerce Management, Mobile eCommerce, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Big Data Architecture, Social Networks, Remote Work, Remote Team Leadership, Agile Coaching, Agile Transformation, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Aha!, Google Sheets, Lean, Training, Software Design, Technology Trends, Product Leadership, CTO, Chief Product Officer (CPO), Business Transformation, Business Consulting, Structure & Organizational Design, Management Consulting, Operational Efficiency Improvement, Operations Management, Operations Research, Organizational Development, Chief Operations Officer (COO), CEO, Agile Data Science, Best Practices, Data Science, Estimation & Planning, Optimization, Process Improvement, Process Ownership, Project Estimation, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Stakeholder Engagement, Customer Success, Metrics, Payment APIs, Strategy, Manufacturing, Budgeting, Card Payments, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Mobile UX, Product Design, Mobile UI, Android, Project Timelines, Mobile Apps, Product Vision, Proof of Concept (POC), Staffing, Mobile Payments, Microsoft, User Requirements, Dual Track Agile, Workshop Facilitation, Team Mentoring, Strategic Planning & Execution, Executive Coaching, Employee Training, Agile Delivery, Management, Business to Business (B2B), Strategic Planning, Digital Product Management, Web Applications, Mobile, Mobile Applications, Delivery Management, Delivery, Implementation Project Management, Project Delivery, Team Building, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Transformational Leadership, Internal Communications, Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), Digital Product Development, Business Models, Enterprise, Consulting, Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), Remote Sensing, Security, Cash Management, Two-sided Marketplaces, Fitness, Incubator Management, Agile Software Testing, Product Support, API Integration, Business Intelligence (BI), Search, Search Engines, SAP, Data Transformation, Data Warehousing, IT Operations Management (ITOM), Mentorship, Lean UX, Lean Canvas, Lean Startups, Agile Program Management, Business Services, Training & Training Content Development, Project Design, Digital Transformation Program Management, Organizational Change Management (OCM), Lean Product Manager, Portfolio Management, Product Portfolio Manager, Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Miro, Microsoft Office, Vision Development, Presentations, Pitch Decks, Strategic Initiatives, Product Coach, Product Strategy Consultant, Virtual Reality (VR), Leadership, Operating Models, TOM, Target Operating Models, Technical Product Management, Platforms
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