Shehzad Akbar
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Toronto, Canada
Toptal member since August 5, 2021
Shehzad has been in the product management and technology spaces for ten years as a consultant. During this time, he has had the privilege of leading large design and engineering teams for clients such as Bose, Mozilla, and Ford. He was responsible for discovering, building, and launching new products to global audiences with these clients. Shehzad worked closely with his team members to better themselves while also focusing on delivering high quality products to the market.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Agile
- Business Analysis
- Design Thinking
- Product Owner
- Product Roadmaps
- Product Strategy
- Sprint Planning
- Technical Product Management
Work Experience
Technical Product Manager
Fusebit
- Took responsibility for defining, developing, planning, and executing a product strategy. Primarily focused on gathering customer insights, defining the technical approach, and reviewing the success metrics of new initiatives.
- Gained deep expertise in CRO through the implementation of Segment, MixPanel, and Pendo by leveraging the insights gained from user engagement/growth analytics analysis to the growth product.
- Experimented with the marketing and content strategy targeted towards organic growth, seeing a 20X increase in traffic over three months.
Product Manager
Connected (now part of Thoughtworks)
- Program-managed the buildout of Bose's flagship mobile app, Bose Music. Oversaw a team of 35 engineers (iOS/Android) and designers from inception, design, development, and launch in a project that lasted over two years.
- Led a small team as a program manager to build the first MVP for the Mozilla VPN. Oversaw a team of seven engineers (Windows/iOS) and designers from initial design, problem validation, customer discovery, and MVP build and release.
- Led three product teams as the product engagement lead within Ford's autonomous vehicle team. Helped guide and shape the product and technology strategy supporting the service design for their first AV.
Project History
Bose Music App
Led the buildout of Bose's flagship mobile app, Bose Music, from the ground up. Oversaw a team of 35 engineers (iOS/Android) and designers from inception, design, development, and launch in a project that lasted over two years.
The Bose Music app works with the entire Bose Speaker lineup, including their smart speakers, soundbars, headphones, and experimental products such as the Bose Frames.
Additionally, It has deep integration with smart assistants (Alexa and Google) and music streaming services, including Spotify, Amazon Music, and Tune-in Radio, so you never have to leave the app to control your listening experience.
Mozilla VPN
Managed a small team to build the first MVP for the Mozilla VPN. Oversaw a team of seven engineers (Windows/iOS) and designers from initial design, problem validation, customer discovery, and MVP build and release.
I was a key part of the initial build-out of this open-source project. My role on the team was to help architect the initial system design, validate the UI/UX flows and work with a team of Windows and iOS engineers to implement the requirements.
I was also involved in customer discovery by designing surveys and engaging in A/B testing to determine what approach made sense for the product.
Fusebit Integrations Platform - API Connectors Rollout
Led the design and development of a developer-focused API integrations platform with over 50 connectors to various online SaaS tools.
Education
Master's Degree in Management, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
Smith School of Business, Queens University - Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Bachelor's Degree in Economics, Political Science, and Statistics
University of Toronto - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Certifications
Designing Strategy
IDEO
Certified Scrum Master
Scrum Alliance
Skills
Tools
Jira, Asana, GitHub, Figma, Google Analytics, Slack, Zoom, Canva, Google Slides, Google Docs
Paradigms
Scrum, Agile, Agile Product Management, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Rapid Prototyping, User Testing, Agile Project Management, Kanban, Agile Software Development, Continuous Deployment, Design Thinking
Industry Expertise
Music, Education Technology (Edtech), Venture Capital
Other
Sprint Planning, Sprint Retrospectives, Customer Insights, Product Management, Product Strategy, Product Roadmaps, Product Owner, Business Analysis, Technical Product Management, Value Proposition, User Research, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, APIs, Data Analytics, User Engagement, Funnel Analysis, Wireframing, New Product Development, Product Strategy Consultant, Technical Writing, Requirements & Specifications, Documentation, Technical Business Analysis, Growth Strategy, Market Research & Analysis, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Estimation & Planning, Cost Estimation, Startups, Monetization Models, Requirements, Lean Product Manager, User Validation Testing, Early-stage Startups, Project Consultancy, Node.js, React Native, Market Research, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), User Stories, Product Planning, Product Requirements Documentation (PRD), Agile Leadership, User Needs, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Roadmaps, Project Management, Consulting, Mobile Apps, Websites, Data Analysis, Feature Prioritization, SaaS, Data, User Journeys, Digital Product Management, Conceptualization, Ideation, Technical Requirements, Release Management, Backlog Management, Continuous Integration (CI), Stakeholder Engagement, Diagrams, Marketing, Business Strategy, Go-to-market Plans, Product Marketing, Go-to-market Strategy, Business Models, User Experience (UX), Fintech, Design, Qualitative Research, Quantitative User Research, User Feedback, UX Design, Development, Back-end, Growth Hacking, Financial Modeling, Product Design, Media, Audio Streaming, Cloud, Cybersecurity, Social Networks Development, Social Media Platforms, Marketing Strategy, Product Consultant, Tracking, Website Traffic, Website Audits, Data-driven Dashboards, Freemium Model, Subscriptions, Feature Analysis, Python, Pricing Models, Firewalls, Networking, Google Drive, Miro, Google Sheets, Critical Thinking, Economics, Planning, Survey Design, Statistical Data Analysis, Strategy, Management, Innovation, Financial Analysis, Business Planning, Entrepreneurship, Program Management, Product Growth, UX Research, Research, Team Management, Venture Funding, JavaScript, Analytics, Direct to Consumer (D2C), User Interface (UI), Front-end, Bluetooth, iOS, Android, Mentorship & Coaching, React
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