Catherine Conaghan

I led the team from ideation to the successful launch of the Income Passport web app for gig workers in the US to connect gig apps and bank accounts for income report generation.

I led the discovery process with the client, defined the MVP requirements, and forecasted the timeline and cost. I then cooperated with the designer to create the web app design and user stories, prioritizing our work in Jira. I worked with the development team daily to ensure the delivery, managing all team meetings and reporting to the client.

We successfully launched the app six months after the initial project kick-off.

I served as the lead PM for a US-based corporate innovation startup team in the food service industry, backed by one of the largest CPG companies in the world. I managed a team of product managers, designers, and developers daily to create new digital products for the food industry using Agile and Lean startup methodologies.

I led the delivery of the product strategy documentation, product use cases, and product planning. I managed a team tasked with the development of innovative R&D product prototypes in the energy and e-Mobility industry.

I also managed the delivery of a new WordPress site for the innovation lab using a third-party agency, where I ensured a unique website for the innovation lab was created as per the requirements. I was responsible for updating certain content on the site and managing plug-ins, publishing, etc.

I defined and tracked the delivery plan in this role, leading scrum planning, reviews, and daily stand-up meetings. I also provided day-to-day management and support to the development team by managing priorities, removing blockers, providing feedback on requirements, and implementing daily and weekly automated KPI reports.

Carried out competitor analysis and acted as a business analyst with a range of stakeholders to identify key features required for the product's MVP. Worked with the UX designer and the development team on the design of new features. Managed a team of eight developers, QA testing, and carried out user acceptance testing to deliver the high-priority features required for the initial MVP launch and several release updates since. Led fortnightly sprint planning and review meetings and participated in sprint retrospectives and daily stand-ups.

Identified new features required to deliver a successful MVP commercial release of the product and managed the feature's development with a team of eight developers, two testers, and a UX designer. Liaised with other customers and project managers to determine further high-value feature requirements and led their development for several further releases of the product.

Managed the initial MVP and monthly release updates of the iDashboard tool with a team of three developers and one UX designer, which included leading sprint planning and review meetings. Worked with clients and internal consultants to ensure features developed were of high value through backlog user story creation, backlog grooming, and prioritization. Ensured that the tool developed allowed users to easily create a bespoke web dashboard that could connect to data from a range of different sources.

Managed a team of six developers, one UX designer, and four consultants to deliver four new sophisticated software features in a SaaS data analytics platforms to develop an innovative tool for managing day-to-day building performance using model simulation. This included a new cloud-based deployment for the software and development of a RESTful API to enable third-party connections. Managed all aspects of project planning, leading project meetings, managing timelines, scope, budget and communication, and coordination with ten other partners involved in the project who were dispersed throughout Europe.

Lead project manager for the successful delivery of the highly innovate EINSTEIN R&D project, which focused on the testing and delivery of three new state-of-the-art algorithms to enable predictive control and optimization of the building's performance incorporating a simulation-based software model. This involved managing the in-house development of several new software features across multiple development teams, as well as management of a second external partner whose developments were integrated into in-house tools.

Managed all aspects of the in-house project delivery, as well as liaising and co-ordinating with 11 other partners across Europe. Led a team of two UX designers and six developers to create a new desktop-based decision support tool for the manufacturing industry, which allows users to easily identify and simulate opportunities for saving energy in their facilities.

Managed an in-house project to automate the connection of data collected from multiple sources and systems to a single database. Developed bespoke KPI reports and a set of dashboards for the group's management team for the better day-to-day oversight of the company's performance and allow for more efficient decision making. When the company was later acquired by a larger firm, the KPI platform developed was rolled out to all 12 facilities in the firm's portfolio.

Lead manager and engineer to develop and deliver an effective energy management strategy for the company to significantly reduced its overhead costs. This involved the creation of a software model of the facility and simulating multiple energy savings options to determine which would be the most effective and result in a good ROI. 12 energy-saving measures were identified and implemented in the facility, resulting in an energy saving of 18% (annual six-figure saving).

I was the lead technical project manager in successfully delivering IES's role in the CEDISON Innovate UK-funded project. The project focused on integrating a virtual energy network simulation and forecasting tool with a novel blockchain-based energy trading platform. The platform was delivered on the cloud and integrated via a new API developed for the project.

The platform showed future energy markets in which decisions on trading energy can be made in real time by all actors in the energy network.