
Gaby Semachowicz
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Toptal member since April 26, 2022
Gaby is a senior Agile leader with over 20 years of experience in the technology and digital marketing industries. She specializes in product delivery, continuous improvement, and project management. Gaby's robust communication and problem-solving skills are key to her successful management of complex cross-functional initiatives and leading distributed teams.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Agile
- Creative Problem Solving
- Delivery
- Leadership
- Operations
- Process Improvement
- Project Management
- Strategic Planning & Execution
Work Experience
Head of Delivery
Trafilea | Shapermint
- Headed the project management team. Recruited and mentored new talents to develop a performance-oriented culture.
- Ensured the successful execution of more than five programs and 96 projects.
- Led cross-functional strategic planning and budgeting processes for critical initiatives to develop quarterly and monthly plans.
- Managed external partners' integration with in-house teams, ran request-for-proposal (RFP) processes, and created statements of work (SOW) with the legal team.
- Evaluated process breakdowns and developed, implemented, and owned solutions to improve team efficiency, transparency, and overall health across marketing initiatives and cross-functional work.
- Designed and implemented a real-time budget monitoring and forecasting tool.
- Developed an MVP for a custom resources allocation tool.
Delivery Director
United Virtualities | ArganoUV
- Provided overall account leadership, developed executive-level relationships, and coordinated project managers and teams.
- Supervised all deliverables and ensured the work quality exceeded the company standards and client objectives.
- Performed agile coaching during the development process, increasing quality and overall efficiency.
- Managed portfolios profit and loss (P&L) by negotiating statements of work with partners and clients, ensuring excellent delivery within budget.
- Planned and conducted international discovery and execution workshops with clients.
- Implemented and integrated delivery tools and processes, including Agile methodologies, Jira set up for all company projects, and design and implementation of a custom staffing and budgeting tool.
- Recruited and led distributed cross-functional teams.
- Worked with clients such as Mowi, NBC, PepsiCo, and Kind.
Senior IT Project Manager and Scrum Master
United Virtualities | ArganoUV
- Managed multiple projects and produced them effectively through day-to-day changing priorities.
- Defined the discovery and engagement process and procedures and managed customer expectations and project risks successfully.
- Communicated effectively at various levels within the organization with technical and non-technical audiences.
Operations Director
iSource Marketing
- Set up and headed the Buenos Aires office and production team.
- Ensured successful and efficient business operations.
- Promoted the continuous improvement of processes and technology to achieve optimal growth. Implemented the company's delivery processes and tools.
- Managed and integrated external partners and built cross-functional distributed teams.
- Worked with clients such as Cisco, SanDisk, LG, Natura Cosméticos, L'Oréal, and HBO.
Project History
Real-time Budget Forecasting, Approval, and Monitoring Tool
Ideated and implemented the ecosystem of processes and tools to automate the forecasting, request/approval flow, and real-time monitoring of a $2 million budget for photo and video productions.
Multimedia ads are one of the main sources of traffic generation, and the company does 30 monthly photo and video productions with multiple partners.
Challenge:
• An inefficient billing and partner tracking process.
• A lack of anticipation and visibility of the planned and executed budget which harmed the company's finances.
• The finance and marketing teams were in round-the-clock conversations where they shared statuses and short-term changes.
Solution:
• Held discovery conversations with stakeholders to identify each team's needs and bottlenecks.
• Presented a proposal to the CMO on new ways to automate workflows and generate data in real-time.
Tools Integration:
Google Spreadsheets, Asana, Jira, Unito, and Google Data Studio.
Achievements:
• Built a real-time dashboard to provide a single source of truth for internal and external teams.
• Removed status calls and Slack channels.
• Reduced the quarterly budget variation from 23% to 2%.
• Two months, from ideation to delivery of the MVP.
Jira, ERP Integration, and Time-tracking and Allocation Tools
Implemented Jira to manage all projects of a technology consulting company and integrated time-tracking and allocation tools for internal teams and external partners.
Challenge:
• As part of the growth and expansion process, they needed to standardize and scale up the PMO methodologies and tools.
• There was a lack of detailed data on the internal talents and external partners' allocation.
• There was a need to adapt and integrate a custom ERP to new processes and tools.
Solution:
• Held discovery conversations with stakeholders to identify and prioritize goals and bottlenecks.
• Presented a proposal to each area head on the new processes and potential tools.
• Led the research, selection, and implementation of tools and their integration into the ERP.
Achievements:
• Change management which included creating handbooks, tool training for the team, and continuous support in the transition to the new processes.
• Set up Jira instances, schemes, and workflows.
• Harvest and forecast integration as time-tracking and allocations tools.
• New integrations implemented in the ERP.
• New KPIs which covered project financial targets, bench resources, etc.
• Standardized Agile practices in the PMO.
Latin America Digital Launch for Natura Cosméticos
Launched the first corporate and brand sites for Natura Cosmeticos in Latin America.
Challenge:
• Natura Cosmeticos landed in Latin America and needed a digital agency to cover design, development, and content services.
• The main goal was to launch the geolocated websites of all the Natura brands for the region.
Solution:
• Worked on the deck and commercial proposal and presented it at the Natura offices.
• Won the account and started putting the team together while working as an art director and developer to meet deliverables.
• Led the overall planning, team management, and stakeholder coordination.
Achievements:
• Set up an office in Buenos Aires in a month and recruited a team of 30 talents which included designers, art directors, editors, community managers, developers, and project managers.
• Successfully launched on time in eight countries.
• Designed and developed four brand sites: Chronos, Plant, Una, and Ekos.
• Created content for six geolocated blogs.
AAR eCommerce Platform
Launched a new eCommerce platform for selling new and used airline parts—integrating into a complex, regulated industry using the legacy infrastructure and offering more than 1 million new and used products in the store.
Challenge:
• The client needed to develop a secure and closed eCommerce platform, which would allow selling of new and used aircraft parts.
• The system had to include an auction module, where users could bid for a part.
• The product database exceeded 1 million SKUs.
• It required integration with a complex, legacy infrastructure.
Solution:
• Conducted a discovery process with the client and technical lead to define and prioritize the platform's features and create the product backlog.
• Set up an Agile team of 11 talents, including a solution architect, developers, and QA analysts.
• Implemented Scrum with the team and client.
• Led the overall project planning and execution, team management, and stakeholder coordination.
Achievements:
• Launched a complete, first-of-its-kind solution, offering more than 1 million new and used parts.
• Enabled the platform to have real-time access to almost every commercial aircraft platform.
• Sped up and eased the purchase path for the user.
• Held face-to-face workshops at the client's office in Chicago to anticipate the launch date and present the MVP.
Mowi Sites and Traceability Tool
https://mowi.com/Launched 22 geolocated sites and developed a traceability tool as part of the corporate rebrand strategy for Mowi, previously known as Marine Harvest.
Challenge:
• Marine Harvest officially changed its name to Mowi and needed to create a new company site that would reflect this change as well as mobile tools to improve their brand communication.
Solution:
• Defined scope and priorities via a discovery process with the client and solution architect.
• Created the project timeline and established dependencies.
• Carried out risk management in anticipation of possible blockers and delays in client deliverables.
• Set up a distributed cross-functional team of 15 talents, including a technical lead, developers, QA analysts, UX designers, and copywriters.
Achievements:
• Coordinated 22 launches among multiple geo-distributed stakeholders.
• Built a new website that allows Mowi to be even more transparent and focus on increased value creation for consumers and shareholders.
• Chose a new traceability tool that fully integrates the market shelf product to a mobile experience via a QR code. The buyer can learn more about the life of the Mowi salmon they are about to buy.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Communication
University of Buenos Aires - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Diploma in Graphic Design
FAECC - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Certifications
Professional Agile Leadership (PAL)
Scrum.org
Certified Art Director | Advertising and Marketing
AAAP | Argentine Advertising Association
Skills
Tools
Jira, Slack, Asana, Google Docs, Google Slides, Project Management & Work Tracking Tools, Google Data Studio, Spreadsheets, UX Tools, Adobe, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Figma, Confluence, Zoom, Salesforce
Paradigms
Agile, Agile Delivery, Iterative Delivery, Waterfall Delivery, Requirements Analysis, Agile Project Management, Scrum, Lean, UX Design, Agile Leadership, Change Management, B2C, Design Thinking, Agile Product Management, Organizational Change Management (OCM)
Platforms
Unito, WordPress, Monday.com
Industry Expertise
Digital Marketing
Other
Jira Administrator, Gmail, Leadership, Process Improvement, Delivery, IT Service Delivery, Project Delivery, Delivery Management, Product Delivery, Client Delivery Management, Digital Delivery Management, Business Delivery Management, Project Management & Delivery, Program Management, IT Program Management, Project Management, Budgeting, Creative Problem Solving, Agency, Strategic Planning & Execution, Team Leadership, Team Management, Team Productivity, Custom Solutions, Web Development, Business Transformation, Remote Work, Remote Team Leadership, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Cross-departmental Collaboration, Startups, Scope of Work (SOW), Agile Practices, Agile Coaching, Planning, Communication, Creativity, IT Project Management, Production, Web Design, Facilitation, Web, Branding, Rebranding, IT Consulting, Project Consultancy, IT Services, Consulting, Product Discovery, Staff Management & Development, Staffing, Distributed Team Management, Budget Management, Change Leadership, Data-driven Decision-making, Cross-functional Collaboration, Web Consulting, Brand Design, Statement of Work, Contract, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Web Project Management, Strategic Planning, P&L Management, Product Roadmaps, Scope Management, Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), Vendor Selection, Vendor Management, Executive Presentations, Project Planning, Website Redesign, Websites, Performance, Process Improvement Project Management, Technical Program Management, Technical Project Management, Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Project Tracking, People Management, Digital Production, Project Reporting, Workflow, Time Management, Digital Project Management, Complex Problem Solving, Organization, Google, Recruiting, Technical Recruiting, Team Mentoring, Process Flows, Business Operations, Business Proposals, Request for Proposal (RFP), Scrum Master, Agile Product Delivery, Global Delivery Strategy, Marketing, P&L Analysis, Annual Budgets, Creative Strategy, Operations, Business Process Optimization, Digital Advertising, Advertising Design, Design, Presentations, Client Management, Client Presentations, Client Services, Project Management Office (PMO), PMO Development, Microsoft Office, Integration Tools, IT Projects, Team Effectiveness, Goal Management, Partner Management, Commerce, eCommerce, Front-end, Databases, Data Analysis, Jira REST API, Organizational Design, Resource Allocation, Resource Management, Customer Discovery, Discovery Management, Team Restructuring, Smartsheet, Gantt Chart, Reporting, Software Development, Discovery Workshops, Digital, Roadmaps, Requirements, Media, Advertising, User Experience (UX), Visual Design, User Interface (UI), Business to Business (B2B), App Development, Product Launch, Launch Strategy, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Workshops, Ideation Workshops, UI Design, APIs, API Integration, SEO Marketing, Business to Consumer (B2C), Copywriting, Content, Web Content, Pitch Decks, Pitch Preparation, Dashboards, Forecasting, P&L Forecasting, Business Analysis, Dashboard Design, Data-driven Marketing, Financial Forecasting, Risk Management, Web UX, Finance, Art Direction, IT Contracts, Contract Review, Process Design, PMO, Operations Tools, Budget Controls, Partnership Strategies, Feature Backlog Prioritization, User Stories, Project Timelines, Web Marketing, Social Media, Content Marketing, Agile Transformation, Coaching, Backlog Management, Product Development, Product Strategy, Redesign, Teams, Back-end, Continuous Improvement
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