James Patrick Norberto Jr.
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
Toptal member since November 6, 2024
James is a process-oriented, strategic, growth-driven leader with over 11 years of experience executing product roadmaps to build, launch, and monetize mobile and web apps, back-end systems, and digital platforms. He is a highly adaptive, creative problem solver. James specializes in bridging stakeholder and technical team visions to create user value.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Cross-functional Team Leadership
- Feature Backlog Prioritization
- Jira
- Mentorship & Coaching
- Product Roadmaps
- Product Vision
- Software Release Management
- Stakeholder Management
Work Experience
Product Lead
IGT
- Aligned multiple teams to meet IGT's core product release deadline, representing $2 billion in total contract value.
- Headed a cross-functional scrum with over 20 members. Approved roadmaps for the product owner and project manager.
- Defined and prioritized requirements, approved tickets, and reported timelines and dependencies.
- Created wireframes and mockups to accelerate stakeholder approvals and development velocity.
- Approved mobile, web, and CRM platform designs based on feature rates and business needs.
Founder
Uchu Dev
- Ran design sprints with founders to affordably validate features and deprecate failed assumptions.
- Vetted hypotheses via prototypes to expedite MVP releases and gather data and user feedback.
- Mentored junior designers, providing hands-on experience working with clients and engineers.
Lead Product Manager
Espritline
- Headed four customer-facing mobile apps, one web app, and a custom back-end CRM/CMS platform.
- Expanded monthly subscriptions from zero to $12 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), improving the primary metric of customer lifetime value (LTV) exceeding customer acquisition cost (CAC).
- Decreased churn to achieve over 60,000 active users through feature and user experience optimizations, leading to a more than 50% increase in LTV.
- Managed a new department, defining roles and workflows while reporting budget and return on investment (ROI).
Project Manager
ESPRIT
- Implemented agile workflows to accelerate the firm's mobile app release by six months, saving $500,000.
- Led digital transformation, stringently negotiating daily priorities while maintaining future initiatives.
- Reduced software fees by 20% from external vendors and negotiated IP rights at a 60% reduction compared to the initial price.
- Designed a custom CMS and CRM platform. Integrated Stripe payments and a legacy customer database.
Project History
IGT iLottery Platform Release
Managed app redesign and cloud system migration from on premise for the world's largest lottery tech provider.
I oversaw over 20 cross-functional engineers, testers, designers, project managers, product owners, and director-level stakeholders to ensure the timely release of IGT’s international iLottery SaaS platform offer.
Speed Learning English Digital Subscription App Ecosystem
Headed multiple customer journeys across four customer-facing mobile apps, a robust B2B/B2C web app built on a customer CRM/CMS integrated with Stripe payment processing.
I aligned six internal marketing teams, multiple customer service teams, external vendors, and the executive board to grow digital subscriptions from zero to $12 million in ARR. Additionally, I reduced customer acquisition cost (CAC) and software delivery costs while increasing feature delivery impact and velocity.
Speed Learning English Mobile App
Oversaw the release of the first iOS and Android mobile application.
I managed external software vendor delivery and design teams while aligning internal stakeholders to launch and market digital value-added as a service. I grew the user base to over 60,000 weekly active users and increased LTV by more than 50%.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Economics
Western Connecticut State University - Danbury, Connecticut, USA
Certifications
JLPT N3
Japanese Educational Exchanges and Services
Skills
Tools
Jira, Slack, Figma, Trello, Basecamp
Paradigms
Agile, Mobile App Design, Scrum, User Testing, Kanban, UX Design, Waterfall Delivery
Other
Product Vision, Product Growth, IT Projects, Roadmaps, Web App Design, Stakeholder Management, User Flows, User Retention, Lifetime Value (LTV), ROI, Product Roadmaps, Feature Roadmaps, Feature Planning, Feature Analysis, Backlog Grooming, Lean UX, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Remote Work, IT Service Delivery, Contract Negotiation, Business Requirements, User Requirements, System Requirements, Mobile App Development, Web App Development, Release Management, Mobile App Testing, Customer Success, Customer Acquisition, Customer Journey, Negotiation, Business Process Management (BPM), UI Design, UX Research, Competitive Analysis, Sales, Product Design, QA Testing, Microsoft 365, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), User Engagement, Customer Retention, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Business to Consumer (B2C), Remote Team Leadership, Mentorship & Coaching, Software Release Management, Feature Backlog Prioritization, International Business, Research, Japanese, Documentation, Contract Review, Business Process Analysis, Business Development, Digital Transformation, Business to Business (B2B), Microsoft Teams, Request for Proposal (RFP)
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