
Jonathan Portillo Merlos
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
San Salvador, San Salvador Department, El Salvador
Toptal member since July 19, 2022
Jonathan is an engineering and product manager with vast experience in software projects. He's an advocate of continuous delivery practices and has led multiple projects implementing AI, including a sales lead ranker, a human-trafficking prevention model, and a website builder. Jonathan displays a great ability to lead, motivate, and promote an Agile mindset, which is strengthened by his background as a software engineer. He holds PMP, PMI-ACP, and Professional ML engineer certifications.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Agile
- Agile Product Management
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Jira
- Machine Learning
- Project Management
- Ruby on Rails (RoR)
Work Experience
Engineering Project Manager
GSI Technologies
- Led a team of experts throughout four weeks of discovery sessions to create relevant and valuable proposals to turn an idea into a prototype and plan.
- Created a user-focused backlog of all requirements needed for an MVP and subsequent releases, including technical dependencies and proposals.
- Collaborated directly with the main stakeholder to identify priorities based on user adoption potential and investment incentive potential.
Engineering Project Manager
Cherrington Media, LLC
- Conducted a 4-week discovery session to understand the solution tech architecture, market opportunity, and creative approach.
- Performed a successful 14-week MVP implementation with 100% of the scope completed on time and within budget.
- Worked alongside experts to develop an environment of trust and transparency while we satisfied the customer's needs.
Technical Project Manager and Jira Administrator
FLYR, Inc.
- Completed workspace cloud-to-cloud migration and managed communication effectively to roll out the change.
- Redefined and standardized the main workflow used by engineering teams across the organization and helped its adoption.
- Completed the transition of the Atlassian identity provider and authentication policy to be managed through Okta services.
Head of Engineering
Fitune
- Led the implementation strategy for continuous delivery.
- Set up processes for issue streamlining between the product and engineering teams.
- Structured a technology roadmap to maximize technical opportunities in the industry landscape.
Engineering Manager
Fitune
- Participated actively in the definition of product strategies.
- Supported operations management for the company's sustainable growth.
- Coached the engineering team in agile practices and supported their self-management.
Project Manager
Stop the Traffik
- Supported the facilitation of agile activities and culture.
- Drafted a roadmap for the execution of the different phases and deliverables of the project.
- Coordinated activities and facilitated collaborative efforts between the engineering team.
Project Manager
Applaudo
- Contributed to growing an account from four to 50 team members.
- Led the creation of the QA and Python trainee programs.
- Implemented the first internal product in the company portfolio.
- Managed the successful delivery and implementation of multiple projects.
Agile Operations Manager Consultant
Fitune
- Transitioned the team to Agile from a cascade working style.
- Migrated from using Asana to Jira as the main project management tool.
- Coached and worked alongside the product owner to define and execute a release management plan.
Founder
Chisei.ai
- Partnered with Google Developers Group West Sweden to develop a program for training people with machine learning principles.
- Developed multiple successful proofs of concept for later competition.
- Delivered conferences for the awareness of machine learning in El Salvador.
Software Back-end Engineer
Applaudo
- Developed a program for merit-filtering applicants into the company.
- Contributed to creating a fintech product for people in Central America with low access to loans.
- Implemented multiple AWS services for the application's deployment to production and its maintenance.
Project History
Career Development Application
Developed a recognition system and career path tracking tool for the community.
As the scrum master, I took charge of planning sprints and leading ceremonies. I monitored risks and contingency strategies and implemented a development lifecycle structure for the project, to be used for later implementation across the company.
Back-end Development of a Micro-loans Fintech Platform
Created a micro-loans platform for people with low access to loan services.
As the back-end developer, I created new features and fixed bugs for multi-platform applications. I also reviewed code from peers, submitted feedback, and researched the best practices for online financial transactions.
Customer Relationship Management Tool
Built a superior software for the creation of business value.
As the project manager, I structured a program management framework for team integration and handled contracts and change orders. I also monitored risks and contingency strategies and developed the lifecycle structure for the project.
Back-end Development of a Device Management Bot
Designed an AI bot for enterprise device management, integrated with Slack.
As the back-end developer, I built new features and fixed bugs for Slack integration. I also implemented internet of things features to connect to the bot, reviewed code from peers, and submitted feedback.
Recipe System SaaS
Managed the development of a white-label software recipe system that connected to grocery stores for checkout.
As the project manager, I coached Scrum principles to stakeholders. I also monitored risks and contingency strategies and led exploration and discovery sessions to develop the product and define the strategy.
Single Sign-on Security Gate
Drove the development of a security gate for members' authentication/authorization into a software suite.
As the project manager, I took charge of planning sprints and leading ceremonies. I also implemented the development lifecycle structure for its integration with other software products in the company portfolio.
Fitness SaaS Solution
Worked as the head of engineering. Led the team and structured a technology roadmap to maximize technical opportunities in the industry.
As the operations manager consultant, I restructured processes to implement Scrum and prepared executive summaries of accomplishments through metrics. I also represented the company in funding table rounds and defined and executed a release management plan.
Regional Delivery Super-app
https://rappi.comSteered the implementation of Agile to produce a top-notch solution for food and first-hand product deliveries.
As the project manager, I monitored risks and contingency strategies. I also offered business insights for the correct implementation of Agile and supported the first-rate service delivery to this agency.
Sales AI Lead Generator
Led the discovery and implementation of a lead generation software for the sales department.
As the project manager, I explored different alternatives for the right implementation of a recommendation model using different prototypes and fail-fast proof of concepts. I also implemented OKRs and a research-like approach to projects.
Dentistry's Leading Membership Club Software
Supported in leading the launch of an improved version of the main interface for better user experience.
I managed and supported a small team of engineers, designers, a product owner, and an agile facilitator to create a plan to re-design and launch the new, improved version of their main product. This included roadmap creation, agile delivery implementation, and release management best practices.
Human Trafficking Prevention AI Model
https://www.stopthetraffik.orgLaunched an optimized version of the NER and NPL models used for process anomaly detection.
As a project manager, I helped create a roadmap for the execution of the different phases and deliverables of the project. I also coordinated activities and facilitated Agile efforts between the engineering team and SMEs.
Real Estate AI-powered Agentic Ecosystem
Expand the agent ecosystem to support multi-channel communication beyond WhatsApp. The objective was to design a scalable product architecture that enables real estate agents to access real-time information through their primary messaging platforms.
Developed a phased product plan and proposed a scalable, API-first, channel-agnostic architecture. The design centered on a unified orchestration layer to standardize integrations, manage message routing, and ensure consistent real-time data delivery across channels.
Accelerated multi-channel expansion, reduced technical complexity, and enabled agents to access critical information seamlessly through their existing workflows.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Information Systems
Harding University - Searcy, Arkansas
Certifications
Professional Machine Learning Engineer Certification
Google Cloud
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
TensorFlow: Data and Deployment Specialization
DeepLearning.AI
Scrum Fundamentals Certified
SCRUMstudy
TensorFlow Developer Professional Certificate
DeepLearning.AI
Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Skills
Tools
Jira, Slack, GitHub, SQL, Confluence, Atlassian, Atlassian Suite, Asana, Sentry, Project Management & Work Tracking Tools, ETL, EazyBI, Trello, Miro
Paradigms
Agile Product Management, Scrum, Agile, Continuous Delivery (CD), Agile Project Management, Agile Leadership, DevOps, Kanban, Agile Delivery, Requirements Analysis, UX Design, Azure DevOps, Change Management, Lean Project Management, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps)
Platforms
Vercel, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Monday.com, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Heroku, Azure
Industry Expertise
Health & Wellness, Sports
Other
Notion, Machine Learning, Project Management, Technical Project Management, Program Management, Scrum Master, Jira Administration, Project Management Office (PMO), Project Management Professional (PMP), Jira Administrator, Project Planning, Certified Project Manager, Web Platforms, Software as a Service (SaaS), Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Web Project Management, PMO, Planning, Software Development, Risk Management, Technical Product Management, PI Planning, Jira Service Management, Team Building, Leadership, Business Process Optimization, Team Management, Web Development, Web Technologies, Jira, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Technical Product Management, Project Management Consulting, Project Delivery, Budget Planning, Project Planning & Execution, Project Coordination, Technical Program Management, Continuous Improvement, System Architecture, Atlassian Plugins, Automation, R&D, Process Flows, Workflow Automation Design, ITSM, Jira Query Language (JQL), Cloud Migration, Workflows, Distributed Team Management, AI Integration, Performance Metrics, Metrics, Stripe, TensorFlow, Agile Coaching, Business Analysis, APIs, Communication, Forecasting, Product Management, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Project Tracking, Sprint Planning, Startups, Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), Digital Project Management, Best Practices, Mentorship, Coaching, Process Optimization, Hybrid Project Management, Team Leadership, Software Project Management, IT Project Management, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Applications, Reporting, Stakeholder Engagement, Project Rescue, Tracking, Business to Business (B2B), Scope of Work (SOW), Discovery Workshops, Project Timelines, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Mobile Apps, Project Estimation, Stakeholder Management, Cross-functional Collaboration, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Cloud Platforms, Discovery, Product Owner, New Products, Project Reporting, Workflow, Process Improvement Project Management, Engineering Management, Feature Prioritization, Project Scoping, Integration, Backlog Management, Project Discovery, Prototyping, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Cloud, Migration, Mobile App Development, Mobile Architecture, Apps, Vendor Management, eCommerce, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Waterfall Methodology, Troubleshooting, Vendor Selection, Acceptance Criteria, Requirements, Mobile Development, Figma, Notion, Cross-platform App Development, OpenAI, System Implementation, New Product Rollout, Waterfall, Product Strategy, Launch Strategy, SaaS, Product Launch, UI Design, Project Design, ResearchOps, Customer Interviews, Research, User Research, Regulatory Compliance, Programming, Databases, Agentic AI, ClickUp, Documentation, Data Pipelines, Jira REST API, End-to-end Implementation (E2E), Software Integration, Software Implementation, IT Systems Architecture, Single Sign-on (SSO), Okta, SOC 2, Data Analytics, Plugins, SAML, Cutover, Agile Program Management, AI Consulting, Strategy, User Stories, Data Integration, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Cloud Infrastructure, Identity & Access Management (IAM), Ruby on Rails (RoR), Education, Computer Vision, Node.js, Laravel, Angular, Vue, Lever API, Consulting, ISO 9001, ISO 17025, ISO 27001, Data Engineering, Product Roadmaps, Release Management, CI/CD Pipelines, Mobile Applications, Business Operations, Operational Assessments, Operations, Amazon SageMaker, Data Science, Data Analysis, Proof of Concept (POC), Product Discovery, Chatbots, Analytics, Grants, Engineering, Gantt Chart, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Dashboards, Process Improvement, Image Recognition, Named-entity Recognition (NER), Project Engineering, Large Language Models (LLMs), React Native, Linear.App, Fintech, Project Management in Gaming, Kong, Linear, Internet of Things (IoT), Hardware Integration, Business Intelligence (BI), TypeScript, IT Service Management (ITSM), Databricks
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