Mateusz Michalak
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Poznań, Poland
Toptal member since July 27, 2020
Mateusz is an economist, a certified Professional Scrum Master (PSM I), and an Agile enthusiast. He has led on-site and remote teams with up to 10 members and budgets up to €1 million in the hospitality, cryptocurrency, banking, and human resources sectors. Mateusz applies project management best practices, from concept to launch, to help startup and midsize and corporate businesses achieve their goals through beautiful software solutions.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Agile Project Management
- Change Management
- Crisis Management
- Leadership
- Negotiation
- Objectives & Key Results (OKRs)
- Product Ownership
- Scrum Master
Work Experience
Head of Project Management
Develtio
- Led a team of seven project managers and their $100,000+ (monthly) portfolio.
- Shaped agile processes around projects that kept both team and client happiness on a high level.
- Cooperated with other business units such as sales, HR, and development to improve internal processes.
- Started agile transformation of 20+ projects portfolio that focuses on new process creation and project-specific consultation.
Project Management Lead
Netguru
- Led two teams of project managers and project coordinators. Within my portfolio, 70+ projects generated €2.5+ million monthly with an NPS score of 68.
- Created a new division of the Project Coordinators within the company structure and developed it into six specialists and one team leader.
- Set and delivered division OKRs that allowed to scale of the team and revenue.
- Managed PM scheduling in projects, thanks to which all project's started on time with the right talent.
Senior Agile Project Manager
Netguru
- Led an internal Salesforce team consisting of three developers, QA, and a designer to build a CRM that enabled significant growth for a data-driven company.
- Managed a complex, full-year project in the blockchain industry, from design to development, as a scrum master and product owner.
- Improved the project manager recruitment process by inspecting the current situation, setting OKRs (e.g., candidate lead time and number of hires), and implementing process changes to meet them.
- Explored a blue ocean strategy for a project in the hospitality industry and helped translate it into the design.
- Managed an MVP implementation for a job offer portal, from design to launch. The project spanned two and one-half months.
- Ensured high-quality deliverables and participated in more than 10 projects in data-driven environments such as banking and healthcare.
Co-founder and CEO
Dowbit
- Co-founded the company and expanded the team to eight international employees located in five countries and mostly working remotely.
- Started from scratch and achieved 600,000 monthly views of the news portal within the first five months.
- Installed scrum practices and agile values for on-site and remote work, which ensured high efficiency.
- Reported progress to the company's investors on a weekly basis.
- Led the process of setting short- and long-term goals for the entire company.
Project History
Salesforce (CRM) Implementation
Built a CRM (single source of truth) that enabled growth of a data-driven company.
I led the internal Salesforce team, working side by side with the product owner, three developers, QA, and a product designer. The year-long project was super complex, as the new product would be the main source of the truth for 650 employees in the company.
As the scrum master and proxy product owner, I took over the project after three years of lackluster development and transformed the underperforming team into a hyperproductive one.
While managing this project, my main duties were to do the following:
- Create a process for dealing with bugs and small client requests
- Lead discovery phases for big new features
- Gather requirements from various stakeholders
- Communicate with internal and external stakeholders
- Secure high velocity and happiness within the team
- Coach the product owner on agile principles and values
Job Offer Platform
Launched the MVP of a job offer portal before the deadline and under budget.
As the product owner and scrum master, I led the team that delivered the MVP within three months. The team consisted of two back-end developers (RoR), three front-end developers (React and Next.js), two UX and UI designers, and QA. The site is AWS-based and has performance tested to support 100,000 users daily.
I led the remote kick-off and then managed the design and development phases. I focused on the following activities:
- Provided feedback on initial designs
- Ensured that all app requirements were met in the final designs
- Coached the client on agile processes and values
- Communicated with internal and external stakeholders
- Created the project roadmap and budget tracking document
- Secured high velocity and happiness within the team as the scrum master
- Set priorities and created user stories while acting as the product owner
Easily Customized Cryptocurrency Website
Delivered an easily customized website on a budget.
I was the lead project manager for this year-long project to build Lisk.io, an easily-customized cryptocurrency website. Around 20 people were involved such as product managers, UX and UI designers, PHP developers, and QA specialists.
Although the project wasn’t big in terms of page size, the admin requirements were very complex. Lisk.io was designed and delivered such that each and every page can be easily customized without technical knowledge.
I started leading the project with seven designers, and five developers joined us after four months. That’s when my focus shifted to leading development efforts while still monitoring the design process that was led by another project manager.
My role included these activities:
- Created a roadmap and ensured its delivery within the budget
- Communicated with internal and external stakeholders
- Achieved high velocity and happiness within the team while acting as the scrum master
- Set priorities and documented user stories while acting as the product owner and product manager
Education
Master's Degree in Capital Investments and Business Strategies
Poznań University of Economics and Business - Poznań, Poland
Bachelor's Degree in Strategies of Business and Economics
Poznań University of Economics and Business - Poznań, Poland
Certifications
Professional Scrum Master I
Scrum.org
Business Higher (BEC Higher) - Level C1 in the Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR)
Cambridge English Academy
Skills
Tools
Slack, Google Docs, Jira, Confluence, Salesforce, Miro, Google Workspace
Paradigms
Agile Project Management, Scrum, Agile Workflow, Change Management, Organizational Change Management (OCM), Agile
Platforms
iOS, Android
Industry Expertise
Banking & Finance, Hospitality
Other
Scrum Master, Product Roadmaps, Budget Management, Startups, Project Management, IT Project Management, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Agile Sprints, Project Planning, Stakeholder Management, Agile Practices, Greenfield, Design, Cryptocurrency, Job Portals, Software as a Service (SaaS), Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), Goal Management, Negotiation, Crisis Management, Leadership, Process Improvement Project Management, Software Innovation, Discovery Workshops, User Experience (UX), Client Portals, Customer Experience, Human Resources (HR), Google Apps, Program Management, People Management, Mobile Applications, Fantasy Sports, Product Ownership, Finance, Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS), Team Management, Business Processes, Workshop Facilitation, Media
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