
Osman Kucuksonmez
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Ankara, Turkey
Toptal member since June 4, 2021
Osman is a seasoned technical lead with 20 years of experience leading SaaS and B2B software projects across global teams. He specializes in agile delivery, product strategy, and scaling development teams. Known for improving operational efficiency and launching high-impact products, he helps companies turn complex ideas into scalable solutions. He's overseen and coached teams ranging in size from 5 to 50 people and completed projects ranging in budgetary scale from $100,000 to $4 million.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Agile
- International Projects
- Jira
- Product Management
- Program Management
- Project Management
- Team Building
- Web Project Management
Work Experience
Chief Technology Officer
Deeptech Software, Türkiye
- Defined and executed the company’s overall technological strategy to align with long-term business goals.
- Led digital transformation initiatives for clients, improving operational efficiency and product scalability.
- Managed cross-functional engineering and product teams to ensure the timely delivery of software projects.
- Oversaw the development of AI-driven solutions, including dialogue-based AI, speech recognition, and facial recognition systems.
- Enhanced client satisfaction by modernizing legacy systems and improving customer engagement through tech-driven innovation.
Director of Program and Product Management
eZLO
- Directed global teams across multiple time zones for a SaaS and IoT smart home platform, reporting directly to the CEO.
- Launched nine new products, increasing annual product revenue by 15%, and significantly improved NPS by 10% through continuous product feedback loops.
- Implemented agile delivery practices across all departments, improving development efficiency by 25% and reducing overhead by 40%.
- Fostered a strong product and engineering culture that emphasized cross-team collaboration, rapid iteration, and customer-centric design.
- Built and scaled program and product management functions from the ground up for a company of 100+ employees.
Agile Project & Program Manager
AdvenSIS Software Solutions
- Led over 10 agile software projects. Recruited staff for the company and trained them, as well as coached agile autonomous development teams.
- Managed a first-of-its-kind IT program in the Turkish Ministry with a budget of $4 million; it was the first on-premise cloud transition and cybersecurity center (SOC) project among the government agencies.
- Delivered the IT program 2% ahead of schedule and 5% under budget.
- Gave over 1,000 hours of project management training covering project and program management, Agile (Scrum) project management, PMP certification preparation, and Microsoft Project and Project Server.
Agile Program Manager
Comodo Security Solutions
- Worked as agile program manager of a SaaS product (a cloud-based IT management platform) while reporting directly to the VP of engineering.
- Coached six teams (consisting of three development teams, one DevOps, one product, one support) in three time zones on agile practices; also contributed to roadmap planning and engineering architecture.
- Published five free apps, created an app store, and published the first paid app in that store in eight months.
Trainer | Project Consultant
Proje Egitim Merkezi
- Joined the company as a project management trainer and consultant and became the training lead of 12 members in six months. Later, I established the Ankara branch of the training company.
- Managed a 2-million budget which involved a 50% market share increase in 1.5 years, coordination and management of three branches with 20 workers and 12 trainers, government tender proposals, customer quotes, and billing management.
- Gave over 3,000 hours of PMP and Agile project management training to clients, including some of Turkey's biggest commercial and governmental organizations.
- Coached enterprises in different sectors such as telecom, retail, and defense on the Agile methodology.
Program Manager
Locksmith Software Technologies
- Opened a city branch of a software company, recruited a team of 20 including technical and non-technical staff, and set up all the company's processes.
- Managed one of the biggest ERP programs—5% ahead of schedule and 18% under budget—in Turkish municipalities (Dynamics AX ERP project with trade and logistics, financials, HR, fixed assets, and supply chain management).
- Served as a software architect, creating a custom web-based sports facility management system and RFID tag reading integration handling over 30,000 transactions per month used in 34 locations and a 300,000+ customer base.
- Served as a software architect for an eCommerce and reservation system with over 1,000,000 monthly users.
Project Manager
Locksmith Software Technologies
- Founded a software company while in college and grew the company to 40 engineers in five years with a more than US$6 million revenue.
- Set up the software development processes, established standards according to CMMI Level 3, and became certified in one year with a team of 40.
- Managed over 20 software projects as the first responsible project manager in six years with a diverse sector distribution this included warehouse management, inventory tracking, eCommerce, legal process, ERP, mobile apps, and Kiosk software.
Project History
IT Management Platform for MSPs
http://www.itarian.comBuilt and published the first couple versions of Itarian—the world's only cloud-based centralized IT management platform.
I managed over 30 developers, testers, PMs, DevOps across six teams to build a platform with five different free SaaS products and an app store with SaaS subscription-based products. Since delivering the product, we’ve successfully charged the first payment with the platform.
Cloud Infrastructure Development Program
Managed (2% ahead of schedule, 5% under budget) a first-of-its-kind IT program in the Turkish Ministry with a budget of $4 million. The first on-premise cloud transition and cybersecurity center (SOC) project among government agencies.
I managed five different projects in a program for a government ministry of over 1,000 users.
Project Details:
• Set up the on-premise cloud infrastructure and transitioned the existing systems.
• Implemented identity management open-source software for 12,000 users with 12 systems throughout the Ministry.
• Designed cybersecurity operation center and consultancy services.
• Implemented and designed cloud-based collaboration software.
• Created an API Gateway solution that serves all GIS users of governmental data throughout the country (over 1 million users).
• Managed a sub-contract with different vendors and hardware distributors, including IBM, Intel Security, NetApp, and SAP.
• Enforced PMI processes as a PMP.
• Followed CMMI v1.2-Level 3 standards.
ERP Implementation
Managed—5% ahead of schedule and 18% under budget—one of the biggest ERP programs in Turkish municipalities (Dynamics AX ERP project with trade and logistics, financials, HR, fixed assets, and supply chain management).
Project Details:
• Implemented the Dynamics AX ERP project with trade and logistics, financials, HR, fixed assets, and supply chain management for 70 concurrent users.
• Installed an employee time-tracking system with biometric tracking in over 34 locations for 1,500 employees.
• Built a corporate Microsoft SharePoint intranet portal with 1,500 users.
Web-based Ticketing Software for Sea Buses
Maintained and developed a ticketing system for a municipality in Turkey that serves over 100,000 passengers daily.
I developed and maintained a type of ticketing software with various payment solutions and also integrated it with over nine banks and SAP finance modules. The project took over two years; this included maintenance and development. I’ve also updated the software stack with the latest technologies. In addition, I created a mobile-friendly website that handles over 100,000 transactions daily.
Social Aid Coupon Tracking Software
Created a type of tracking and management software for social aid coupons (over 10 million per year) used in over 100 chain stores with over 200,000 transactions daily.
This social aid coupon system is mainly offered to local authorities and also charity foundations to provide them with a more effective, efficient, secure, and modern structure. By putting the project into practice, individuals in need get the goods they really need from stores instead of fixed aid offered in parcels.
This system tracked over 10 million coupons with unique serial numbers. It was also integrated with POS systems over APIs. These coupons were used in over 100 stores of five different chains with daily transactions number over 200,000.
Sports Facility Management and eCommerce Web and Mobile Apps
Managed the creation of web and mobile apps in six months, from scratch. The system is live and available at 34 locations in Istanbul, the biggest city in Turkey, and is used by over one million citizens daily.
I managed two scrum teams: a total of 10 developers, QAs, and database administrators for this project. The project included RFID hardware usage to track citizen access to facilities and required integrating RFID tag reading in over 34 locations for 300,000 users.
Foreclosure Lawsuit tracking Web Software
Managed a Lawsuit tracking web software for especially foreclosure lawsuits. Led a team of 5. Worked with a municipality legal department.
I started from the discovery phase, analyzing the requirements for the customer and architecting the solution. I took part in all phases of the project. The project was a web application which helped lawyers manage their lawsuit tracking processes using templates and alerting frameworks.
eZLO Smart Home IoT Platform
http://www.ezlo.com- %15 — Revenue Growth
- %10 — NPS
When I joined Ezlo Innovation, the company was a 100+ employee organization developing SaaS and hardware solutions in the IoT and smart home space. Despite significant investments in product development, there were inefficiencies in program execution and a lack of standardized processes. Development cycles were inconsistent, coordination across globally distributed teams was suboptimal, and product feedback loops were underutilized. Additionally, Ezlo sought to expand its product portfolio and grow revenue in a highly competitive market.
I established structured program and product management processes from the ground up. I led a global team of 50+ developers, aligning efforts across functions while reporting directly to the CEO.
My initiatives included:
• Implementing agile best practices to streamline workflows.
• Setting up formal product discovery, backlog prioritization, and roadmap planning processes.
• Leveraging customer feedback loops to improve product-market fit.
• Launching a framework to improve team productivity and reduce operational overhead.
• Leading the launch of 9 new IoT products, managing both hardware and SaaS elements.
I also championed data-driven decision-making and cross-team collaboration to ensure timely and high-quality product releases.
• Achieved a 25% improvement in development efficiency and reduced overhead by 40%.
• Launched nine successful IoT products, contributing to a 15% increase in YoY product revenue, reaching $9+ million.
• Enhanced customer satisfaction by integrating feedback into product iterations, resulting in a 10% increase in NPS.
• Institutionalized scalable practices that improved product delivery speed and quality across multiple teams and time zones.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
Bilkent University - Ankara, Turkey
Certifications
PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Professional Scrum Master Level I (PSM I)
Scrum.org
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Skills
Tools
Jira, Trello, Slack, Microsoft Project, Redmine, Confluence, Subversion (SVN), Project Management & Work Tracking Tools, GitHub, Microsoft Excel, Atlassian Suite, Microsoft PowerPoint, Crystal Reports, Asana, Git, Elastic, Visual Studio .NET, SQL, HubSpot, Salesforce
Paradigms
Agile, Scrum, Lean, Kanban, Agile Project Management, Requirements Analysis, Web Architecture, Testing, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Mobile App Design, Change Management, Implementation Project Management, Lean Project Management, Test-driven Development (TDD), Agile Software Development, Iterative Delivery, Agile Delivery, B2B, Agile Leadership, Agile Product Management, DevOps, B2C
Platforms
ProductPlan, SharePoint, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Monday.com, Azure, OpenStack, Android, iOS, WordPress, Blockchain, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Linux
Industry Expertise
Software, Retail & Wholesale, Casinos & Gaming
Other
Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Analysis, Design, Projects, Waterfall Methodology, Scope Management, Schedule Optimization, Cost Management, Risk Analysis, Stakeholder Management, Conflict Resolution, Subcontract Management, Human Resources (HR), Team Building, User Stories, Story Mapping, Scrum Master, Product Owner, Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management, IT Recruitment, Leadership, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Microsoft Project Online, Microsoft Project Server, Training & Training Content Development, Recruitment, Product Roadmaps, MySQL, Collaboration, Project Reporting, Meetings, Presentations, Timelines, Web, Project Planning, Estimation & Planning, Business Analysis, Business Process Flow (BPF), Recruiting, Staffing, Workflow, Consulting, IT Project Management, Technical Project Management, Project Timelines, Software as a Service (SaaS), Project Estimation, Technical Recruiting, Project Management Office (PMO), Hybrid Project Management, Software Development, Agile Sprints, Backlog Management, Functional Requirements, Functional Specifications, Software Development Management, Software Release Management, Enterprise Software, Web Project Management, English, Communication, Issue Management, Project Budget Management, Project Tracking, Status Updates, Communication Management, Web Applications, Planning, Project Scoping, Data Integration, Integration Tools, Websites, Requirements & Specifications, Business Requirements, Freelancing, Agile Certified Practitioner, PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), Feature Prioritization, Mediation, Negotiation, User Requirements, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Sprint Planning, Ideation, Web Development, Backlog Grooming, Project Scheduling, Web App Deployment, HTML, Analytical Thinking, C#, Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Lean Startups, Operations, Progress Reporting, Project Management Operations, Startups, Hiring, Software Engineering, Software Project Management, Web App Development, People Management, Technical Hiring, Digital Project Management, Data Products, Implementation, Sprint Ceremonies, Resource Management, JSON, Data Feeds, Warehouse Management, Risk Management, Facilitation, Strategic Planning & Execution, Detail-oriented, System Integration, Business Operations, Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), API Integration, Database-driven Web App Development, Dashboards, Enterprise, Project Coordination, Process Analysis, Troubleshooting, Process Optimization, User Interface (UI), Quality Management, Scope of Work (SOW), Budgeting, Stakeholder Engagement, Coaching, Best Practices, Mentorship & Coaching, Business to Business (B2B), Task Management, Process Improvement, Sprint Retrospectives, Certified Project Manager, Authentication, Incident Management, Documentation, Enterprise SaaS, New Product Rollout, Project Management & Delivery, Deployment, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Operational Efficiency Improvement, Team Management, Enterprise Project Management, QA Testing, Sprint Backlog, Technical Documentation, Process Documentation, Web Platforms, Business Transformation Project Management, Digital Product Development, Web & Mobile Applications, Landing Pages, Process Improvement Project Management, Workflow Optimization, Scheduling, Business Process Improvement (BPI), Technical Product Management, Feasibility, Internet of Things (IoT), Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), Product Management, Agile Program Management, International Projects, Online Payments, Program Management, PMO, SaaS, Technical Support, Business Process Management (BPM), Management Consulting, Discovery, Discovery Workshops, IT Consulting, Business Process Analysis, Training, Software QA, Quality Control (QC), Quality Assurance (QA), Content Management Systems (CMS), Learning Management Systems (LMS), Google Apps, Sprints, Mobile Applications, Mobile, Hardware, JavaScript, CRM Systems, Platforms, Analytics, Data Management Platforms, Product Ownership, Roadmaps, Booking Systems, Wireframing, Lean Product Development, Agile Coaching, Distributed Team Management, Website CMS, Node.js, VM, Python, Digital Design, Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Inventory Management, Order Management, Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS), IT Infrastructure, Business to Consumer (B2C), Data Privacy, Product Design, ClickUp, Digital Transformation, AngularJS, Customer Data Platform (CDP), Notion, Airtable, Business Delivery Management, Apps, PHP, MongoDB, Angular, Java, API Gateways, Cybersecurity, RFID, jQuery, .NET, APIs, Spring, Mobile Apps, Smartsheet, IT Projects, Requirements, Reporting, SaaS Product Management, Technical Program Management, Product Launch, React, React Native, eCommerce, eCommerce Platforms, Customer Journey, Machine Learning, User Experience (UX), Software Design, Integration, Design Sprints, Embedded Hardware, Fitness, Mobile UI, Mobile UX, Legal Technology (Legaltech), Crypto, Django, Electron, Finance, Marketing, Sales, Web3, Videos, Gaming Platforms, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Life Science, Product Strategy, Customer Feedback, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Speech Recognition, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Product Development, Executive Reporting, Manufacturing, Software Sales, Property Management, Vacation Rental Management, Cloud Platforms, Director of Product
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