Paul van Dommelen
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Utrecht, Netherlands
Toptal member since April 5, 2022
Paul is a project manager who has gained in-depth experience across business, IT, and operations during his 18-year career. He designed and managed complex innovation and transformation programs, greenfield builds, and turnarounds from start to finish, such as building greenfield banks and transforming leading incumbents digitally. Paul is a creative thinker who gets down to business and a problem solver who excels when grit, ingenuity, persistence, and accountability are required.
Project Highlights
Education Highlights
Expertise
- Agile Program Management
- Complex Program Management
- Customer Experience
- Customer Experience Management
- Digital Transformation
- Digital Transformation Program Management
- IT Project Management
- Product Management
Work Experience
Expert Advisor Digital
Fincog
- Acted as an external expert advisor providing ad hoc advisory services on fintech, digital banking, building neobanks, digital product management, customer experience, digital transformation, and digital innovation.
- Contributed to the various engagements by providing knowledge and experience to the project teams.
- Collaborated with the various management teams and program boards to advise them on their transformation programs.
Owner
Grnta
- Helped clients to deliver digital innovation, transformation, and turnaround.
- Strategized and realized bold digital ambitions with the clients. Solved complex problems, from small to large engagements that involved the customers' most vital needs and desires.
- Provided hands-on expertise, from strategy to execution and implementation.
Mentor for Fintech and Cyber Security
Startupbootcamp
- Acted as an active member of the Startupbootcamp's ecosystem.
- Helped and mentored to select the future of fintech.
- Guided and coached the startups in their early-stage businesses.
Digital Strategy Director and Senior Program Executive (BFSI EMEA)
Mobiquity
- Built greenfield banks and managed these end-to-end programs. Created digital innovation and CX strategies, product portfolios and strategies, roadmaps, and go-to-market strategies.
- Delivered digital transformation programs for startup and incumbent companies.
- Managed the digital turnaround and re-platforming programs.
- Built and managed a banking, financial services, and insurance practice from scratch.
- Managed the entire customer lifecycle from lead creation to delivered solutions within marketing, business development, and sales and advised the clients.
- Oversaw the company's most strategic BFSI clients worldwide and managed an annual portfolio of €30 million.
Principal Consultant for Digital Transformation and Innovation
Capgemini
- Managed various large-scale digital transformations and cybersecurity programs across the globe.
- Blended business, operations, and IT programs under the direct responsibility of up to 250 employees.
- Contributed to the core team that built and managed the digital financial services and business process management practices.
IT Process Consultant
Diba Group
- Digitized and improved the efficiency and reliability of the company's core business by process optimizations and core IT package configurations.
- Configured and maintained the company's core ERP system.
- Improved various core processes to increase efficiency and reliability.
Project History
Automotive Program and Product Management
Built an entirely new end-to-end greenfield IT landscape to transfer from a federated model across 32 countries to one central digital landscape and aimed to deliver digital service on cross-border platforms at digital cost levels.
I started by defining how all 36 digital product teams can be organized in one program to achieve an end-to-end operating model. I determined and set up the way of working, operating model, and governance for the digital product management and software development teams based on SAFe and DevOps principles.
I also managed the program from inception to MVP for around 600 FTEs. We all worked together in end-to-end mode daily and transparently across three release trains and one enablement train.
Product Strategy for Neobank
Strategized and built an award-winning, first cloud-based, fully mobile-only bank in the Middle East. Successfully launched the bank from scratch with around 100 FTEs within 12 months, from the strategy phase to the launch.
Managed a team of around 100 FTEs to define the business, product, IT, and delivery strategy for the new bank and its IT build, delivery, and program management.
Main disciplines involved business and IT strategy, product management, architecture, business analysis, CX, UI/UX design, front-end middle layer and core development, cloud, data science, and DevOps.
Digital Strategy and TSO
Created a company-wide digital transformation strategy and initiative portfolio.
The goal of my assignment was to build a shared digital vision, execution plan, and governance framework towards all current and future digital initiatives such as a digital TSO, managing the energy transition, and answering the energy market’s decentralization. I led a small team of six FTEs consisting of energy sector experts and contributed to the team with my digital, product, and transformation management skills.
Advising Neobank on Digital Strategy
Acted as the trusted advisor to the board on launching a new mobile-only bank.
As an expert advisor, I advised the bank on one of its most strategic initiatives. I also offered suggestions on topics related to digital banking, product management, program management, and digital transformation.
Omnichannel Banking
Acted as the strategic advisor to the board for a turnaround strategy of their flagship digital transformation and re-platforming (omnichannel portal and cloud) programs.
I advised on value proposition design, products and services design, product portfolio, organizational design (based on SAFe and DevOps), IT transformation strategy (together with technical counterpart), and program execution plan.
I was also the senior account executive and overall trusted advisor for the execution phase of the program (around 200 FTEs), in which we designed and delivered the MVP on business and IT.
Digital Mortgages
Oversaw the implementation of the very first digital mortgage capability within the first European mobile-only bank
I led the day-to-day management of the digital mortgages program across the business, IT, and operations covering the sales and origination phase of the mortgage journey. I also managed the end-to-end backlog (around 50 FTEs).
Digital Strategy of Omnichannel Banking
Managed the turnaround in re-platforming all digital channels to a new omnichannel platform from a product and IT perspective, reporting directly to the COO and CDO.
I took over the program (around 50 FTEs) after unsuccessful attempts during a five-year period. Threw away all previous IT deliverables, defined the MVP and backlog, and implemented the MVP for omnichannel banking within six months. After the MVP, we implemented various mobile and online banking and public website iterations, including a complete IT, UX, and UI overhaul.
Digital Factory
Set up the structure and approach to human-centric digital innovation within the Randstad ecosystem, from concept ideation to delivery.
To prove the approach, I managed as both PM and PO the end-to-end delivery of the first IT delivery project’s MVP phase (around 30 FTEs) within the digital factory, a global cloud-based mobile platform for candidates and customers across various countries.
Bank Migration
Oversaw the full technical migration of all retail and private banking clients from one bank's channel platform to the other one.
As part of this project, I was the program manager for the domain channels such as mobile, web, and call center while supervising the team on a daily basis during an always-on 24/7/52 migration program.
Engagement and Program for Omnichannel Banking
Managed the re-platforming and redesigning of the public program and secured the online banking domain.
Led a team of around 250 FTEs as a program manager. In this role, I helped the product owners set their strategic directions and create comprehensive product backlogs based on customer needs and IT possibilities.
Education
Executive Master's Degree in Business Administration (EMBA)
University of Stellenbosch - Stellenbosch, South Africa
Executive Master's Degree in Business Administration (EMBA)
Nyenrode Business University - Breukelen, The Netherlands
Executive Master's Degree in Business Administration (EMBA)
University of Oregon - Eugene, Oregon, USA
Certifications
Professional Scrum Product Owner I (PSPO 1)
Scrum Alliance
Skills
Paradigms
Agile Product Management
Other
Customer Experience, Complex Program Management, IT Program Management, Digital Transformation, Digital Transformation Program Management, Team Leadership, Agile Program Management, Program Management, Online Banking, Mobile Banking, Project Management, IT Project Management, Process Design, Agile DevOps, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Product Management, Digital Innovation, Agile Transformation, Business, Customer Experience Management, Mentorship, Mentorship & Coaching, Innovation Labs, P&C Insurance, IT Product Management, Migration
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