Ruben Vrinzen
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Utrecht, Netherlands
Toptal member since April 9, 2019
Ruben is an experienced people manager with a background in the corporate and entrepreneurial world. As a certified scrum master and PRINCE2 project manager, Ruben has led over 300 people worldwide to deliver above expectations on an individual and a team level. With strong stakeholder management skills and a passion for cultures, he is most successful in managing multidisciplinary teams in eCommerce and innovative startups.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Discovery Workshops
- Kanban
- Management
- People Management
- Shopify
- Startups
- Strategy
- eCommerce
Work Experience
Remote (Agile) Project Manager
Onwords
- Served as the remote project manager on all assignments done by Onwords agency, forming remote teams to perform above expectations while executing some marketing activities myself.
- Led the strategy, eCommerce, and online marketing implementation for Efficientprint.com, a new startup in Spain delivering an online printing platform.
- Oversaw the building of a new platform for Nuts & Bolts Speed Training. Was responsible for hiring and leading developers and UX/UI designers from start to completion.
- Advised Ethnotek on continuous optimization of eCommerce on a technical level and a marketing and conversion rate optimization level. The conversion has gone from 0.9% to steadily above 2.5%.
- Advised Top Car AutoReisen on the implementation of Kanban for continuous eCommerce optimization.
- Led the development team of Forte Violen in launching a new business model into the world of violins and instruments, from user experience and design to development and first marketing initiatives.
- Led the lightning start of a Toptal Project into a successful continuation of the project by the Toptal project team. Continuously led the team to delivery, from UX to development.
- Contributed to the birth of the men's bracelet brand Chibuntu under Onwords' umbrella, delivering a passive business model due to a strategically chosen marketing approach.
Founder and CEO
Chasing Spaces
- Managed technical development of the marketplace, building an MVP to go to market as fast as possible.
- Served big customers like adidas and Unilever and local heroes like BOHO Amsterdam and Rose & Nine.
- Led the successful application to join the Rockstart Accelerator, Amsterdam. Only 10 startups get selected out of hundreds of applications worldwide.
- Implemented the Kanban way of working across the different departments of the startup.
- Led the complete startup team from hiring to peak performance.
- Managed the P&L, legal, and accounting of the startup.
Sales Manager
Best Buy Europe/Carphone Warehouse
- Managed the people and P&L of 20 Phone House stores within the area of the Hague, Leiden, and Haarlem (around 75 FTE). The region was in need of an immediate turnaround both financially and culturally.
- Achieved financial uplift in the margin of 22.3% like for like while lowering headcount by 10%.
- Implemented scrum rhythm and rituals in a sales environment which was the main driver for success.
Program Manager
Best Buy Europe/Carphone Warehouse
- Developed and launched a new shop-in-shop concept resulting in six trial stores between two established retailers. The trial has resulted in a long term partnership agreement between the Carphone Warehouse and MediaMarkt Saturn Holding, tremendously increasing business on both sides.
- Led key strategic business projects and programs within Phone House Netherlands, managing a team of project managers and store openers to achieve strategic direction and new business.
- Oversaw the implementation of a time and attendance system across all stores using agile philosophies before industrializing the roll-out.
- Collaborated with the CEO to finalize the details of the agreement and term sheet.
- Headed stakeholder management within both companies.
Head of Store Formats
Best Buy Europe/Carphone Warehouse
- Drove new business through the Wireless Store Formats program for the German, Dutch, and Spanish markets. Most significant capital investment in 2011.
- Managed teams in the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain remote with incidental visits.
- Worked in partnership with each market's board of directors, sponsor, and project teams to ensure effective and efficient delivery of the vision.
- Initiated and implemented agile project management philosophy within the pan-European team.
- Achieved the roll-out of over 300 stores within a year.
Project Manager Belgium and the Netherlands
Best Buy Europe/Carphone Warehouse
- Implemented and rolled-out of a European program, improving the way we go to market.
- Managed project managers in both countries, both remote and locally.
- Used the Kanban technique for continuous management of commercial initiatives.
- Launched the new Wireless World store concept in the Netherlands.
- Managed the financial side of projects with investments over 3 million euros.
Project Management consultant
Conclusion Implementation
- Led the development and implementation of the financial business model and administration for a new department delivering a service-oriented infrastructure to the Amsterdam local government.
- Managed the development and implementation of project management support containing the development of, among others, capacity management, Wiki and Jira.
- Managed and organized a Seminar Lean Management from concept to realization resulting in leads and new business.
- Served as scrum master for technical development in absence of senior scrum master facilitating all scrum meetings.
- Oversaw stakeholders management of the scrum project within Amsterdam local government.
Project Manager
De Lage Landen/Rabobank Group
- Managed the set-up of a customer service desk for a customer base of 55,000 clients worth over €700 million.
- Managed the change of back-end systems due to change in Spanish legislation.
- Analyzed, improved, and implemented new dunning strategy for operations department using the Kanban technique.
- Managed project teams in Spanish working at HQ Madrid, Spain.
- Worked closely with the board of directors to strategize the roll-out of multiple projects.
Project History
Agile Project Manager
https://nutsandboltsspeedtraining.com/Led the launch of an improved online platform for online learning courses. Managed the development using Kanban.
The project involved UX/UI designers, developers and marketers to re-launch the new platform increasing customer experience, as well as conversion rate.
My role was leading the overall hiring and management of the team using Kanban. The project launched successfully and has by now delivered over 3 million lessons worldwide.
Business and Digital Marketing Strategy
https://ethnotek.comAdvised CEO of 7-figure socially responsible brand, Ethnotek, on how to scale up by improving eCommerce and online marketing
A very complex and slow production of socially responsible products. The company wants to scale-up and needed advice on how to.
Getting on board UX/UI designers had an immediate impact on conversion and revenue. Remotely facilitating Funnel Strategy workshops lead to a plan on how to get the company to the next level. Setting up a lean organization with Agile mentality improved the way of managing a business aiming to constantly improve their performance as well as their social impact.
Strategy New Startup
Efficient Print is a new startup in the highly competitive industry of online printing.
As one of the first of the team, I had the opportunity to take the intrapreneurial role and lead the strategy development of Efficient Print. Holding workshops both locally as well as remote with the board of directors and the internal team we designed a strategy and together created a new brand.
After the launch of the platform as an MVP, we continually optimized the platform for conversion and technical debt.
Education
Master's Degree in Business Administration, Management & Strategy
University of Maastricht - Maastricht, the Netherlands
Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Marketing
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid - Madrid, Spain
Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Management & Strategy
University of Maastricht - Maastricht, the Netherlands
Certifications
Google Adwords Certification
Certified Scrum Master
Scrum Alliance
PRINCE2
APM Group
Skills
Tools
Asana, Google Docs, Google Slides, Basecamp, Trello, Google Sheets, Miro, Jira, Salesforce, Slack, Zoom
Paradigms
Kanban, Change Management, Management, Team Development, Agile Project Management, B2C, PRINCE2, Scrum, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Agile Product Management
Platforms
Shopify, WordPress, Google Ads, WooCommerce, iOS, Android
Industry Expertise
Call Centers, Retail & Wholesale, Digital Marketing, New Business Ventures, Social Enterprise, Financial Services, Venture Capital, Logistics, Fashion, Sales & Marketing
Other
Stakeholder Management, Project Management, Time Management, Discovery Workshops, Agile Coaching, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Business to Consumer (B2C), Coaching, Client Relations, Communication, Startups, eCommerce, Strategy, Remote Work, People Management, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship, Google, eCommerce Management, Sales, Business, Digital Strategy, Strategy Planning, Business Strategy, Company Strategy, Planning, Project Planning, Product Owner, Business Development, Business Advisory, Turnaround, Team Mentoring, Team Leadership, Change Leadership, Project Leadership, Hiring, Hiring Process Development, Business Models, Business Model Canvas, Sales Operations, Sales Management, Program Management, Sales Planning, Startup Consulting, Drop Shipping, Project Coordination, Agency, Clients, Business Processes, Facilitation, Client Services, PMO, Project Management Office (PMO), Operations, Process Improvement, Customer Service, Product Vision, Facebook, ActiveCampaign, Product Strategy, Google Shopping, Product Ownership, Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Business Research, Business Planning, Leadership Strategy, Thought Leadership, New Business Development, Online Sales, Channel Sales, Conversion, Social Media, Web Project Management, User Experience (UX), Facebook Ads, WordPress Plugins, Squarespace, Online Course Design, Product Roadmaps, Google Tag Manager, Google SEO, Creative Strategy, Product Planning, Product Management, Private Equity, Social Networks, Marketplaces, Account Management, Instagram Ads, Email Marketing
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
Share your needs
Choose your talent
Start your risk-free talent trial
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring