
Vanja Ostojic
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Marbella, Spain
Toptal member since March 10, 2020
Vanja is a well-versed senior project manager and certified scrum master with over nine years of experience in both in-house and remote agile/Scrum environments. Vanja has proven expertise in project planning, execution, and leadership across tech-driven projects. Skilled in aligning project goals with strategic business objectives, Vanja shines in her genuine, nuanced care, team handling, and enthusiastic approach to achieving goals.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Agile Product Management
- Agile Project Management
- Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
- Jira
- Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
- Mobile Apps
- Product Discovery
- Technical Program Management
Work Experience
Lead Process and Project Manager
Kiuub
- Joined the no code/low code team to optimize their engineering and project management processes. Introduced Agile iterative delivery of the product and cleaned up estimation and delivery processes. Optimized the project planning and metrics system.
- Held numerous workshops on metrics and agile delivery.
- Coached younger project managers on multiple methodologies, from Scrum to Waterfall.
- Introduced advanced testing processes, testing strategy, and continuous delivery in the software development lifecycle.
Product Manager
Bison
- Gained expertise in identifying market needs, defining product strategies, and launching applications that streamline operations, enhance user experience, and facilitate seamless financial transactions in the factoring business.
- Held a product manager role in the organization and worked on oil and gas logistics business applications, spearheading the development and deployment of cutting-edge software solutions tailored to the unique challenges of the oil and gas industry.
- Conducted thorough market research to identify untapped opportunities, leading to the development of a strategic product roadmap that aligns with user needs and business objectives.
- Collaborated closely with engineering, design, and marketing teams to ensure product vision was translated into reality, maintaining a focus on user-centric design principles.
- Implemented metrics and KPIs to monitor product performance post-launch, leveraging data to make informed decisions for future iterations and enhancements.
- Acted as the primary liaison between clients, stakeholders, and internal teams, facilitating transparent communication and aligning expectations with product capabilities.
Technical Program Manager
Bison Logistics
- Served as a technical program manager at Bison Logistics, a dynamic entity in the oil and gas and freight and logistics services, and honed a diverse skill set, including agile product and project management, program management, and QA leadership.
- Took on more responsibilities as I assumed the role of a scrum master for several development teams, where I facilitated all team meetings and scrum ceremonies, ensuring agile best practices.
- Played a pivotal role in product discovery sessions with various stakeholders, employing innovative discovery techniques such as user story mapping and design thinking, which led to the successful development of comprehensive product backlogs.
- Worked on the strategic decisions related to the engineering direction in relation to the other company sectors, setting up quality audits, and aligning engineering, data, and infrastructure decisions.
- Established quality audits and fostered alignment between engineering, data, and infrastructure decisions, significantly contributing to the company's strategic direction and operational excellence.
Project Manager Digital
5CA
- Joined the team to help the company in the transformational phase with the process definition. Worked on process mapping and created a ''factory model'' of key processes such as customer onboarding, internal reporting, and more.
- Managed the initiative of implementing a suitable project management tool. Conducted cross-company research and requirements gathering and led the discussions with the potential PM tool vendors.
- Managed a program that was aimed at migrating all the clients to the secure virtual desktop. Created a program run-book and managed end-to-end program progress on multiple accounts.
Chatbot Project Coordinator
Querlo
- Managed an HR chatbot implementation and release for a large international company (4–500,000 employees).
- Trained chatbots and created workflow schemes for user intents.
- Supervised developers and ensured timely delivery of the product.
- Ensured a great client-team relationship of trust and proactiveness in a fully remote multinational environment.
- Built COVID-19 and post COVID-19 chatbot solutions for clients and individuals.
Delivery Manager
Levi9 Technology Services
- Joined the team as a delivery manager and scrum master and for almost two years to build strong customer relationships and keep track of project scope, quality, and budget.
- Implemented various project transformation processes from a waterfall-like structure with yearly releases to an agile biweekly release setup.
- Optimized the teamwork by organizing the people in performing teams; defined the workflows and SLDC for each team.
- Facilitated multiple discovery workshops, performed user story mapping sessions, and helped the client with defining requirements.
- Implemented various scrum practices and facilitated all scrum rituals with the distributed team setup.
- Motivated the development teams to achieve both their personal as well as the client's objectives, creating a safe and positive work environment.
- Organized knowledge-sharing workshops on various topics, from scrum to leadership.
Project Manager
Freelance Work
- Served as an IT project management consultant, focusing on creating way-of-working procedures and SLDC structure for distributed cross-functional teams.
- Collaborated closely with the clients on creating functional specifications and wireframes for their products and creating project timelines.
- Contributed to IT projects from various industries—from automotive to stock market and music.
Project Manager
Eton Digital
- Joined the team as an assistant scrum master, then progressed to lead project manager/scrum master.
- Organized multiple collocated agile teams and set up their workflows.
- Optimized scrum processes and coached the team and clients on agile practices.
- Implemented beta testing of the applications and was a member of the acceptance board—testing along with product owners and stakeholders and approving the features.
Marketing and Communications Executive
TallyFox
- Created a marketing strategy for the knowledge management platform built by the in-house development team.
- Contributed to content and social media management and the overall product promotion.
- Organized the company's tech talks for knowledge sharing on various topics—from tech to marketing.
Client Services Manager
Sizmek
- Collaborated with media agencies on media planning and ad-serving, such as Ubisoft, Maxus, Xaxis, and Mediacom UK.
- Contributed to gaming digital media campaigns (e.g., Assassin's Creed).
- Collaborated with distributed and in-house teams on the rapid value generation from advertisements in a fast-paced Ad Tech industry.
Project History
Technical Program Manager for Oil and Gas Logistics Applications and Financial Factoring Business
Managed multiple cross-functional dev teams. Took over the data team strategy, data migration, and infrastructure team management. Worked with productizing the data for trucking services and on projects for financial factoring.
• Managed product discovery sessions with multiple stakeholders, using various discovery techniques, such as user story mapping, design thinking, etc.
• Progressed to a technical program manager and took over the QA leadership, data team, and infrastructure team management.
• Directly managed data migrations and data productization for the company's mobile and web products,
• Project and product-managed core project related to financial factoring for operators and oil field haulers.
• Worked on the strategic decisions related to the engineering direction in relation to the other company sectors, setting up quality audits and aligning engineering, data, and infrastructure decisions.
OK Betalen
https://ok.app/nl/Worked on the transformation of a startup into an app used by over 500,000 people.
Web Portal and Database Refactoring and Remodeling for Machine Industry
Built the new web portal for customers and dealers and designed the brand new complex database model for a leading dealer in the machine and large vehicles industry.
Querlo
https://www.querlo.com/products/crisis-managementManaged an HR chatbot implementation for a large international company, including the release and maintenance.
Tallium
https://www.tallyfox.com/productWorked on marketing and lead generation strategy for the knowledge management platform.
Hybrid Mobile Application for Gaming and Education
Successfully delivered the initial product backlog and UI/UX flow for the hybrid mobile application aimed at promoting African-American culture through gamification.
Coached the client on the Agile practices and Scrum framework.
Surgiyo
Led a successful product discovery journey for mobil and web surgical application.
Was also led estimation sessions with the team.
Project Manager for Logistics and Maintenance Services Application
Successfully completed design thinking and product discovery workshop for an Uber-like startup for service industry applications.
Forsan Gaming Application
Launched and managed the delivery of a mobile game application to help boost the new Saudi restaurant businesses.
We completed the project before the initial estimated scope.
Education
Master's Degree in Strategic Management
University of Belgrade - Belgrade, Serbia
Bachelor's Degree in English Language and Literature
University of Novi Sad - Novi Sad, Serbia
Certifications
Professional Scrum Master I
Scrum.org
Skills
Tools
Slack, Asana, Jira, Figma, Confluence, Trello, Office 365, Project Management & Work Tracking Tools, IBM Watson, Miro, Hotjar, GitHub
Paradigms
B2C, Agile, Agile Project Management, Requirements Analysis, Scrum, Design Thinking, Change Management, Kanban, Agile Product Management, Agile Software Development
Industry Expertise
Digital Agencies, Fashion, Beauty Products, Digital Marketing, Healthcare, Education Technology (Edtech)
Platforms
Shopify, Blockchain, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Monday.com, iOS, Android
Other
Project Planning, Story Mapping, Discovery Workshops, Product Discovery, Product Management, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Project Management, eCommerce, Client Services, Client Management, Web Platforms, Scrum Master, Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Web Applications, IT Project Management, Cosmetics, Social Media, Instagram, Estimation & Planning, Startups, English, Web Project Management, Communication, Requirements & Specifications, Backlog Management, Project Estimation, Discovery, Project Scoping, Product Roadmaps, Business Requirements, User Flows, Business Analysis, Cross-functional Collaboration, Product Development, Software Project Management, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Social Networks, Search Engines, Workshop Facilitation, Project Timelines, Roadmaps, ClickUp, Product Planning, Agile Program Management, Technical Project Management, Operational Efficiency Improvement, Project Coordination, Release Management, Jira Administration, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Web & Mobile Applications, Executive Support, Virtual Assistance, Personal Assistance, Mobile/Web Project Management, Sprint Planning, Technical Project Monitoring, Stakeholder Engagement, Team Management, Distributed Team Management, Reports, Security, Documentation, Process Improvement, Technical Product Management, Mobile Apps, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Jira, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Product Requirements Documentation (PRD), Online Marketing, Marketing, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Product Owner, Mobile Apps, Software Development, Web, Mobile, Education, Mobile Games, Technical Program Management, Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, WeWeb, Gaming Platforms, Mobile Wallet, Risk Management, Digital Advertising, Teamwork, Program Management, Process Definition, Process Mapping, Microsoft, Mechanics, Databases, Refactoring, Client Portals, Project Tracking, Wireframing, Functional Specifications, CRM Systems, Knowledge Management, Lead Marketing, Brand Marketing, Growth Marketing, Delivery Management, Stakeholder Management, Scrum Coaching, Native Mobile Apps, Microsoft Teams, Hybrid Apps, Project Discovery, Videos, Fintech, Chatbots, Project Leadership, Marketing Management, Advertising Technology (Adtech), IT Projects, User Experience (UX), QA Leadership, Oil & Gas Project Management, Infrastructure, IT Program Management, Data Products, Technical Product Management, Low Code, GPS, Factoring, Requirements, Functional Requirements, Video Games, Mobile Game Development, User Requirements, System Requirements, Cross-platform App Development
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