Pooja Rao
San Jose,CA
Summary
Seasoned Product Owner and Business Analyst with a proven track record of successfully leading product launches that increased customer retention by 20%. Proficient in Agile methodologies and stakeholder communication, transforming product vision into market-ready solutions. A strategic thinker with strong problem-solving skills, dedicated to driving continuous improvement and enhancing user satisfaction.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Founder
MyndTrail
01.2024 - Current
- Conceptualized a mental wellness app offering guided meditation, dedicated coaches, personalized journaling, and tailored guidance for users.
- Conducted extensive user research and competitive analysis to inform product vision and strategy.
- Collaborated with clinical psychologists and meditation practitioners to incorporate better user experience.
- Established success metrics, and developed a subscription-based revenue model with financial projections for stakeholders and investors.
- Conducted user surveys and hypothesis testing to validate assumptions, driving the development of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
Product Owner (B2B - Life Insurance)
Sureify Labs, Inc.
San Jose, CA
07.2019 - 09.2023
- Managed product ownership and UAT testing for Sureify’s B2B Direct-to-Consumer products and workflows, translating business requirements into actionable epics, user stories, and test scenarios.
- Developed test strategies and plans, communicated results, risks, and recommendations to stakeholders, ensuring clarity and consensus on product quality.
- Facilitated weekly meetings with engineering, product management, marketing, and business teams to discuss project progress, resolve issues, and prioritize system enhancements.
- Produced comprehensive process flow charts and documentation for new and modified business processes, ensuring a clear understanding across teams.
- Actively participated in scrum calls, backlog refinement, prioritization sessions, design discussions, and product demos to maintain project alignment, and foster team communication.
- Led UAT, facilitated cross-functional meetings, and communicated test strategies and results to the clients, reducing customer support inquiries by 40%.
- Led production issue triage, collaborating with cross-functional teams to determine root causes, and implement corrective solutions.
- Collaborated with data analysts to build KPI reports and dashboards, providing actionable insights to improve customer satisfaction by 20%.
- Successfully launched Sureify products for four tier-1 clients, and achieved customer retention of 20%.
- Product Owner for pre-sales and sales support, developed a comprehensive conceptual project plan for prospects, and implemented a demo-able product suite to showcase the end-to-end capabilities of Sureify's products.
- Developed comprehensive business plans for Sureify’s executives, reinforcing strong relationships, and showcasing Sureify's dedication to fulfilling customer objectives.
Project Manager/Business Analyst (Consultant)
Hashtag Systems Inc.
Sunnyvale, CA
01.2019 - 05.2019
- Conducted business analysis to document customer requirements, leading to successful project completion within scope and budget.
- Streamlined software development processes, resulting in a 15% reduction in project completion time.
- Led UAT, identifying and documenting bugs and improvements to optimize the user experience.
- Facilitated communication among stakeholders, providing regular updates and ensuring alignment with project goals.
Project Manager/Business Analyst (Consultant)
Baytech Digital
San Jose, CA
05.2018 - 12.2018
- Employed as a consultant to set up the Salesforce platform for a telecommunication parts supplier, integrating ERP functionalities.
- Managed Salesforce platform setup and integration, improving workflow efficiency for a telecommunications client.
- Provided training and support during UAT to ensure full utilization of the Salesforce platform.
Education
Master of Science - Engineering Management
San Jose State University (SJSU)
San Jose, CA05.2019
Masters in - Computer Applications Development
Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU)
India09.2013
Skills
- Agile Methodologies (Scrum, SAFe)
- Product vision and strategy
- Product backlog management
- Requirement elicitation and documentation
- Stakeholder management and communication
- UI/UX design and best practices
- Product life cycle management
- Web and mobile app implementation
- Quality Assurance
- Cross-functional team leadership
- Continuous Improvement
- Organizational skills
- Communication (written and verbal) and presentation
- Problem solving
Technical Skills
- Product/Project Management (Productboard, JIRA, Atlassian Confluence, MS Project, Trello, ClickUp)
- Process flow creation and wireframes (Whimsical, MS SharePoint, draw.io, Miro, Visily, Figma)
- Data Analysis and Reporting (Google Analytics, Excel, Tableau, Power BI, SQL)
- Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- Forms creation and editing (Adobe Acrobat)
- API integration and testing
Certification
- Advanced Certified Product Owner (ACSPO), Scrum Alliance
- Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Scrum Alliance
- SAFe 4 (Scaled Agile Framework), Scaled Agile, Inc.
- Six Sigma Greenbelt, ICGB
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Founder
MyndTrail
01.2024 - Current
Product Owner (B2B - Life Insurance)
Sureify Labs, Inc.
07.2019 - 09.2023
Project Manager/Business Analyst (Consultant)
Hashtag Systems Inc.
01.2019 - 05.2019
Project Manager/Business Analyst (Consultant)
Baytech Digital
05.2018 - 12.2018
Master of Science - Engineering Management
San Jose State University (SJSU)
Masters in - Computer Applications Development
Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU)
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