Resume
📌TLDR
Experienced leader, product manager and strategist with a focus on clarity, autonomy, and real outcomes. Nearly two decades building teams, shipping value, and scaling impact in startups and scaleups.
📝 Professional Summary
I began my career in software development before transitioning into a multifaceted product leader, combining technical expertise with strategic oversight to guide teams and shape product direction.
I care less about titles and more about impact. My focus is on enabling others, driving clarity, and helping teams do their best work. I measure success by outcomes and learnings, not deliverables.
Over nearly two decades, I’ve built and led teams across product, strategy, and operations. I’m known for creating high-trust environments, strengthening cross-functional collaboration, and bringing calm structure to complexity. I lead with empathy, serve with intent, and help turn vision into momentum.
I have worked closely on fundraising, M&A, internationalisation, and executive-level decision making across globally distributed teams.
📒 What I Do
I'm most "at home" and able to add value in the product management space.
I create clear strategies that connect product, design, tech, business, and commercial thinking. I’m comfortable setting long-term direction, but just as focused on helping teams validate and learn quickly along the way.
I don’t micromanage or obsess over tickets or bakclogs. Instead, I empower teams by removing obstacles, fostering direct customer engagement, embedding transparency, and building environments where talented people thrive.
My strength is acting as a strategic partner and force multiplier to create clarity, cultivate autonomy, and deliver meaningful outcomes.
🏅 Notable Wins
🔹 Scaled Takealot's marketplace division from launch to 20% of overall business within 12 months.
🔹 Developed and implemented the low-code technical solution to enable SweepSouth’s successful expansion into Nigeria, directly contributing to rapid market validation.
🔹 Built and developed teams capable of stepping into my role, intentionally hiring and growing talent to make myself redundant.
🧭 What I'm Drawn To
- Transparency by default: Handbooks, strategy, decisions, and values are public and lived, not just words
- High autonomy, low bureaucracy: Clear context and trust over layers of approvals and micromanagement
- Direct, human communication: No corporate theatre, say what you mean, kindly and clearly
- Optimism with rigor: Strong beliefs loosely held, paired with curiosity and accountability
- Product-led teams with shared purpose: Small, empowered teams working in harmony through aligned strategy, priorities, and culture
- Environments that do good while doing well: Sustainable, principled businesses that care about people and outcomes
- Builder-first cultures: Where product craft matters and technical or design depth is respected
- Asynchronous, intentional collaboration: Structured for flow and momentum, not calendar saturation
- Teams of smart, weird, caring people: Humor, humility, intensity, and a willingness to lift each other up
🏗️ How I Like to Help
- Serve the team, not the ego: Create conditions where others can do the best work of their careers
- Provide strategic clarity: Help teams understand what matters, why it matters, and how to rally behind it
- Act as a multiplier: Unblock, connect, guide, and amplify others, especially across product and cross-functional teams
- Shape culture through example: Model clear thinking, high standards, optimism, and calm execution
- Strengthen connective tissue: Align squads, functions, or disciplines with shared strategy and operating rhythms
- Evangelize vision with context and honesty: Translate company direction into something people can believe in and act on
- Balance pragmatism and aspiration: Make forward progress without losing sight of the long arc
- Make ambiguity productive: See the fog, step into it, and bring back clarity for the team
😀 Recommendations
A number of incredible people recommend working with me.
"One of the smartest and nicest people I know" – my mom
4.8/5 – Uber
⏳Work History
Chief Product Officer @ Sweepsouth
Jun 2020 - Sep 2024 | Home Services Marketplace | South Africa (Remote)
Reported to the CEO and led the definition and execution of overall product strategy. Oversaw product, engineering, and data teams, including hiring, budgeting, and resource planning. Directed product strategy, management, design, and roadmap across multiple geographies.
See key achievements and timeline
- Secured $11 million in Series B funding by leading the development and design of the investor pitch deck, with a focus on the five-year product strategy and market analysis.
- Independently developed a low-code solution to launch SweepSouth into the Nigerian market, enabling online bookings, payment processing, and integration with business systems resulting in rapid market validation.
- Led the complete rebuild and launch of the SweepSouth web app and worker app, managing product and engineering teams while directly driving UX/UI design.
- Led the redesign and rebuild of SweepSouth’s customer-facing web solution, focusing on improvements to UX and performance, resulting in an 11% increase in booking funnel conversions.
- Directed the strategic re-architecture of SweepSouth’s platform, enabling rapid expansion into new service categories (laundry, business cleaning, pet walking).
- Spearheaded a comprehensive overhaul of business reporting, aligning KPIs across the org and launching a new data environment with unified, self-serve dashboards.
- Led the integration of tech and product teams following SweepSouth’s acquisition of Filkhedma (Egypt), appointing Filkhedma’s Head of Engineering as Head of Engineering and expanding leadership capacity across both markets.
- Pioneered the design and launch of a recurring cleaning services solution in the Egypt market, driving it from inception to 40% of overall business revenue within six months.
- Oversaw all aspects of product design, UX/UI, user journeys, data requirements, and go-to-market, collaborating with operations to optimize post-launch adoption.
Timeline:
Head of Product (Jun 2020 - Jan 2022) → Chief Product Officer (Jan 2022 - Sep 2024)
Senior Product Owner @ MyRunway
Dec 2019 - Apr 2020 | Ecommerce Retailer
Reported to the Head of Technology and was responsible for general product operations, process optimisation, and project delivery. Oversaw internal and customer-facing platforms, focusing on end-to-end product lifecycle management, including development, quality, adoption, and support.
See key achievements and timeline
- Designed and implemented a Digital Adoption Platform to streamline onboarding for internal users.
- Built an internal reporting system enabling BI teams to deploy integrated reports and dashboards through a low-code framework.
- Developed a custom order management utility to improve support team workflows and efficiency.
- Led the redesign of a multi-step customer checkout flow, delivering a significantly improved UX.
- Defined a scalable system for managing product sets and sale configurations.
- Managed the successful migration from a third-party reporting solution to a custom-built reporting platform.
- Launched updated product development and ownership processes across business verticals to drive alignment and delivery consistency.
Head of Technology @ Eighty20
Oct 2016 - Nov 2019 | Data, Strategy, and Loyalty Programme Consulting
Reported to the COO and served as a member of the company-wide management and leadership team. Led strategy and execution across the product and infrastructure practice areas, overseeing multidisciplinary teams, platform development, infrastructure, and internal systems.
See key achievements and timeline
- Managed a full rebuild of the Eighty20 Xtract platform and launched the Eighty20 Data Portal.
- Designed and launched the Eighty20 Water Tracker, expanding the company’s analytics product suite.
- Implemented agile methodologies to improve team visibility and streamline delivery cycles.
- Rolled out JIRA and Zoho Desk to improve issue tracking, project management, and internal support workflows.
- Directed server selection, deployment, and containerization for analytics infrastructure and tooling.
- Defined and managed the company-wide technology budget, ensuring alignment with strategic goals.
- Designed and implemented new infrastructure recovery and continuity processes to improve system resilience.
Timeline:
Head of Technology (Oct 2016 - Jul 2019) → Technical Project Consultant (Aug 2019 - Nov 2019)
Marketplace Product & Operations Manager @ Takealot
Sep 2015 - Sep 2016 | Ecommerce Marketplace and Retailer
Reported to the Executive Head of Marketplace, leading Seller Support, Compliance, and product development to drive growth, improve operations, and enhance seller experience. Delivered cross-functional tooling and reporting solutions to support business-wide priorities.
See key achievements and timeline
- Scaled marketplace contribution to ~20% of total business during tenure.
- Built operational metrics, tracking dashboards, and company-wide reporting tools (Zendesk, Qlikview) to support finance, seller support, and performance tracking.
- Represented marketplace on company-wide FINCO, OPCO, and VOC platforms to align on business priorities and visibility.
- Brought operational teams into SLA compliance within two months through improved processes and performance management.
- Integrated marketplace into Takealot’s daily deals and major promotional campaigns.
- Introduced “Takealot Unboxed Deals” to recover value from returned but undamaged stock.
- Developed tooling for bulk seller uploads and operational scaling, reducing seller catalogue onboarding timelines by 75%.
- Directed a project to clear aged seller stock (~R18m), coordinating departments, campaigns, and tooling.
- Built a platform to streamline invoice and delivery communication between sellers and customers.
Timeline:
Product Manager (Sep 2015 - Apr 2016) → Product & Operations Manager (May 2016 - Sep 2016)
Senior Consultant @ iSync Solutions
Sep 2009 - Aug 2015 | ERP & PLM Software for Fashion and Apparel
Reported to the Cape Regional Director and led the implementation, customization, and support of the Sync ERP solution across client locations. Focused on product management, key account growth, integration, and data solutions.
See key achievements and timeline
- Managed Sync ERP deployments at multiple client sites, overseeing end-to-end implementation and support.
- Retained and grew all Cape Town key accounts for three consecutive years, contributing to significant regional revenue growth.
- Received recognition for unprecedented revenue expansion from Cape Town accounts through client success and upselling initiatives.
- Designed and implemented multi-metric dashboard and reporting solutions using SSRS.
- Delivered complex integration pipelines using SSIS for accounting, sales, stock, catalogue, and ecommerce systems.
- Designed the Sync stock location tracking module and contributed to Sync’s production and critical path planning modules.
- Authored SOP documentation for Sync upgrades and established operational best practices.
- Led a full rewrite of the Sync standard reporting suite to improve data clarity, consistency, and maintainability.
Timeline:
Business Intelligence Consultant (Mar 2010 - Feb 2011) → Senior Consultant (Mar 2011 Aug 2015)
Consultant (Sep 2009 - Feb 2010) → Business Intelligence Consultant (Mar 2010 - Feb 2011)
Co-Founder & Game Designer @ Surrealms Studio
Dec 2008 - Present | Game Development Studio
Pursuing my childhood passion of creating timeless games with rich stories and vibrant communities. Currently working to release a standalone version of Tropical Tower Wars, our 2007 Warcraft 3 and 2019 Dota 2 mod game.
See key achievements
- Built and contributed to the team responsible for developing, balancing, and refining Tropical Tower Wars from 2009, achieving mass adoption globally with over 1M monthly active players across Battle.net, PVPGN, and GArena servers.
- Built the TTW for Dota 2 player MMR system, designing the data architecture and developing the code to deliver accurate player rankings.
- Single-handedly developed the TTW Academy community portal for the Dota 2 TTW version, providing a comprehensive solution for player engagement and analytics.
- Developed full integration between the TTW Academy and the TTW community Discord, enabling players to view their match results and rankings seamlessly.
- Successfully raised cross-border angel investment to fund the development of Tropical Tower Wars 2, securing financial backing for the project’s growth.
- Led creative direction, game design, and commercial systems for TTW2, shaping its vision and gameplay to align with the studio’s mission of reinventing real-time strategy games.
Developer and Business Consultant @ Datascope
Feb 2008 - Aug 2009 | WMS Software for SYSPRO ERP
Reported to the Development Manager and worked across implementation, development, and support for WMS solutions tailored to SYSPRO ERP. Delivered solutions across client deployments, reporting, and internal tooling.
See key achievements and timeline
- Led the installation, setup, and user training of WMS for SYSPRO across enterprise-scale clients, driving adoption and operational efficiency.
- Designed, built, and deployed tailored Crystal Reports for WMS clients, enabling actionable insights and improved decision-making.
- Developed a 3rd-party label printing solution in C# for SYSPRO, enabling fast, high-volume label generation for warehousing and manufacturing.
- Implemented an RFID tracking system for a robotic parts manufacturer, reducing downtime and ensuring accurate materials handling before production.
- Rebuilt DATASCOPE’s internal support ticketing system (PHP) with integrated NPS tracking, improving customer feedback capture and service quality.
Timeline:
Development Intern (Feb 2008 - Mar 2009) → Business Consultant (Apr 2009 - Aug 2009)
Website Developer @ Freelance
Jan 2006 - May 2009 | Developing bespoke company websites
Ran my own freelance web development offering. Responsible for requirement gathering, domain management, hosting solutions, website development, deployments, and upkeep.
See key achievements
- Built bespoke content websites for small businesses.
- Created basic javascript (jquery) features to enrich company websites and mailing solutions.
- Setup help and online community (PHP forums) solutions.
IT Technician @ Kingpin Dynamics
Apr 2004 - Dec 2005 | B2B IT Services
Reported to the Managing Director and supported B2B clients with infrastructure provisioning, technical support, and automation services. Delivered hands-on solutions across hardware, networking, and basic scripting environments.
See key achievements
- Provisioned and maintained desktop, networking, and server hardware for client deployments.
- Provided networking setup, troubleshooting, and ongoing support for SMB environments.
- Designed and implemented redundancy plans and recovery schedules to ensure business continuity.
- Delivered basic automation tooling and scripting using BASH and VBA to reduce manual workloads.