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Whit Walker

SVP Product Management at Prime Focus Technologies

Brooklyn, New York

Overview

Work Experience

  • SVP Product Management

    2024 - Current

  • VP of Products

    2021 - 2024

    Manage roadmaps for six products by aligning customer insights & business goals into a prioritized development roadmap. Lead a team of 9 engineers, 6 product & design professionals and 20 outsourced operations workers to launch the initial product line, drive enterprise adoption and deliver successful recruiting outcomes to retain customers. · Worked as core leader to facilitate company’s acquisition, including pitch development and due diligence oversight · Successfully integrated software solution post acquisition resulting in new incremental sales · Created conversational intelligence AI products, parsing engine, NLP engine, proprietary Applicant Tracking System, and customer lifecycle marketing system, onboarding initial 40+ clients including Comcast, Wal-Mart, Pitney Bowes, Randstad, AXA, Lyft and ETrade · Developed proprietary end-to-end candidate engagement processes to support 100+ recruiters across 2.5K+ jobs and conducted +50K chats and evaluations in first year; resulted in 11K recommended candidates and +200 successful hires. · Built proprietary knowledge graph with +150M job seekers; used to enhance conversational intelligence and scale automation processes; OPS reduced fulfillment time ~95% (~4 hours to ~15 mins) and improved NPS to 8.4. · Improved fill rate for F100 client from 4% to 33% average. · Designed and implemented outsourcing strategy that effectively scaled bandwidth and solidified redundancy.

  • VP of Product & Operations

    2018 - 2021

    Primary Responsibilities: • Oversee strategy, engineering, design, and operations teams needed to build two talent-focused AI recruiter chatbots • Manage roadmaps for four products by aligning diverse customer insights & business goals into a prioritized development roadmap • Lead team of nine engineers, five operations professionals, and 20 outsourced workers to launch an initial product line, drive enterprise customer adoption and deliver successful recruiting outcomes Highlights Include: • Successfully acquired by PandoLogic and later Veritone (VERI) • Secured $7.6M Series A Financing • Architected, designed and managed end-to-end implementation of product strategy, core infrastructure development and operational protocols needed to implement conversation software and proprietary Applicant Tracking System • Product development strategy successfully scaled capabilities to handle +1M chats and evaluations within the first six months by reducing fulfillment time ~95% (~4 hours to ~15 mins) • Managed RFP process that expanded candidate database by +300M; implemented on time and under budget • Managed end-to-end implementation of new CRM that standardized operations and provided insight into account progress • Led pivot of previous sales strategy to re-align customer base with product offering capabilities • Designed and implemented an outsourcing strategy that effectively scaled bandwidth and solidified redundancy

  • Product Manager, Category Development

    2016 - 2018

    Managed all aspects two P&L’s comprising roughly a third of the overall business. My work improved Fiverr’s positioning as the world’s largest marketplace for professional and creative services, its customer experience, and its overall growth. Responsibilities included: • Catalog expansion, including filling-in selection/talent/price point gaps and identifying alternative sourcing strategies to increase efficiency • Developed got to market strategies for implementing new products aligned to user needs • Explored new market opportunities and identify lean ways to test them • Collaborated with senior leaders across product, account management, marketplace integrity, marketing, and growth • Built & executed a comprehensive assortment strategy to rapidly accelerate growth; managed the depth and breadth of services offered on the platform, with a keen focus on rolling out new services; developed & executed a comprehensive assortment strategy that’s optimized for company objectives and growth opportunities Highlights Included: Marketplace Turnaround • Developed comprehensive product turnaround strategy for two business units that increased revenue +105% and avg. order price 113%; built a comprehensive assortment strategy focused on attracting and promoting high-quality sellers • My business unit grew 20% faster than the overall marketplace. Achieved results through a comprehensive set of product initiatives including 1) cleaning up current supply 2) removing underperforming services 3) implementing and enforcing quality and moderation standards 4) expanding into new services/markets through lean testing Fiverr PRO • Moved company upmarket by developing and implementing a premium-tier service offering. Increased company revenue by >$3.3M in first year, across 7,000+ orders and 1,184 unique buyers • Established proprietary process to identify PROs, recruit them and onboard them in a scalable way; efforts brought in >300 professional sellers across 40+ categories

  • Director of Product, Marketplace Development

    2015 - 2016

    Advised CEO on the strategy needed to align resources and prioritize development based on observable customer behaviors Met regularly with visionary, early-stage customer segments in order to deeply understand their core issues; used these insights to align product development, marketplace development and product marketing efforts • Designed multiple personas and developed marketing collateral to address needs across customer journeys • Authored two whitepapers (referenced by academia), three user guides and FAQs • Produced and directed corporate explainer video and infographic series Structured compensation plan for channel partners, independent contractors and inside agents Highlights Included: • Secured $15M in Capital Funding • Closed first sale by utilizing a comprehensive product marketing strategy that encompassed content marketing, social selling and direct engagement efforts with senior executives • Grew vendor base from one to 15 vendors and 120+ products; increased site traffic 1,500% • Efforts lead to company raising both Seed and Series A funding

  • Global Account Manager, Enterprise Technology Co-Development

    2013 - 2015

    Responsibilities: • Led cross-functional technology co-development initiatives with other Fortune 500 companies across three continents • Initiated partnerships to deliver a robust enterprise product, accessory and solution ecosystem • Evaluated product portfolio gaps; investigated end-user issues; recommended new product development Highlights Included: • Oversaw end-to-end development of first-of-its-kind Intrinsically Safe tablet, across all major global markets: -- Met with senior executives at partner organizations to understand use case needs -- Recruited global end-user advisory panel to validate hypotheses and provide ethnographic feedback -- Managed relationships between product engineering teams and development partners to share confidential information • Product development efforts resulted in $30 million of mobile product and smart display B2B sales in 2014

  • Global Strategist, Project Leader

    2012 - 2013

    Internal strategy and management consulting practice for Samsung Electronics. • Led consulting project teams to introduce innovation and process improvement across Samsung Group • Worked on the ground with subsidiary business units in seven APAC, four European and U.S. markets

  • Partnerships & Strategy Intern

    2011 - 2011

    Partnership Evaluation & Analysis: • Developed models to help CNN evaluate content partnerships and negotiate favorable deal • Recommended strategic partnership restructuring Social Media Strategy Development: • Created social media strategy to increase audience engagement, grow social brand and drive traffic • Implemented strategy for the Entertainment section: grew social presence 16%, and surpassed two competitors in measurable social media impact • Initiated five traffic sharing arrangements with external partners

  • Intern

    2011 - 2011

    Interned for The Weinstein Company's International Acquisition & Distribution Office; During festival, The Weinstein Company acquired rights to "The Artist" and "The Iron Lady." In addition, the company sold the production rights to "Silver Linings Playbook."

  • Product Manager, Online Ad Operations

    2008 - 2010

    • Developed comprehensive advertising product strategy that aligned site’s user preferences, advertiser needs and content production capabilities; grew revenue 35%; site traffic 10% and newsletter subscribers 84% • Coordinated daily with major agencies to schedule ads across website and 11 newsletters • Reworked site tagging and zoning architecture to create new sellable products • Structured packaged ad buys across different products to maximize site utilization and increase revenue • Designed and implemented an electronic database to improve product-specific revenue tracking • Reduced accounts receivable nearly 50% • Changed contract management and ad scheduling systems; led to a leaner process with fewer errors • Created and presented reports to company executives on marketing and strategy efforts

  • Product Manager, New Media Channel Development

    2006 - 2008

    • Promoted to Product Manager - New Channel Development after only four months • Designed & implemented new media product strategy that leveraged existing production capabilities to launch new services • Managed end-to-end development of two new micro-sites and six new mailing lists • Managed part time employees and trained more than 20 to produce timely, engaging content • Designed new media strategy that re-purposed existing content onto new platforms • Coordinated daily efforts between engineering and production staffs to implement strategy • Initiated monthly reviews to synchronize efforts between management, sales and marketing

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