Whit Walker
SVP Product Management at Prime Focus Technologies
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