Slovenia

Technical Product Management

Back-end

Sasha Komkov

Technology Executive

Critical-thinking

Empathy

Organisation skills

Python

Understanding factors that lead to a motivated team - recognition, communication and more.

Keeping team members motivated

Understand the process of training, motivating and directing your team members.

Managing people

Learn the tips to successfully manage a team in a remote environment.

Managing a remote team

How to identify star candidates, evaluate technical ability, and close hires

Hiring software engineers

Making remote and globally distributed teams work for you and your needs.

Working remotely

Tips on how to work and collaborate with engineers and developers.

Working with engineers

In this position, I embarked on a transformative journey to drive excellence within our organization. With unwavering dedication, I crafted and executed a comprehensive QA process, a testament to my commitment to upholding the highest standards of product quality and reliability. As a true advocate for talent, I scouted and recruited a diverse team of professionals, including developers, QA, technical writers, SREs, project managers, and other invaluable roles. In the pursuit of innovation, I boldly introduced end-to-end and integration tests, fortifying our product's reliability and robustness. With a shared vision of excellence, I nurtured a culture of collaboration and code quality through the implementation of a robust code review process.

Key Accomplishments: 
— Successfully shifted from reliance on an outsourcing team to the establishment of a robust in-house engineering department, leading a substantial team size expansion from a solitary group of 7 individuals to four dynamic teams, collectively comprising 28 highly skilled professionals.
— Spearheaded the inception of an SDLC process, introducing Scrum methodologies, which yielded a remarkable reduction in the release cycle duration, consistently maintaining a 2-week timeframe instead of the previous 4-6 weeks.
— Streamlined the CI/CD process, converting what used to be 4 days of manual engineering work into a highly efficient 1-hour GitLab pipeline, leading to improved overall efficiency and productivity.
— Completed four major company projects, each extending over a minimum of three months, thereby underscoring my unwavering dedication and well-honed project management skills.
— Engineered an effective system for managing Customer Support requests, ensuring prompt and efficient issue resolution.
— Achieved significant cost savings by halving AWS expenses, demonstrating a keen financial acumen.
— Demonstrated full compliance with GDPR and SOC2 regulations.

As a technical professional, I've meticulously fine-tuned our system for both modularity and scalability, achieving this by seamlessly weaving micro-services together with Flask. Our product's backend architecture, on the other hand, is a masterpiece of engineering, meticulously crafted with the robust tools of Django Rest Framework, Django-Channels, PostgreSQL, ASGI, Redis, RabbitMQ, and Celery. This technological symphony has not only allowed the system's performance but also laid the foundation for a highly responsive and efficient operation.

Key Accomplishments: 
— Employed a machine learning-driven user scoring system by utilizing a Natural Language Processing toolkit, enhancing user engagement and personalization.
— Established a continuous delivery process using Docker and Kubernetes on AWS, enabling swift and dependable system deployment.

In this role, I hired an exceptional, cross-functional team, comprising talented developers, creative designers, meticulous QA engineers, and resilient SRE engineers, all driven by a common goal of delivering bottom-line results. I executed daily software development processes, ensuring a seamless flow of work and rapid resolution of production hiccups during sprints. I crafted our product infrastructure with ingenuity, which stands on the pillars of AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, Django, Flask, and React. I also gained a deep understanding of our users, scrutinizing their preferences, requests, and behaviors through in-depth interviews and a sophisticated toolkit featuring the likes of Mixpanel, Looker, and FullStory. This invaluable insight became the compass for refining our product. We meticulously honed our development efforts, placing end-user value at the forefront, refining our backlog, crafting user stories, and setting crystal-clear acceptance criteria. 

Key Accomplishments: 
— Ensured complete adherence to stringent security regulations to prepare the company for SOC-2 certification.
— Enhanced team productivity and cohesion by effectively overseeing both development and SRE teams, which included conducting code reviews, one-on-one sessions, retrospectives, and tech meetups.
— Improved productivity, teamwork, and operational efficiency by defining and modifying crucial policies for internal systems and human resources, such as the remote teamwork playbook and infrastructure guidelines.
— Aligned development efforts closely with user needs to optimize the product's relevance and user satisfaction by incorporating valuable feature requests into the product roadmap.
— Increased project transparency and knowledge sharing by creating and updating internal project documentation.

As a co-founder, I've been at the forefront of pioneering a wide range of projects, from their very inception. I've taken the lead in shaping our vision by spearheading the prototyping process and leveraging the cutting-edge technologies of Docker, Python, JavaScript, and Go. This dynamic approach has been instrumental in bringing innovative solutions to life.

Key Accomplishments:  
— Spearheaded customer interview initiatives, extracting valuable insights and facilitating data-driven decision-making to align with market demands.
— Developed smart contracts on cutting-edge blockchain platforms, including Hyperledger Fabric with IBM and Ethereum, elevating the organization's capacity in secure and decentralized applications.

While working as Principal Solution Architect and Data Scientist, I've championed the creation of cutting-edge architecture and products that are powered by modern and highly effective technologies such as Django, PostgreSQL, and ElasticSearch. This forward-thinking approach has not only kept us ahead of the competition but also ensured that we consistently meet and even exceed the ever-evolving industry standards. 
 
Key Accomplishments:
— Discovered and leveraged valuable insights and trends by conducting a thorough analysis of Twitter data using Python and R Language, utilizing advanced Natural Language Processing tools, such as numpy and sci-py.
— Provided insights into user behaviors and preferences by formulating and outlining intricate behavioral models.

I was instrumental in conceiving and crafting the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Utilizing a skillful combination of Django, PostgreSQL, Python Fabric, and RabbitMQ, we showcased the initial functionality and immense potential of our offering. In parallel, I took the initiative to organize crucial client meetings, fostering open discussions about product development and aligning with client expectations. By actively engaging with our clients, we ensured that their needs were at the heart of our strategy. Furthermore, I actively sought out strategic partnerships and identified promising business opportunities by tapping into various markets and customer segments. This comprehensive approach expanded our horizons and positioned us for growth and success. 

Key Accomplishments:
— Led the groundbreaking integration of Samsung Wallet in Russia, enhancing the product's capabilities and bolstering its competitive edge.
— Obtained one of the inaugural contracts with MasterCard to implement PayPass, demonstrating robust industry collaborations and fostering product expansion.
— Directed the progress of Android development by supervising the development and improvement of the Android application.

As Lead Developer, I played a significant role in shaping the architecture and user interface solutions for a high-load billing and SMS delivery service, which went on to become a cornerstone for one of Russia's foremost Value-Added Service (VAS) providers. Through the strategic deployment of Python, Twisted, MongoDB, MySQL, Python Fabric, and RabbitMQ, I was able to achieve project objectives. As a result, introduced a robust, high-performance system that consistently met the needs of both our clients and our business goals.

Key Accomplishments: 
— Executed a strategic initiative to prepare the company for PCI DSS compliance, reinforcing data security and regulatory adherence to protect sensitive customer data effectively.
— Participated in interviewing and mentoring junior developers, fostering the growth of the team, enhancing their knowledge, and elevating their expertise.

Sasha Komkov🇸🇮

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