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Christian Kemsies

Director Product Operations

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (+01:00 UTC) German, Englishfrom Hamburg, Germany
Usually responds in 11 hour
Free
Price per hour
30 min60 min
Time Blocks Available
5.00
6 reviews / 10 sessions
Fri
23
Next availability

Bio

From running bare-metal servers in the data centre to building systems in the cloud, from being a technical resource in a project to running multi-million dollar projects, from building tech products to building teams that build tech products, from watching my Dad doing BBQs to throwing awesome BBQs as a Pit Master. I had the privilege of learning from the best and practicing my knowledge. So while my learning journey is still intense, I realized that every problem is ultimately a people problem. Therefore my focus is on building product teams and coaching product managers, so they can build awesome tech products customers love.

Expertise

  • Building a team

    In my last three positions, I was the first hire in that specific team or the first of my kind, so to speak, which gave me the opportunity to build the teams around me. All the teams have always been cross-functional, so not every team member reports to me, which requires leading without authority. I also jumped in and took over struggling teams and helped them get back on track so they could perform to their true potential.

  • Idea validation

    I'm a practitioner of Conscious Discovery with all my product teams, so being able to test hypotheses quickly is crucial to the momentum and success of the team. Especially during the pandemic when our main product was no longer sold, being able to test new ideas, reliable and cost-efficient, was a matter of survival.

  • Product analytics

    As a Product Manager myself, it is key for me to understand the product and the customers and the reasons for their behaviour so I can provide an experience tailored to their needs. Understanding a customer's motivation is as crucial as realising where they are struggling in using the product, and analytics can be a powerful tool in convincing others to move in the right direction.

  • Product management

    Before the organisation became my Product, I worked as a PM on multiple products ranging from platforms for payment and loyalty to a billion-dollar omnichannel flight booking experience. I was fortunate enough to not only learn from my own wins & fails doing Product Discover & Delivery but also to work directly with some of the smartest and best people in the industry going through all stages of the product lifecycle.

  • Venting frustration

    It has become a running gag in our organisation that I'm the Product Therapist because all I do is drink coffee and talk to people. Working for so long with a wide variety of people and mindsets required me to develop my own strategies to deal with my personal day-to-day frustration. By now, I probably had most of the problems myself, which helps me relate to most people coming to me to vent.

Toolkit

  • Jira logo

    Jira

    JIRA is one of those tools I need daily, and I have become the admin for all the digital teams, from easy project setup to complex workflows to automate the daily work of engineers and PM.

Industries

  • Travel Agency

    Managing a team of talented Product Managers for customer-enabling products for the region's leading Online Travel Agencies - Almosafer and Tajawal, part of Seera group (former Al Tayyar). Responsible for all products around Payment, Loyalty, and WhatsApp.

  • Payments

    Managing a team of talented Product Managers for customer-enabling products. - Integrated the Kuwait local payment method Knet driving 80% of the transactions in that market and therefore supporting Almosafer to become the biggest OTA in Kuwait. - Build an innovative transaction management system which reduced payment costs by 27%

Experience

  • MOIA

    Senior Product Manager (interim)

    Interim Senior PM in MOIA's Service Config & Setup team (Mobility Steering & Intelligence, part of Mobility as a Service); untangling the inner workings of the tool Stop Network Managers use to build the virtual stop networks that ride-pooling, line, and autonomous services depend on for pickup and drop-off. ● Mapped the end-to-end data flows behind the stop network [GPS coordinates to vehicle; stop names to rider app] to make a fast-moving, multi-market system legible to the teams building on top of it ● Setting up Oslo's incoming Stop Network Manager for success ahead of the Ruter/Holo autonomous shuttle rollout; the tool is new to him, so this is on-the-job training as much as initial market setup ● Helped evolve the Line service product post-MVP for the Beep/Lake Nona autonomous transit launch in Orlando ● Balancing early-stage PMF work in new markets against the demands MOIA's more mature markets place globally; Hamburg's established non-AD service among them

  • Christian Kemsies - Product Coaching & Consulting

    Independent Product & Systems Practitioner

    Partnering with scale-ups and product organizations to cut through chaos with context-first coaching and pragmatic product consulting. Blending 20+ years of hands-on product leadership with executive coaching to build stronger teams, sharper decisions, and healthier systems. ● Coached product leaders and emerging managers to gain clarity on priorities and overcome leadership challenges ● Conducted a product strategy health check, helping a team restructure their business around clear outcomes and customer value ● Guided a cross-functional team through product discovery and prototyping to validate new opportunities ● Completed a 12-month Executive Coaching certification (iPEC) and rebuilt feldstudie.com as a learning and experimentation platform Curiosity’s in the driver’s seat and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  • Almosafer

    Director Product Operations & Strategic Projects

    TL;DR - I PM the PM experience. The Product Organisation is an ecosystem of interconnected and interdependent networks. A network of people A network of goals and objectives A network of products & technologies A network of processes A network of qualitative and quantitive data I help to build, enable, optimize, and scale these sub-networks while improving the interconnectedness and interdependence of the larger ecosystem. I make sure the networks are engineered effectively and “greased” at the right places, create new connections where needed, and ensure the ecosystem is resilient to constant change, internal & external forces and is able to scale effectively.

  • Almosafer

    Director Digital Product Flights (interim)

    Managing a Product Team of 30+ Product Managers, Designers and Engineers, optimizing the billion-dollar B2B & B2C flagship product. • Building a five-year Product Strategy for the consumer product • Increased profit margin by 20% by directly integrating with airlines • Reduced decision time and increased transparency by introducing Analytics dashboard for Operation & Revenue teams

  • Seera Group

    Director Product Operations & Strategic Projects
    •seera.sa/en/

    Almosafer and tajawal are part of Seera Group

  • Almosafer

    Digital Product Lead - Cross Platform Enablers

    Managing three Product teams building the platform products for Payment & Risk, WhatsApp, and My Account & Loyalty. Key Achievements: - Launched a WhatsApp platform which handles over 2500 daily conversations and at the same time increasing customer satisfaction by 100% and tripling the customer care agent efficiency. - Integrated the Kuwait local payment method Knet driving 80% of the transactions in that market and therefore supporting Almosafer to become the biggest OTA in Kuwait. - Build an innovative transaction management system which reduced payment costs by 27% - Build a closed loop wallet system that reduced direct discount spend by 50%

  • Almosafer

    Technical Product Manager - Payment & Flights

    Managing the Flight & Payment product team for the region's leading Online Travel Agencies - Almosafer and tajawal (part of Seera Group). Teaching the agile mindset and handling day to day operations, by removing blockers and keeping the team focused. Key Achievements: • Implement VAT according to UAE law • Implement VAT according to KSA law • Implement and optimize internal IT processes (ITIL) • Implement 3D-Secure payment transaction • Implement mada (KSA Debit Cards) • Implement Pay in Installments

  • tesa SE

    Senior Technical Consultant & Project Manager

    • Project manager for IT Operation and Maintenance • Process Owner/Manager Change Management Process (ITIL) • Design & Implementation of IT System for pharmaceutical production including fulfilling GMP and FDA regulations • Process and task automation with PowerShell

  • tesa SE

    Senior Application Specialist

    • Responsible for all IT Applications • IT Solution Architect for file-, web-, terminal- and print services • Process Owner/Manager Change Management Process (ITIL) • Design & implementation of IT System for pharmaceutical production including fulfilling GMP and FDA regulations • “Problem Solver”, analyzing of IT problems and implementing solid and quick solutions • Supporting the EAM process as IT Operation Consultant

  • Mindfactory AG

    Head of IT

    • Re-Design of the Data Center & E-Commerce Platform • Implementing SEO processes • Team leader Infrastructure, Development & Graphics Design Team • Consulting the Marketing Department on SEO & Online Advertising

  • Beiersdorf Shared Services GmbH

    IT System Specialist for Server Systems

    • Design & Maintenance of all servers incl. OS in the two data centers • 2nd Level Support for file-, web-, and print services, incl. design & maintenance • Server Consolidation Project: Analyze the IT of an affiliate, consolidate & virtualize the local systems to new enterprise standard • Head Administrator of the virtual Data Center. Operations & evaluation of the VMware environment • Performance Analysis & Optimization of key business systems in the virtual environment

  • Beiersdorf

    Apprentice
    •Beiersdorf.com

    • Central Purchasing, Accounting, Human Resources • Networks & Systems Techniques, Incident Management & User Services • SAP Basis & Profiles, Global Client Server Services • Project: „Migration of affiliate intranet sites to the HQ web cluster“

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