Interim Product Leader and PM Coach for a Head of Product Parental Leave Cover (12 months) in Platform Teams

The Client: AVIV Group

Aviv Group is one of the world’s largest digital real estate tech companies, headquartered in Berlin, Germany.

The company operates a portfolio of digital real estate marketplaces and brands across Europe, providing a wide range of services to help connect buyers and sellers and make the process of buying, selling, and renting properties as easy as possible. The brands constituting Aviv Group’s family are Meilleurs Agents, Group Seloger (🇫🇷), Immoweb, Immowelt (🇧🇪),  Housell (🇪🇸), and Yad2 (🇮🇱).

In addition to its core operations, AVIV is also a leading investor in innovative real estate tech companies such as 🇬🇧 PurpleBricks, 🇩🇪 Homeday, 🇺🇸 Zumper, and 🇺🇸 Parcel.

The company’s ambition is to become the leading employer in prop-tech in Europe, shaping the industry's future through new business models by providing funding, resources, and expertise to these companies.

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The Mission: Interim Head of Product

In 2023, Ranga Natarajan, VP of product for the Platform Experience Domain Aviv approached Product People because one of his Heads of Product was going on maternity leave during the next months.

His goals were:

• Develop the newly formed Tooling Sub-Domain further
• Maintain and develop good talent within the teams
• Hire two more Senior Product Managers
• Start two new teams that will take care of Payment Services and CMS capability with the AVIV landscape
• Resolve cross-functional and cross-team conflicts and enable teams to act fast and efficiently

Upon arrival, the Head of Product was on her way to go on maternity leave, but was able to hand over enough context to get us started.

The Tooling sub-domain is part of the Platform Experience Domain, which is part of P&T (Product and Tech). We started leading 2 teams - Actor Communications Tool (ACT) and Back Office (BO).

Actor Communications Tool:

• Their mission is to build a unified Marketing Platform for all actors and to improve customer experience by constructing an ultra-personalized relationship in each interaction.
• The marketing platform must have features that go beyond using the customer's name in an email. It should customize the entire customer experience based on each individual's user behavior, including a seamless experience across all channels (website, mobile, social media, etc.), and individualized journeys and product recommendations. The platform should rely on a data platform to track and mobilize customer data. These features will help achieve ultra-personalized relationships with customers.
• We joined in the middle of the RFP process for the vendor and timely provided our feedback and did vendor scoring.

Back Office:

• Their mission is to provide one tool for internal users to administrate and support clients’ requests and client satisfaction.
• Today, they are faced with multiple tools per brand. Each brand has had its legacy approach to implementing back-office solutions. Implementation might be different per domain (B2B, B2C, etc.).
• We joined and supported the junior team immediately hands-on by providing a strategy paper for the leadership team and helping them balance managing legacy systems while working on the future white label capability.

One of the first things we had to deal with was:

1. Hiring
   1. Two of the teams were missing a PM, so we jumped right in and started doing 1:1 candidate interviews and proposed our decision, which resulted
   2. Created a Hiring Process document that encapsulated Internal Hiring and External Contractors

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Our Main Quest: Perform on the White Label Capability Launch Strategy

The Platform Experience domain contributed strongly to OKR 4.1, “25 of our common platform capabilities live take significant traffic”.

Launch: Onboarded Very Fast

We had effectively two weeks of handover to learn about the context and people, including key stakeholders. Right away we took ownership as a Product Leader and supported our Champion Ranga in various workstreams and discussions as well as leading the assigned direct reports.

First Deliverables and Results

1. Strategic one-pager about the Back Office
2. Provided our feedback and guidance on the vendor scoring for the new marketing automation tool
3. Reviewed and interviewed candidates for the Senior Product Management positions for the Back Office and Payment Services teams
4. Mapped and built relationships with key stakeholders
5. Set regular check-ins with peers within the Platform Experience domain

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Explore and Conquer: Solving for the Client

People Manager - Set up the four teams for success, lead, and empower

As a People Manager, Alex undertook the responsibility of ensuring the success of four distinct teams through effective leadership and empowerment strategies. Overseeing a team of five Product Managers ranging from Junior to Lead Level, he played a pivotal role in developing comprehensive career paths for each team member. This involved a meticulous approach, wherein he assessed and scored the competencies and behaviors of his direct reports, subsequently formulating individualized development plans to nurture their professional growth.

Collaboration with HR was integral to the execution of compensation adjustments and bonus payouts for the team, reflecting the commitment to fostering a positive and rewarding work environment. Beyond managing the existing team, he took the initiative to expand the talent pool by hiring two Senior Product Managers for the Back Office and Payment Services Teams. This strategic recruitment not only added valuable expertise but also contributed to the overall enhancement of team capabilities.

One of the significant achievements during the tenure was the establishment of two new teams, namely Payment Services and CMS, built from the ground up. He provided a clear Vision and Mission for each team, laying the foundation for their success. This involved careful planning and coordination to ensure that the teams were not only functional but also aligned with the broader organizational objectives.

In addition to team development, he played a key role in advising a Lead Product Manager and his team during the Request for Proposal (RFP) process for a new Marketing Automation Tool.

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Product Leader - Delivering Business Success

In Alex’s capacity as a strategic contributor, he played a pivotal role in crafting numerous briefing papers tailored for senior management. These documents aimed to provide comprehensive insights and strategic perspectives, facilitating informed decision-making at the executive level. As part of this strategic focus, he actively engaged with key stakeholders, including B2C and B2B representatives and legal, and Procurement teams, to collectively select a new marketing automation tool vendor. This collaborative decision-making process ensured alignment with diverse business perspectives and compliance requirements.

In addition to vendor management, he assumed the responsibility of overseeing communication with third-party collaborators involved in various initiatives. This involved effective coordination, negotiation, and conflict resolution to ensure seamless collaboration and successful project outcomes. Regular reporting became a cornerstone of the approach, as Alex bi-weekly presented the team's progress, identified blockers, and addressed friction points to the Platform Experience leadership. Alex’s role extended beyond reporting, as he actively led conflict resolution initiatives, fostering a cohesive and productive working environment.

Strategic planning and initiative development were integral components of Alex’s responsibilities. He significantly contributed to three-cycle planning by proposing and developing new initiatives. This process entailed rigorous prioritization, alignment with dependent teams, and obtaining approval from senior leadership, showcasing his ability to drive impactful projects from conception to execution.

An additional aspect of his role involved the review of several Product Requirement Documents (PRDs), ensuring the alignment of proposed features with strategic objectives and providing valuable insights into the feasibility and impact of proposed initiatives. Recognizing the importance of talent acquisition, he supported Sub-Domain leaders in their hiring efforts by reviewing and actively participating in candidate interviews.

Moreover, Alex’s commitment to knowledge sharing and talent development extended to creating onboarding documentation for new hires within the Tooling Sub-Domain. He shared insights into the Product People Hiring strategy in an educational deep-dive session with Senior Product Leaders at AVIV.

To further enhance the team's capabilities, he organized and conducted multiple Product Management workshops focused on improving Product Discovery and Stakeholder Management expertise.

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Mission Achievements: Delivered Outcomes

💡 Team Development and Expansion: we successfully set up and led four distinct teams, including the establishment of two new teams (Payment Services and CMS). We also developed a comprehensive career paths for team members through competency assessments and individualized development plans, and expanded the talent pool by hiring two Senior Product Managers, contributing to the overall enhancement of team capabilities.

💡 Strategic Contribution to Business Success: we crafted numerous briefing papers for senior management, providing comprehensive insights and strategic perspectives. We actively engaged with key stakeholders to select a new marketing automation tool vendor, ensuring alignment with diverse business perspectives and compliance requirements, and led strategic planning and initiative development, significantly contributing to three-cycle planning and driving impactful projects from conception to execution.

💡 Effective Communication and Collaboration: we established effective communication channels with third-party collaborators, involving coordination, negotiation, and conflict resolution for successful project outcomes. We also implemented regular reporting and led conflict resolution initiatives, fostering a cohesive and productive working environment and demonstrated commitment to knowledge sharing and talent development through creating onboarding documentation, educational deep-dive sessions, and Product Management workshops.