Kicking down barriers as a Technical Product Manager with over 7 years of experience, I've led cross-functional teams to not just develop and launch, but supercharge scalable platforms that empower enterprises and developers to achieve more. My passion lies in creating developer experiences that don’t just work but transform—driving productivity through the roof, slashing time-to-market, and elevating code quality with a side effect of boosting team morale. I’m a master at turning pain points into streamlined workflows using visual collaboration tools, simplifying the complex, and delivering solutions that make a real impact.n my previous roles, I spearheaded product-centric teams dedicated to elevating the developer platform experience, managing tools like GitLab, GitHub, Nexus, Jira, Confluence, Backstage, and OpenShift. I drove impactful initiatives by leading scrum events, OGSM sessions, and product design and roadmapping, always keeping developers and stakeholders at the core to ensure their needs and pain points were front and center. I'm equipped with a suite of certifications—Pragmatic Certified Product Manager (PCPM), Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Pragmatic Marketing (PMC lvl I-III)—and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, blending strategic thinking with a deep technical foundation.
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Product ManagerCollibra Nov 2022 - Jun 2024New York, New York, UsResponsible for shaping the CI/CD strategy and driving technological and process advancements to reduce developer toil and streamline business operations.- Spearheaded the use of Backstage as a release management portal for the Edge product, achieving a shift from quarterly to weekly releases.- Utilized Miro to map the customer journey, pinpoint pain points, and drive meaningful product enhancements.- Led and facilitated retrospectives to foster continuous improvement and team growth.- Integrated CVE management tools into the development pipeline, improving vulnerability resolution speed by 30% and reducing developer overhead by 50%.- Created a vision and roadmap to evolve the CICD team from reactive to proactive, boosting efficiency and effectiveness.- Conducted in-depth analysis of team processes to identify inefficiencies, streamline workflows, and enhance both productivity and team satisfaction.- Implemented a data security plan that decreased artifact storage by 90% and generated $140,000 in annual savings. -
Product Manager 2Kohl'S Apr 2022 - Nov 2022Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, UsOwned the developer experience vision and roadmap for the Core Platform organization, driving the adoption of new technologies and process improvements to eliminate developer toil.- Led a cross-functional team to implement Backstage as our developer portal- Designed and conducted user interviews- Crafted OBRs, growth boards, roadmaps, and product visions- Communicated with leaders and peers the vision and status updates- Prioritized problems using a 2x2 matrix- Designed and facilitated product lunch & learn sessions- Developed quick start guides, how-tos, and feature overviews to streamline and accelerate developer onboarding and engagement -
Product ManagerKohl'S Jan 2021 - Apr 2022Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, UsLed the PaaS and CI/CD roadmaps for the Core Platform organization, optimizing the OpenShift, GitLab, GitHub, Nexus, Jenkins, Jira, and Confluence offerings for internal users.- Managed the backlog for two product groups- Led and facilitated all Scrum events, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives- Organized and executed the transition from GitHub to GitLab, overseeing the successful migration of 13,000 repositories and onboarding 2,000 users to the new platform- Integrated OpenShift's Cost Management for cloud cost reporting -
Product OwnerKohl'S Apr 2018 - Jan 2021Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, UsOwned the CI/CD roadmap for the Core Platform organization, driving the adoption and standardization of CI/CD pipelines to eliminate code, compute, and process redundancy.- Led a cross-functional and distributed team of DevOps and Software Engineers to create a modular Jenkinsfile Shared Library- Created and prioritized deliverables in the backlog- Led and facilitated all Scrum events, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives- Collaborated with developers to gather functional requirements and extend the Shared Library- Integrated enhanced security scanning into the Shared Library- Streamlined the intake process for feature and enhancement requests- Developed quick start guides, how-tos, and feature overviews to streamline and accelerate developer - onboarding and engagement -
Associate System EngineerKohl'S Jan 2016 - Apr 2018Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, UsContributed to the CI/CD team by enhancing the centralized JobDSL pipeline and laying the groundwork for the cloud migration initiative through improved CI/CD processes and standards.- Implemented Checkmarx and SonarQube code scanning within the CI/CD process- Served as the subject matter expert for Splunk within the Core Platform organization- Facilitated all Scrum events, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives- Developed quick start guides, how-tos, and feature overviews to streamline and accelerate developer onboarding and engagementManaged the Kronos application and labor management systems- Consulted on HR and labor management development projects to ensure alignment with operational agreements- Drove incident resolution and implementing proactive prevention measures -
Associate Software EngineerKohl'S Jun 2015 - Dec 2015Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, UsTeam member for two product groups as part of an onboarding program to gain broader company and area knowledge:- Optimized Oracle SQL queries for IBM's Sterling Order Management system- Developed interactive Splunk heatmaps to visually represent order load balancing data- Created customized Splunk dashboards for the point-of-sale support team to monitor and track hardware issues across the store fleet- Standardized test cases into templates, enhancing data visibility for testers -
Programmer Analysis InternKohl'S Department Stores May 2014 - Aug 2014Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, UsIntern for the Stores Services team, focused on enhancing support visibility into Kronos:- Developed advanced Splunk dashboards and alerts for the Kronos system- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to gather input and refine dashboard design features- Enhanced search queries using advanced optimization techniques
William Simmons Education Details
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University Of Wisconsin-PlattevilleComputer Science
Frequently Asked Questions about William Simmons
What is William Simmons's role at the current company?
William Simmons's current role is Product Manager | Specializing in Developer Experience & Core Platforms | Passionate about creating seamless user journeys.
What schools did William Simmons attend?
William Simmons attended University Of Wisconsin-Platteville.
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