Stefan Ruissen — Digital Product & Program Lead

Closing the gap between digital ambition and delivery.

Twenty+ years getting complex digital products and programs from strategy to delivery, for organisations like AkzoNobel, Utrecht University, Philips, NS and Danone.

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Understand before you change.

Every organisation is a complex system of people, processes, technology, constraints and competing priorities. Before deciding what needs to change, I focus on understanding how the system actually works.

Reading the system

The first weeks in an organisation are the most valuable you'll ever have there. With fresh eyes you see the workarounds, assumptions and disconnects that others no longer notice. Before committing to a direction, I take a fast but complete read of the organisation, the product and the wider environment.

This means understanding:

Vision & strategy Where the company is headed, and how the product and business strategy ladder up to it.
Metrics & outcomes The metrics in place, how they drive decisions, and whether they track what actually matters.
People & decision making The org structure, team setup and the individuals in it, and how decisions really get made.
Market & competition The competition, market developments and best practices, and where the real openings are.
Product & delivery The product end to end: from strategy and current state to content, and the delivery aspects like budget and planning.
Technology & architecture What technology and architecture are in place or being developed, and what the requirements are.
Brand, compliance & constraints The brand identity, compliance and the other constraints the work has to live within.

Background

My route into digital product management started at the Dutch Film and Television Academy. Not the most obvious path, but a formative one. Film trains you to think from the audience out, to hold a complex production together across very different disciplines, and to close the gap between what was promised and what actually gets made.

What I do

Product Management

Full lifecycle ownership from discovery and strategy through roadmap, prototyping and delivery.

Program Management

Governance, cross-functional agile teams, budgets, planning, third parties and stakeholders.

Digital Transformation

Digital maturity assessment, strategy definition, organisational setup, tooling and team coaching.

Organisations I've worked with

NS/ Philips/ AkzoNobel/ Danone/ BME Group/ Utrecht University/ Lab Digital

What people say

"He has great experience and deep knowledge of customer-centric products. He wasn't afraid to challenge and really helped to deliver more value. His relationship skills were also excellent."

Joel

Product Manager, BME Group

"Stefan was the perfect mix needed in terms of digital, technical, design and business skills. I particularly appreciated his way of managing the many stakeholders and their respective conflicting objectives."

Yannick

Global Head Digital & Social Media, AkzoNobel

"You've got a real talent to elucidate complex challenges and keep the overview without missing any detail. It has been a pleasure working with you."

Silvana

UX Lead