Technical Program & Product Manager
Helping shape product strategy, prioritizing what matters for users and the business, bridging the gap between product and engineering, and seeing it through to delivery.
My career started in a small startup in Tirana, knowing little about programming. That hands-on engineering foundation — growing from Software Developer to Team Lead to Regional Engineering Manager at Teleperformance over six years — gave me a deep understanding of how products are built, which now shapes how I define what to build and why.
At Ritech International AG, I took on product responsibilities for PayByPhone and CVP, working closely with business stakeholders and end users to understand their needs, help prioritize features, and contribute to trade-off decisions. When the PayByPhone Backoffice rewrite launched with no official PM, I stepped in to cover much of that gap — mapping the existing product, identifying improvement opportunities, collaborating with designers on UI/UX, and helping shape the roadmap. Alongside the product work, I run the program and delivery side too — planning cadence, release governance, and coordinating a distributed team across four countries.
I bring a user-first mindset to every decision. Whether it's helping automate manual workflows for internal teams, helping prioritize client-facing features based on business value, or resolving product queries from developers, I always start by putting myself in the shoes of the people who use the product every day.
When the PayByPhone Backoffice rewrite launched with no requirements and no official product manager, I stepped in to cover much of the product work. I ran in-depth discovery with sales and operations teams to surface their workflows, client needs, and pain points, and reverse-engineered the existing backoffice to understand what was already there. I helped turn that into documented requirements, designs, and features — collaborating with designers on UI/UX, validating and iterating with stakeholders, and helping prioritize what to build first so early releases delivered immediate value.
Ritech International AG · PayByPhone BackofficeWorked closely with business stakeholders to understand PayByPhone client and customer needs, then helped decide which features to build first to match those needs. Also focused on what internal teams needed most based on their day-to-day workflows — reducing manual workload by introducing automation, bulk operations, and AI-powered features.
Ritech International AG · Corpay / PayByPhoneOn CVP, the product manager explicitly delegated feature decisions to me for the mobile app — including prioritization, resolving developer queries that required PM judgement, and aligning technical feasibility with user needs. Consistently put myself in the shoes of end users to help guide product decisions across both CVP and PayByPhone.
Ritech International AG · CVPWith a hands-on engineering background across software development, cloud infrastructure, and system architecture, I bridge the gap between product vision and technical execution. I speak both languages — from defining what to build with stakeholders to understanding how it gets built with engineers.
Teleperformance & Ritech International AGManaged a 20-person cross-functional team across 4 countries, partnering with client leadership and internal executives to define priorities, mitigate risks, and ensure product releases aligned with business goals. Built trust through transparent communication and adapted leadership to individual team needs.
Ritech International AG · Corpay / PayByPhoneExtensively leverage AI to move faster and make better decisions — built and hosted a live project dashboard for stakeholder visibility, manage Jira and Confluence through AI-powered MCP integrations, and use AI daily for data analysis, feature ideation, meeting summaries, and synthesizing stakeholder feedback across Slack threads and documents.
Ritech International AG · Corpay / PayByPhoneEsmeralda was an exceptional Technical Project Manager who played a critical role in the success of delivering a new project in Corpay. Managing two development teams simultaneously, she consistently demonstrated strong leadership, clear communication, and an unwavering commitment to delivery. She worked closely with me to align on priorities and objectives, ensuring the teams were always focused on what mattered most, and translated those priorities effectively to the development teams, driving clarity and execution at every stage. She was also not afraid to challenge assumptions, providing thoughtful pushback when expectations were unrealistic. Her combination of strategic thinking, hands-on management, and ability to lead teams made her truly invaluable. I would highly recommend her to any organization looking for a strong and effective Technical Project Manager or Product Manager.
I worked alongside Esmeralda to deliver a challenging project for PayByPhone. Esmeralda was pivotal in organising a large team of engineers and testers to ensure a high level of quality whilst meeting tight deadlines. Esmeralda has great communication skills and is always passionate. It was a pleasure working together.
Her strategic vision, technical expertise and ability to inspire have consistently led to successful project deliverables. She streamlines SDLC workflows and enhances product management practices to foster greater efficiency and innovation. She's really a valuable asset to any organisation.
From initial brainstorming sessions with a small team, the ideas transformed into solutions that became mandatory standards adopted globally by over 80 countries. You get a smart, friendly and trustworthy partner that will deliver a solid, intelligent and scalable product.
