Sofia Lazaro

Product Manager

Irvine, CA, US

Prioritization

E-commerce

User Research

Product Marketing

E-Commerce

Process Optimization

Training

Content marketing

Agile

SEO

Go-to-market Strategy

Team Management

Usability Testing

Scoping

Scrum Method

Product Management

Optimization

Analytics

Coaching

Customer Service

Communication

Customer relationship management (CRM)

Documentation

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Key Performance Indicators

Architecture

Available for hire fromNegotiable

Fractional Product Leader | I help subject-matter experts turn deep domain knowledge into a shippable MVP

I've spent my career turning messy, half-formed ideas into products people actually use. From launching a startup's first self-serve product with zero marketing budget, to building the system a $10M+ team used to decide what to build next, I thrive in converting ambiguity to requirements engineers and AI agents can ship. I love the 0-to-1 stage most: the moment a founder has real conviction in their problem but needs help turning it into something a team can actually build. I work especially well with technical founders who want to stay heads-down on the build, and with industry experts who understand their problem better than anyone but have never built software before.

Projects

0-to-1 Commercialization: Zero-Budget Growth for an R&D-to-Consumer AR Product

Led commercialization of an R&D-derived augmented reality (AR) product into a self-serve consumer channel with no prior playbook and $0 paid marketing budget. Defined the success metrics from scratch (downloads, activation), rewrote store-page messaging, and redesigned onboarding to cut drop-off driving 100+ downloads in 45 days purely through product-experience iteration. Proved out a new commercial channel alongside the company's existing federal/enterprise contract business.See More

Translating Domain Expertise into a High-Conversion Digital Tool: Home Depot Countertop Configurator

Owned the online countertop configuration experience from requirements through launch, partnering with merchandising and category domain experts — not technical stakeholders — to translate deep product knowledge into a build-ready flow. Combined behavioral data (Mixpanel) with voice-of-customer research (Qualtrics) to reduce friction, driving a 10% lift in measurement-appointment bookings versus the prior tool.See More

Work History

Fractional Head of Product, New Products

DAUNTLESS XR▪ Owned the end-to-end product lifecycle at a startup, from ideation to launch resulting in the successful completion of 5+ XR software development projects across 3 Federal agencies. Executed all key activities including user research, requirements gathering, user story writing, backlog management, prioritization, user testing and go to market launch. ▪ Led the commercial adaptation of two products developed partially under Federal R&D for commercial release, resulting in 100+ Quest app downloads within the first 45 days of launch with no paid marketing budget. ▪ Collaborated directly with the CEO and CTO to develop and refine the product vision, established clear key performance metrics and continuously refined the engineering backlog for both the defense and commercial use cases. ▪ Partnered with engineering, design, business and government stakeholders to define and create product roadmaps and prioritize the development backlog to meet the product vision on time and on budget with the expected ROI. ▪ Facilitated regular product review sessions with leadership and government stakeholders to track progress, address challenges, gather feedback on designs and upcoming releases and adjust prioritization as needed. ▪ Executed strategic product marketing activities, including authoring LinkedIn articles, website blogs and eBooks related to the company’s technology resulted in an increase in organic website traffic by +11% YOY.

Senior Manager, Online Product Management

Home DepotMay 2022 - Nov 2022 • 7 mos▪ Scaled cross functional feature intake processes (developed in prior role) to take 100+ ideas from various internal teams and stakeholders, developed them into 30 themed feature sets, and partnered with product and analytics to determine potential ROI. Led finance, UX and engineering to develop business cases and prioritize asks for SPP based on feasibility and overall ROI to the business. ▪ Accountable for the use of 10M+ annually in capital investment for the development of innovative product solutions for the HD Home division, driving key initiatives in eCommerce, merchandising, and customer experience. ▪ Supported the creation of an internal product marketing team, developing templates and communication cadences from the online technology group to merchandising stakeholders to improve transparency. Collaboration resulted in creation of a regular feature release communication channel via email and quarterly demos.

Senior Manager Category Management, Site Experience

Home DepotMay 2021 - May 2022 • 1 yr 1 mo▪ Executed the creation of a new organizational team with 3 managers and 15 senior analysts within HomeDepot.com to act as partners to the merchandising organization and intake priorities for operational software projects. ▪ Led engagement with senior directors and VPs within online merchandising, product management and engineering to develop and pilot internal intake process designed to collect and distill development requests from online merchandising for the product management and engineering organizations.

Manager Category Experience and Product, Specialty Products

Global Custom Commerce (A Home Depot Company)Jun 2019 - May 2021 • 2 yrs▪ Coached and managed a high performing team of 5 product managers to ensure responsible spend on capital dollars (~10M across teams) allocated to online and store configurable product shopping experience development. ▪ Collaborated with cross functional design and engineering managers to ensure consistency in architecture decision making and design where necessary, developing documentation and regular communication channels to individual scrum teams to cut meetings while maintaining development standards and a consistent customer experience. ▪ Leveraged macro data-driven insights and customer feedback to provide direction on the prioritization of product features for projects led by direct reports.

Product Manager, Specialty Products

Global Custom Commerce (A Home Depot Company)Jul 2018 - Jun 2019 • 1 yr• Managed 2 associate product managers to provide training in product management skills (such as requirements gathering, user story writing, scrum ceremonies, backlog management and prioritization) and coached both individuals to their promotion to Product Managers. • Served as product manager multiple on mobile, app and web software products from ideation to MVP launch to that spanned stores, e-comm and internal workforce applications. • Acted as product manager for the development of Home Depot’s online custom countertop configurator, enabling customers to quote their kitchen countertops online. Resulting software showed 10% increase in measurement appointment booking over prior estimate tool. • Managed the development and launch of an internal workforce application to optimize the sales quoting process, achieving a 90%+ adoption rate within the internal sales team and reducing quote generation time by 40-60%. • Conducted an in-depth technical and scope assessment, leading to the cancellation of a previously funded project due to its projected budget overrun and inability to deliver a profitable MVP. • Drove the requirements gathering, backlog management and development and rollout of a mobile, app and web solution for problem-based shopping, improving the customer experience in high-assortment aisles (e.g., pest control) which resulted in improved conversion rates by ~4% compared to typical browsing.

Associate Product Manager- Specialty Products

Global Custom Commerce (A Home Depot Company)Aug 2017 - Jul 2018 • 1 yr• Supported and shadowed a senior product manager to gain comprehensive knowledge of product development processes, initially responsible for writing user stories and prioritizing tickets to support development team operations. • Achieved PSPO 1 Scrum certification within the first year, demonstrating proficiency in agile methodologies and applying them to deliver working software. • Led a go-to-market project requiring the development of a new product page type for the online launch of a new line of customizable door locks. While owning the creation and prioritization of the product backlog, collaboration with developers and designers led to the creation of a user-friendly configuration page, enabling customers to easily navigate and select from hundreds of custom options. The new product line achieved its key sales benchmarks from merchandising for 90-day post-launch period.

Customer Service Operations Manager

Home Depot (Company not explicitly stated in role text)Jun 2016 - Aug 2017 • 1 yr 3 mos• Led a team of 14 agents responsible for vendor relationship management, order processing support, and escalated customer issue resolution, ensuring high-quality service delivery across multiple touchpoints. • Drove a improvement in employee engagement, elevating team scores from the lowest to the highest tier within the organization through targeted coaching, recognition programs, and standardized performance expectations. • Executed process optimization initiatives by introducing improved technology and streamlined workflows, resulting in a 20% increase in team capacity for customer interactions while maintaining consistent quality scores. • Reduced team headcount by 30% without sacrificing service quality, implementing efficient resource allocation and cross training across customer interaction types.

Customer Service Associate

Home Depot (Company not explicitly stated in role text)Mar 2015 - Jun 2016 • 1 yr 4 mos• Assisted customers with product inquiries, troubleshooting, and order management, ensuring personalized solutions for custom orders while maintaining a quality and volume score within the top 20% of the department. • Selected to participate in pilot programs for the rollout of new customer service policies, providing valuable feedback and insights to improve processes.

Education

Georgia Institute of Technology

Bachelor of Science, International Affairs and Modern LanguagesAug 2010 - May 2013

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