Gabriel Kolawole

Orchestrated the agile delivery of the next-generation Mobile Money Consumer App, coordinating complex initiatives across distributed global teams to expand market reach and enhance user experience for millions.

• Facilitated the successful release of the next-generation Mobile Money Consumer App into 4 new markets within the first 18 months, with two additional markets currently in development, significantly expanding MTN's digital financial services footprint.
• Supported and coordinated over 5 distributed agile teams and key stakeholders working on the Consumer Mobile Money Application across 6 countries and 3 continents in parallel, ensuring seamless cross-functional collaboration and strategic alignment.
• Drove continuous improvement initiatives within agile teams, leveraging advanced Scrum and SAFe practices to optimize workflows and accelerate time-to-market for critical features.
• Implemented robust communication frameworks to manage complex dependencies and facilitate strategic alignment among diverse international stakeholders, ensuring unified project execution.

Directed end-to-end project lifecycle for a critical fintech middleware solution, ensuring robust integration and strategic alignment for a rapidly growing credit tech startup.

• Led the full project lifecycle for a complex fintech middleware solution, achieving timely delivery and seamless integration with multiple third-party platforms, directly enabling a credit tech startup's core service offering.
• Managed comprehensive stakeholder communication, effectively aligning internal development teams, solutions architects, business analysts, and external partners to ensure cohesive strategic execution and problem resolution.
• Implemented structured project governance processes, enhancing transparency and accountability across all project phases from conception to post-launch support.
• Mitigated project risks through proactive identification and resolution, ensuring minimal disruption and maintaining project timelines within a dynamic startup environment.

Championed Agile transformation and operational excellence, significantly enhancing development team maturity and value delivery for a dynamic financial services organization.

• Facilitated the successful implementation of agile procedures, elevating the agile maturity of the development team and fostering a culture of continuous improvement within the organization.
• Coached and mentored development teams to improve value delivery by an average of 25% through consistent impediment removal and strategic process optimization.
• Enhanced overall team productivity and collaboration by effectively facilitating all agile ceremonies, promoting transparency, and driving accountability.
• Drove initiatives to streamline business operations, identifying bottlenecks and implementing solutions that improved efficiency and supported scalable growth.

Oversaw the full product lifecycle for a logistics application, from conceptualization to MVP, driving market research and defining key features to meet user needs and business objectives.

• Managed the end-to-end development of the company’s core logistics application, successfully launching an MVP that addressed critical market needs and improved operational efficiency.
• Led comprehensive product discovery and market research initiatives, translating user insights and competitive analysis into a prioritized feature roadmap for the MVP.
• Defined and refined product requirements, collaborating closely with engineering and design teams to ensure alignment with strategic business goals and user experience principles.
• Streamlined operational workflows for the logistics platform, enhancing user experience and scalability to support future growth.

Managed the development and delivery of a key website for a non-profit initiative, enhancing digital presence and driving engagement.

• Oversaw the complete website development lifecycle for a non-profit initiative, successfully launching a platform that significantly enhanced digital presence and engagement.
• Coordinated cross-functional teams and stakeholders to ensure project milestones were met on time and within scope.
• Implemented effective communication strategies to keep all stakeholders informed and aligned throughout the project, ensuring successful delivery.

Facilitated agile ceremonies and managed project workflows to ensure efficient delivery and continuous improvement for development teams.

• Facilitated daily team stand-ups, sprint planning, review, and retrospective sessions, fostering transparent communication and continuous improvement within agile development cycles.
• Managed project backlogs and sprint goals, ensuring alignment with overall project objectives and maximizing team productivity.
• Identified and removed impediments, enabling the development team to maintain focus and achieve sprint commitments effectively.

Provided strategic Agile coaching and leadership across the organization, fostering Agile adoption and ensuring alignment with overarching organizational goals.

• Spearheaded the overall adoption of Agile frameworks across the organization, coaching stakeholders and non-agile teams on effective interactions with agile methodologies, significantly improving cross-functional collaboration.
• Provided direct support and strategic coaching to Scrum Masters across 5 distinct product teams, enhancing their facilitation skills and team performance.
• Collaborated closely with the Lead Product Owner to ensure clarity of product vision, backlogs, and strategic alignment for all development efforts.
• Facilitated Scrum of Scrums events, ensuring seamless coordination and strategic alignment across all product teams towards achieving the organization’s overarching goals.