Matej TandaraProject & Product Manager Open a ticket

Project & Product Manager / Ljubljana, Slovenia

I turn messy projects into plans people can actually follow.

Since 2018 I've run web and software projects out of Croatia, Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Agency work for Volkswagen Group and Dentsu, enterprise builds for LEO Pharma, and most recently an AI-driven real-estate investment platform I took from concept to launch. I came up through design, studied graphic engineering, and I write things down.

Open a ticket See the timeline
8yrsLeading projects, products and teams
5Countries worked in or from: HR, AT, DE, CH, SI
4Languages, from B2 to native
0Projects delivered without a written plan
Epic 01Timeline

The Gantt chart of me

Six roles and two degrees on one axis. The overlaps aren't mistakes. I studied while I worked, and twice now I've run two contracts at the same time.

Project & product leadership Current role Creative & team lead Education

Work

eSTUDENT Leader of the Multimedia Department 10/2018 – 10/2020 · Zagreb, HR
eWent UI/UX Team Lead, mobile app start-up 06/2019 – 12/2020 · Zagreb, HR
Klick17 Project Manager, web & software agency 02/2021 – 09/2023 · Klagenfurt, AT
Cynapsis Interactive IT Project Manager, programmatic marketing 09/2023 – 04/2025 · Münster, DE
Layer Finance AG Product Manager & Business Architect 05/2025 – 12/2025 · Zug, CH
Syde GmbH IT Project Manager, Europe's largest WordPress agency 10/2025 – present · Damme, DE

Education

BSc, Graphic Engineering Technology & Multimedia, University of Zagreb 09/2017 – 09/2020
MSc, Media Design Technology & Multimedia, University of Zagreb 09/2020 – 09/2022

Late 2025 was two contracts at once. I was closing out the product launch in Zug while the first enterprise WordPress projects started up in Damme. The bars overlap on purpose.

Clients & partners along the way

  • LEO Pharma
  • PayPal
  • Volkswagen Group
  • Dentsu
  • Publicis Media
  • UniCredit Group
  • Rimac Automobili

Delivered as project or product lead at Syde GmbH, Cynapsis Interactive, Klick17 and eSTUDENT. Enterprise website migrations, plugin development alongside PayPal, programmatic marketing platforms, campaign production.

Epic 02What I bring

Written as user stories, because that's how I'd hand them to you

Four things people keep hiring me for. I've written acceptance criteria for each one, so hold me to them.

US-015 SP

Structure out of chaos

As a founder with a half-formed idea, I want a plan with owners and dates, so that my team knows what to build on Monday.

Acceptance criteria

  • Scope split into work packages, each with an owner and an estimate
  • A roadmap your least technical stakeholder can read on their own
  • "Done" defined and agreed before anyone starts building
US-028 SP

The overview that holds under pressure

As a stakeholder on a demanding project, I want one person holding the whole picture, so that I hear about problems while they're still cheap.

Acceptance criteria

  • Weekly reporting on progress, risk and financial planning
  • KPIs and forecasts that are already current when you ask for them
  • Every risk named early and paired with a mitigation, not a shrug
US-033 SP

Translator, in both directions

As a developer, I want requirements that already make sense, so that I'm not reverse-engineering what the client meant.

Acceptance criteria

  • Requirements worked out with the client and the developers in one conversation
  • Backend specs with enough detail to actually build from
  • Complicated things explained in whichever of my four languages lands better
US-045 SP

Both sides of the handoff

As a product team, I want a manager who has done design and shipped software, so that my estimates get taken seriously.

Acceptance criteria

  • Led UI/UX at a mobile app start-up before ever managing a budget
  • MSc in media design plus a BSc in graphic engineering and multimedia
  • I've owned a full product lifecycle once already, vision through launch
Epic 03How I work

My actual board, minus the client names

Same three columns on every project I've run, whether the method on paper said Scrum or Waterfall.

Discover

3

Ask what problem we're actually solving. Keep asking until the answer stops changing.

Scoping

Read the existing system properly before trusting the documentation about it.

Analysis

Find the constraint nobody mentioned in the kick-off.

Risk

Define

3

Break the whole thing into work packages with owners and estimates.

Planning

Write the spec so nobody has to guess what I meant.

Specs

Build the roadmap, then keep updating it when reality disagrees.

Roadmap

Deliver

3

Sprints and stand-ups, with a burndown that shows where we really are.

Scrum

Report on progress, risk and budget every week, before anyone has to ask.

Reporting

Run the retro. Then change something because of it.

Retro

WIP limit: 3 per column. Yes, I respect it.

Epic 04Details

The rest of the backlog

Skills, languages, paperwork. Plus a risk register, because it would be hypocritical to skip one.

Toolbelt

Organization & delivery

  • Project management
  • Product management
  • Product ownership
  • Risk management
  • Financial controlling
  • Project controlling
  • Strategic planning
  • Quality management
  • Scrum
  • Waterfall
  • Process optimization
  • Work-package specification
  • Roadmaps & timelines
  • Documentation review

Analysis & people

  • Team leadership
  • Stakeholder management
  • Moderation
  • Conflict management
  • Analytical thinking
  • Data analysis
  • KPI reporting
  • Requirements engineering
  • SEO

Languages

CroatianNative · C2
GermanÖSD · C1
EnglishC1
SlovenianB2

Certificates — merged

  • Google Project ManagementProfessional Certificate
  • Scrum CertificateAgile delivery
  • ÖSD C1German language certificate

Education

  • MSc — Media Design, Technology & Multimedia Faculty of Graphic Arts, University of Zagreb 2020 – 2022
  • BSc — Graphic Engineering, Technology & Multimedia Faculty of Graphic Arts, University of Zagreb 2017 – 2020

Award

Finalist, Zagreb Innovation Center Start-Up Competition I've been on the pitching side of the table too.

Risk register — hiring me

Will ask what problem we're solving. Repeatedly.

High Low None planned. It's the useful part.

Turns a hallway conversation into a document by the next morning.

High Medium Accepted. You'll be able to find it again in six months.

Refuses to start building before "done" is written down.

Certain Medium Costs a day at the start. Has saved me months.
Epic 05Contact
MT–2026 Open

Let's talk about your project

Maybe a migration has turned into a much bigger job than anyone quoted for. Maybe there's a product with no roadmap, or a team with nobody keeping track. Tell me what's going on and I'll say straight away whether I'm the right person for it.

Reporter
You
Assignee
Matej Tandara
Location
Ljubljana, Slovenia · CET
Labels
project-management · product · delivery
Priority
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tandara.matej@gmail.com +386 68 940 076 linkedin.com/in/matej-tandara