Sabah Zdanowska
Who I am
Hello, thanks for visiting my website!
I am a passionate and impact driven product leader with over 18 years in the technology sector and over 10 years of direct experience in enterprise SaaS solutions used by businesses and governments around the world. My work has focused in the areas of sustainability/energy transition, healthcare, anti-corruption and financial services sectors (my friends tell me that I love a hard problem!)
For seven years, I was the Director for my own consultancy business where I led engagements on discovery, product strategy, positioning and customer development in partnership with leadership teams and in many cases worked in an interim capacity to lead and guide delivery teams to build roadmaps, design and ship features and improve alignment across stakeholders.
I have a BSc in Physics from the University of Bath and an MSc in Human-Computer Interaction from City St Georges, University of London.
What I Do
PRODUCT STRATEGY
Leading on zero to one software products, guiding leadership teams through discovery and strategic planning to develop viable products that provide value and achieve impact.
SERVICE DESIGN
Designing software and services as well as fixing problems with existing offerings to achieve product-market fit and drive user uptake.
BOARD MEMBER
I serve as a Non-Executive Director and member of the Finance & Risk committee for Clear Voice Interpreting Services - a social enterprise offering translation and interpreting services in over 200 languages.
I also serve as a Digital Trustee for the conservation charity the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. My focus has been to advise and provide constructive critique on strategy and digital transformation.
Recent Work
Leading Product at TransitionZero
As the most senior product professional in the organisation, I led on all software and data products. We shipped the popular OSeMOSYS capacity expansion model as a pip-installable Python package and a one of a kind an open-access dataset of solar facilities globally using planetary-scale machine learning. I spearheaded the organisation wide transformation to turn a think tank into a tech startup.
Innovating to Tackle Financial Crime at ComplyAdvantage
As the 'new ventures' lead at the organisation, I led a cross functional steering group to identify new problems, target markets and needs of the financial services sector to tackle money laundering and financial crime. I developed strategies, designed new features, worked with a dedicated development team to create proof of concepts (PoC) using machine learning and knowledge graphs.
Coaching Leadership Teams & New Product Managers
As the Founder and Director of my own consultancy firm, I have advised and coached senior executives and CEOs on product discovery, product-market fit, change management, nurturing high-performance teams and go-to-market strategies. I have also taught product management to new and aspiring product managers taking the first steps in their careers via a 10-week online course.
Who I've Worked With
Throughout my career I have worked for and advised leading businesses and organisations of all sizes.
Projects, Writing & Volunteer Work
Published Research
My research paper on the study of real-world system design for AI/ML projects was accepted into the Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Writing
See my writing on product strategy and leadership on Medium.com, sustainability and smart cities and my travel diary when backpacking through Central and South America.
Startup Advisor
I have advised a number of startup CEOs through my extensive network and through organisations such as the NatWest Accelerator.
Tech Careers Talks
I have given talks on what 'non-coding' careers in tech industry look like via the social mobility charity Making the Leap and a number of student run organisations such as Gapwhiz and Edu-venture.
What People Have to Say
"Sabah offers a rare combination of expertises including product/service strategy, user research, UX design, and software product management. With her support and influence, the Open Contracting Partnership transitioned to a user research-based process for defining and designing solutions for our clients and partners. This has led to more successful projects that better serve users. In addition to her great skills and experience, Sabah is great at communicating and is a pleasure to work with; we are able to resolve and get to the core of any issue. I can think of few other consultants who are as smart, reliable and consistent. I highly recommend working with Sabah."
JAMES MCKINNEY, DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY, OPEN CONTRACTING PARTNERSHIP
"Sabah is a brilliant person to work with - dedicated to achieving results with an open-minded approach. She's the type of person who can pick up anything, educate herself and make significant progress."
PAUL HUSTON, VP PRODUCT,
COMPLY ADVANTAGE
"A former Physics major, you'd be hard pressed to find someone more intelligent, or someone more capable of solving complex problems."
SYLVIE BARAK, SENIOR DIRECTOR PUBLIC RELATIONS, SEMTECH
"I was impressed with Sabah's drive and 'start-up attitude'. She is a talented go-getter for which the word "progress" is a life-long mantra."
SAFIYYA BABIO, SENIOR PRODUCT ENGINEER, COGS AI
"Sabah is a total tech enthusiast with an amazing intelligence that serves her very well. Her problem solving skills are wonderful to witness and powerful when contemplating strategic next steps for your business."
DR. ERIC MILLER, STRATEGY DIRECTOR, DOCTOR CARE ANYWHERE
"Sabah has been really transformational in managing not only the definition of our user requirements but also organizing their delivery. We now have a far clearer picture of what we need to do and why. "
DOMINIC SAYERS, TECHNOLOGY LEAD, OPENCORPORATES
"Combined with her background in HCI and user research, [Sabah] stands out as a strategic product lead, ideal for fast-moving startup environments."
JONATHAN FOXWELL, HEAD OF FIINTECH, NEURAL ALPHA
Get in Touch
Reach out at sabah@ventures-consulting.com to start a conversation.
Book a time in my diary for an initial consultation for your product or to discuss coaching.
Connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a direct message via the platform.