# Amelia Mendez > Product Strategy & Operations Leader | Launching Zero-to-One Products & Scaling Teams in Complex Technical Domains Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/ameliamendez I specialize in helping organizations transform complex technical challenges into scalable products at the intersection of physical and digital systems. Drawing from my experience leading zero-to-one initiatives and go-to-market strategy at enterprises like Mercedes-Benz and VMware Tanzu Labs, I bring strategic insight to teams navigating digital transformation, organizational design, and technical modernization. My background spans critical industries, including automotive, energy, fintech, and healthcare, where I've consistently launched new products from concept through market validation and scale. I'm particularly skilled at identifying first viable slices, modernizing development practices, and building the organizational structures needed for sustainable growth. Through Steelglow Consulting, I remain selectively available for advisory roles and strategic consulting, particularly for organizations working on: - Zero-to-one product strategy and go-to-market execution - Digital transformation and DevOps modernization - Cross-functional team effectiveness - Organizational design for technical innovation πŸ’™ Passionate about building thoughtful products and nurturing collaborative, high-performing teams. ## Work Experience ### Director of Product @ Artium AI Jan 2026 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area ### Founding Member @ The Post Jan 2024 – Present The Post is a private membership club specifically designed for former elite athletes who are now business leaders ### Senior Manager, Product @ Ascendis Pharma Jan 2025 – Jan 2026 | Palo Alto, California, United States ### Senior Product Manager @ VMware Tanzu Labs Jan 2021 – Jan 2024 | San Francisco, California, United States Forward deployed to strategic clients as a full-time PM to build, launch, or modernize essential products and infrastructure across cross-functional engineering, product, design, and business teams. Led measurable organizational change in industries including automotive, healthcare, finance, telecom, web3, and renewable energy across LATAM, USA, and EMEA. Finance: - Modernized and launched a new core credit risk model, devOps strategy, and SRE practices of the historical central Mexican bank. - Increased revenue by 8% of the flagship financial product. - Condensed average zero-to-one enterprise product launch timelines by 80% (on average, a 3-month schedule), including discovery, development, and go-to-market. Healthcare: - Reduced a complex five-year software and infrastructure modernization plan into actionable and releasable monthly phases by implementing domain-driven architecture aligned with business goals. Automotive: - Built and launched their first online payment site integrating lead generation, tax, ACH, and car simulation model systems. - Introduced a new DevOps strategy, shortening the release cadence from 3 weeks to 2 days. Renewable Energy: - Validated, built, and launched the zero-to-one mobile app in collaboration with original equipment manufacturers. - Shortened the release cadence with CI/CD, automated testing pipelines, and system monitoring. ### Portfolio Strategy Manager & Head of Digital Services @ Mercedes-Benz.io Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | Berlin Area, Germany - Reduced the timeline for new product infrastructure from 3 months to 1 week with automation - Validated automotive products with leaner mobile apps before investing in in-car development - Prioritized and streamlined the portfolio strategy for the Mercedes-Benz e-commerce and marketing websites and services to reduce redundancy and encourage cross-product collaboration ### Product Manager @ Mercedes-Benz.io Jan 2017 – Jan 2019 | Berlin Area, Germany Ideated, built, launched, and scaled the zero-to-one hardware-in-the-loop Bertha product line, including machine-learning enabled API services now known as the in-car feature β€” Mercedes Me Fuel & Pay - Sustained a 4.5+ Apple and Android App Store rating, improving Daimler’s average of 2 stars - Launched the revenue-generating Bertha App with a 30% monthly retention rate and 50k MAUs - Accelerated the institutional mobile application release cycles from 6 months to 1 week ### Product Management Lead @ BridgeMaker GmbH Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | Berlin Area, Germany Led development and launch of the AI fintech startup in partnership with Berliner Volksbank Ventures ### Product Owner @ Autodesk Jan 2015 – Jan 2016 | San Francisco Bay Area For the new AutoCAD Web Product Line, I developed concepts, roadmaps, and the MVP rollout plans. Led day to day team and quality assurance through the backlog and product success milestones. ### Senior Interaction Designer @ Autodesk Jan 2012 – Jan 2016 As product lead, I coordinated UX team prioritization and championed lean prototyping and research across the company. Led designs for the AutoCAD team projects, including Project Spry, AutoCAD for GrabCAD, AutoCAD 360 web, and AutoCAD Desktop 2013 ### Designer, Founder @ AMENDZ, llc. Jan 2006 – Jan 2012 Consulting fabrication, architectural design, systems integration, and LEED analysis. I also provided product design, CAD, and 3D services ### Project Manager @ LiveFyre Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 | San Francisco Bay Area Managed API integrations and agile ceremonies for enterprise customers of the popular commenting platform ### Project Manager, Designer @ Vibio Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 | San Francisco Bay Area Managed requirements for dev and design teams of the e-commerce site. Designed and developed front-end marketing and product assets ### Architectural Designer @ Farm Architecture Jan 2009 – Jan 2011 | San Francisco Bay Area Managed construction docs and architectural design of residential projects. Responsible for interior and exterior design and detailing. Maintained computing systems, including office server and website ### Designer @ Blanket Collaborative Jan 2009 – Jan 2009 | San Francisco Bay Area In a pop-up collaborative created by Jennings-Ackerley Architecture, I led design competitions and ran marketing and website projects ### Designer & Team Leader @ Georgia Institute of Technology Jan 2006 – Jan 2009 | Greater Atlanta Area Collaborated to design, build, and operate an EarthCraft zero-energy solar powered house in an international competition hosted by the US Department of Energy. I was a key representative in the international competition. Completed schematic design in AutoCAD & Revit, materials research, & market research. Managed construction, detailing, and testing of systems. Liaison to the project for international web, print, and television media. ### Product Designer, Media Lab @ Georgia Institute of Technology Jan 2008 – Jan 2008 Designed game interface and fabricated a multi-touch surface table and environment using infrared technology and CADCAM capabilities with Rhino3D and AlphaCAM. ## Education ### Bachelor of Science - BS in Architecture Georgia Institute of Technology ### Erasmus: Architecture and Urban Planning ENSA de Paris-La-Villette ### Erasmus: Computer Science and Architecture Universitat PolitΓ¨cnica de Catalunya ### Visiting school program at California College of the Arts in BioDynamic Structures Architectural Association ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ameliamendez --- Source: https://flows.cv/ameliamendez JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/ameliamendez/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-05