# Sergey Komardenkov > Product Manager and UX Researcher | Climate | Food Systems | Human-centered solutions Location: San Bruno, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/sergeykomardenkov I seek a product manager and UX positions in a late-stage startup in climate and/or food systems where I would leverage my product management, product analytics, UX research and design, and systems thinking skills to develop effective solutions that drive systemic change and deliver exceptional user experiences. I also consider roles in healthcare, edtech, and other industries that are closely associated with human experiences. --- I am a product manager and UX researcher and designer with over 11 years of experience in developing SaaS and mobile/web solutions for both B2B and B2C markets. By leveraging human-centered design, systems thinking, and a strategic mindset, I lead through complexity and create solutions that address real-world problems and deliver exceptional user experiences. I have a unique combination of skills and professional experiences in design, research, product management and analytics, and software engineering. This helps me identify better opportunities in product development and deliver results more efficiently. My primary focus is on combating climate change and fixing our food systems to make them just and efficient. I am also passionate about solving challenges in circular economy, healthcare, edtech, fintech, and human rights. A professional hobby of mine is crafting interactive and playful art exhibits and installations that incorporate sound, touch, and movement. I hold a B.S. in Information Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology and a graduate degree from the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. I have also completed the "From Linear to Circular" program on the circular economy from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2021) and the Climatebase Fellowship program (2023), along with courses on product management from Reforge and other platforms. ## Work Experience ### Product Owner, UX Researcher @ FAO Jan 2025 – Present Supporting UN Food and Agriculture Organization's projects on advancing the implementation of digital tools on farms and by farmers. Conducting an explorative user experience research for a project in Serbia and managing AgriTech Observatory redesign project. ### Product & UX Consultant @ Jan 2018 – Present | San Bruno, California, United States • Lead product discovery, concept testing, and co-developed product strategy for an innovative professional networking startup. • Lead user experience research and co-lead branding and marketing at an AI startup in video advertisement. • Led qualitative user experience research and product analytics, co-developing the go-to-market strategy for an edtech hardware startup entering the U.S. market. ### UX Researcher @ OPTIC Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco, California, United States Leading user experience research to address the needs of various stakeholders in Optic's biotech suite of products. ### UX Researcher, Project manager @ Sustainable Systems Research Foundation Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 | Santa Cruz, California, United States SSRF is a sustainability think tank serving Central California and focusing on projects in energy and sustainable agriculture. --- • Led research on small-scale farmers' experiences, informing a sustainable agriculture workshop curriculum that drove effective outcomes. Developed and delivered regenerative agriculture training for farmers as part of the curriculum implementation. • Spearheaded a WSARE grant-funded research project, defining objectives, designing protocols, and publishing findings. ### UX Researcher @ Meta Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 | Fremont, California, United States • Organized and led a major UX research study at Meta focusing on employee experiences with internal software and technologies. Used insights to set objectives for a critical software initiative and align four teams on employee-centered design approaches. • Co-developed Meta’s annual engineering survey, ensuring clear and effective question formulations to capture workplace experiences of Meta's engineers. Note: this was a contract work through Planet Technology ### Project Manager, Researcher @ Moscow Circular Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | Moscow, Moscow City, Russia Moscow Circular is a project bureau that works on promoting circular economy through education, research, consulting, and publications. --- • Collaborated with the founder to define and shape the organization's vision and mission. • Led research for Russia's first circular economy guide, highly regarded by the expert community. • Co-led research for Russia's first publication on sustainable crops, promoting their wider use in local food systems. • Co-authored and taught a circular economy course for middle and high school students, engaging 15+ youth in the circular agenda. • Organized and led a 2-day circular economy workshop for Russian businesses and government leaders, drawing over 30 participants. ### Product Manager, UX Researcher @ Эвотор Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | Moscow, Russian Federation EVOTOR LLC is a Russian hardware and software company that is a leading payment processing solutions provider for hundreds of thousands small and medium scale entrepreneurs. --- My role: Managing two digital products. Leading UX research and product analytics efforts. Assisting other product teams with UX research and instituting user-centered design practice in the organization. • Refined strategy and roadmap for a financial dashboard product (300K+ users). • Increased user retention by 25% and conversion rate to active users by 30% through integrating client feedback and user research findings, studying product analytics, and collaborating closely with the product marketing team. • Built and scaled a remote product team, leading the development and successful launch of a user-centered mobile app that quickly gained significant market traction. • Onboarded five product managers and their teams to using UX research practices in their product design workflows by providing training, materials, and project assistance. • Launched a pilot integration with a major food delivery network (1M+ clients), expanding market segments and revenue streams. • Provided major contributions with a UX research study and design recommendations for a pivotal project in hardware and service design. ### Project Manager, Lead UX/UI Designer and Researcher @ Лаборатория Wonderfull Jan 2016 – Jan 2019 | Moscow, Russian Federation Lab Wonderful is a design consultancy that helps businesses and municipal government organisations in building human-centered solutions and implementing human-centered work culture. --- • Developed and executed over 10 large user research studies and delivered recommendations that supported transformative product changes for clients across industries. • Led two organizational design projects for large fintech clients, conducting employee experience research, mapping processes, highlighting gaps, and delivering actionable recommendations. • Led qualitative research practice in the organization, educating team members and running external workshops in UX research and design for product teams and individual professionals. • Boosted software engineering efficiency with actionable design artifacts, enabling a digital product launch to 500,000 users within 6 months. • Successfully managed logistics and speaker experience for a large design thinking conference (2017-2019), earning high praise from 40+ international speakers and attendees of the events. • Served as lead presenter for client work and international conferences, showcasing expertise. ### UX/UI Designer @ TSYS Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 | Moscow, Moscow City, Russia TSYS is a digital software and solutions company that provides payment processing services, merchant services and related payment services. --- • Transformed the legacy design of the company's flagship product by introducing changes inspired by user-centered research and best UI design practices. • Instituted user-centered design practice within product teams. ### Software Engineer @ TSYS Jan 2011 – Jan 2013 | Moscow Senior Programmer-Analyst at one of the world's largest companies for processing and licensing payment solutions. Responsibilities: - Gathering and analysing technical requirements from clients and internal teams - Coding backend functionality (PL/SQL, Java) - Designing database architecture (Oracle) • Completed and deployed 5 projects integral to the overall product functionality. • Recognized for delivering reliable code, meticulous attention to detail, and thorough technical documentation. ### Software Engineer Co-op @ IBM Jan 2009 – Jan 2010 - Programmer in a team of designers and developers building next generation of scheduling functionality for one of IBM's leading software products Responsibilities/Activities: - Technical analysis of current scheduling solutions - Devising the data model for the new product - Database architecture - Back-end business logic and back-end to front-end code development ## Education ### Master of Interaction Design in Interaction Design Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design ### B.S. in Information Technology Rochester Institute of Technology ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergeykomardenkov - Website: http://sergey.design --- Source: https://flows.cv/sergeykomardenkov JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/sergeykomardenkov/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-07