Product Manager · Turku, Finland

Shavi
Kariyawasam

CSPO® · CSM® · MSc ICT · 5+ Years Industry Experience

I turn product ideas into systems that work in the real world.
Engineering roots. QA instincts. Product mindset.

Product Management User-Centric Design Quality-Driven Delivery Global Cross-Functional Teams B2B SaaS AI & Automation Agile Methodologies
Impact at a
Glance
2×
Demo Bookings
July 2023 · Product Manager, PlanYear LLC
Read client case study
25%
Defects
+
+23%
Release speed
Quality & Velocity · Simultaneously
QE Lead · Limark Technologies
PM
Product Strategy & Roadmapping Lifecycle Ownership Requirements & Prioritization User-Centric Design Go-to-Market Execution Agile & Scrum Stakeholder Management Cross-Functional Leadership Product Strategy & Roadmapping Lifecycle Ownership Requirements & Prioritization User-Centric Design Go-to-Market Execution Agile & Scrum Stakeholder Management Cross-Functional Leadership
My Superpower

Built at the Intersection

Most product managers write requirements.
I write requirements that close the gaps before they open.

My background in quality engineering means I think in edge cases, failure modes, and integration gaps from the very beginning. By the time engineering starts building, the hard questions have already been asked.

I understand systems from both sides — how they're built and how they break — which makes conversations with engineers faster and delivery smoother.

My job is simple: understand complexity deeply and turn it into clarity for the whole team.

Edge cases in, surprises out — failure modes are baked into requirements before engineering starts
Fluent on both sides — I speak the language of building and the language of breaking
Complexity → clarity — I go deep until I fully understand, then make it simple for the whole team
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT PlanYear LLC Oct 2022 – Aug 2024 QUALITY ENGINEERING Limark Technologies Dec 2019 – Sep 2022 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING Virtusa (Pvt) Ltd Jul – Nov 2019 Shavi THE EDGE
01 — Experience

Where I've Made an Impact

PlanYear LLC
Product Manager
Oct 2022 – Aug 2024
Limark Technologies
Assoc. Lead QA Engineer
Dec 2019 – Sep 2022
Virtusa (Pvt) Ltd
Associate Software Engineer
Jul – Nov 2019
University of Turku
Marketing Intern
Mar – Oct 2025
Product Manager
Company PlanYear LLC, California USA (Remote) Period Oct 2022 – Aug 2024
  • Owned product vision, strategy, and roadmap for a B2B SaaS module (Renewals) recognised by leading US brokerages — drove a 2× increase in demo bookings.
  • Led zero-to-one delivery of a multi-state booking module: from discovery and third-party API research through to launch, eliminating recurring scheduling errors.
  • Equipped engineering teams with US Benefits domain knowledge to ensure development decisions aligned with business intent and user needs.
  • Translated requirements into user stories and Figma wireframes. Facilitated Scrum ceremonies and acted as the primary contact bridging business and technology.
  • Partnered with sales and leadership on go-to-market strategy, competitive intelligence, client onboarding, and third-party vendor selections.
Renewals Feature · Client Impact (July 2023)
2×
Demo bookings in month of launch
12h
Saved weekly per brokerage on renewals
30m
To build what previously took 12+ hours
Read client case study — Mammoth Insurance Solutions
Associate QE → Associate Lead QE
Company Limark Technologies, Colombo Period Dec 2019 – Sep 2022
  • Re-built and led a 7-member QA team. Achieved a 25% defect reduction and 23% increase in release frequency.
  • Built a Cypress/Cucumber automation framework from scratch. Designed and delivered team-wide training to raise automation capability.
  • Coordinated cross-functional testing (functional, regression, API, data migration), stakeholder reporting, and production releases.
Associate Software Engineer
Company Virtusa (Pvt) Ltd, Colombo Period Jul – Nov 2019
  • Frontend development using ReactJS, JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3 within Agile delivery teams.
  • Built interactive UI components and collaborated with backend engineers to ship features on schedule.
Marketing Intern — CRM & Process Support
Company University of Turku, Finland Period Mar – Oct 2025
  • Managed CRM communications for 1,000+ students in MS Dynamics.
  • Collaborated with the marketing team to bring student perspectives into digital recruitment campaigns and promotional content.
Skills & Tools

What I Bring

Product &
Delivery
Product Strategy & Roadmapping Lifecycle Ownership Requirements & Prioritisation User-Centric Design Go-to-Market Agile / Scrum Stakeholder Management Cross-functional Leadership Third-party API Integration
Quality
Assurance
QA Strategy Test Design & Execution Functional Testing Regression Testing API Testing Integration Testing Data Migration Testing
Automation &
Engineering
Test Automation BDD / Gherkin Frontend Development Database Querying
Languages
English Full professional Finnish A2 (CEFR) · improving Sinhala Native
Tools I Work With
Project & Design
Jira Confluence Figma InVision GitMind XMind
Testing & Development
Zephyr Cypress Cucumber Postman Swagger Git Bitbucket Jenkins
Infrastructure & IDEs
AWS VS Code IntelliJ IDEA
02 — My Product Work

Products I've Shaped

From domain research and asking the right questions, through third-party evaluation and cross-functional delivery, to measuring what actually changed for real users.

Background & Why Now

The platform's existing scheduling capability had grown beyond what it was originally designed to handle. Consultants were managing an increasing volume of booking requests manually, and the system could not accommodate multi-timezone scheduling or distribute workload across a team automatically — everything funnelled through a single point of contact who then reassigned calls by hand.

Usage patterns and direct consultant feedback confirmed that scheduling was among the most heavily used features during the annual renewal period — typically the start of the year. Shipping this feature before renewals began was a clear, time-bound priority.

User Personas · Problem Space

The following personas are representative composites drawn from direct conversations with benefits consultants during the discovery process.

Benefits Consultant · Detroit

"I get many consultation requests by email, and after holidays my inbox is overwhelming. Auto-replies help temporarily, but they don't provide a good experience for clients."

Lead Benefits Consultant · San Mateo

"With clients across time zones, some calls get booked at really odd hours. I spend hours reassigning them to my team — I want more time growing my team, not scheduling calls."

Employee · San Mateo

"Booking appointments with the brokerage takes too long. I'm sometimes unsure if I'm even contacting the right person about my benefits."

My Approach
1
Requirement AnalysisCollaborated with design, engineering, and QA leads to define the problem precisely before writing a single requirement — clarifying consultant routing logic, feature placement, and availability management. Used MoSCoW to prioritise scope.
2
Build vs. Buy EvaluationAssessed cost, time, and resource impact of in-house vs. third-party. Evaluated the existing scheduling integration alongside other providers, assessing each against the hard requirements: round-robin assignment, multi-resource booking, custom availability rules, and multi-timezone support. The existing solution did not meet all requirements, so a broader market evaluation followed.
3
OnSched SelectedArranged a live demo and sandbox access to validate the APIs hands-on before committing. OnSched's round-robin logic, multi-resource booking, custom availability, and timezone handling covered every requirement. Their responsiveness during evaluation was also a signal of the partnership to come.
4
API Architecture DecisionThe selected API used a hierarchical data model that needed to be mapped thoughtfully onto the platform's multi-tenant structure — spanning environments, client organisations, and individual consultant profiles. I designed the mapping to ensure clean data isolation and correct routing across the platform, a decision that shaped how the integration scaled.
5
Cross-Functional Delivery & Vendor CollaborationCollaborated with design on wireframes and supported engineering through sprints. When API defects emerged during development, I escalated directly to the vendor — joining calls with their engineering team to resolve issues in real time. Several bugs were fixed on the spot, keeping delivery on track without workarounds accumulating in the codebase.
The Solution
For Consultants — BenAdmin Portal
  • Create profiles with timezone, availability hours, and assigned employer groups
  • Scheduling APIs triggered on save — profiles maintained automatically
  • Calendar sync enables real-time availability management
  • Mark unavailability in advance — no requests slip through on holidays
For Employees — BenGuides Portal
  • One-click "Benefits Consultation" entry point in the BenGuide
  • Automatic timezone matching and availability checking
  • Balanced round-robin assignment ensures even consultant workload
  • Automated confirmation emails sent on booking
Eliminated hours of weekly manual reassignment — lead consultants freed to grow their teams, not manage calendars
Cross-timezone scheduling fully automated — zero manual intervention across distributed consultant teams
Employees routed to the right consultant automatically — no uncertainty, no wrong-person emails
Delivered before the annual renewal period — the highest-traffic window — meeting the strategic deadline
What I'd Do Differently

Looking back, I was managing multiple features in parallel and the sequencing could have been sharper. Prioritising the features in a different order would have given each more breathing room and sharper focus during delivery. This shaped how I approach roadmap sequencing: I now ask not just "what's most needed?" but "what order creates the most space for the team to do their best work?" — and I weight strategic sequencing more explicitly when building roadmaps.

03 — Research

Currently Exploring

Applying product thinking to research — working with a real company to design and test a new kind of AI-integrated PM framework.

MSc Thesis · University of Turku Sep 2025 – May 2026 · In Progress

AI-Augmented Project Management

In collaboration with Tetranyde, a software company in Sri Lanka, I'm researching how AI-driven agentic systems can be practically integrated into project management workflows. The work involves two parallel streams — designing a tailored PM framework for Tetranyde based on their current processes and pain points, and then layering in agentic AI solutions to optimise and automate key parts of that framework.

This isn't purely theoretical. Every decision is grounded in Tetranyde's real context — their team structure, delivery challenges, and what actually needs to improve.

Tailored PM Framework
Designed around Tetranyde's real workflows and pain points
Agentic AI Integration
AI agents embedded into PM processes end-to-end
Applied Research
Industry collaboration ensuring practical, testable outcomes
Key Themes
AI Agents / LLMs Project Management Frameworks Process Optimisation Industry Collaboration Agentic Systems Software Delivery
Institution
University of Turku
MSc (Tech) ICT · Software Engineering
Industry Partner
Tetranyde
Software Company · Sri Lanka
"
04 — Colleagues Say

What People Remember Working With Me

"

Shavindya is one of the most hard working, self-motivated people I've had the pleasure of working with. Having worked with her on taking a product from zero-to-one, I've seen first-hand her ability to break down ambiguous and complex problems into manageable chunks to deliver impactful solutions. Data and logic consistently drive her decision-making. She always excels at meeting goals with very little guidance. Shavindya is truly a natural as a product manager.

AK
Andrea Kopczynski
Product Manager
Direct Manager · PlanYear
"

Shavindya brings empathy for users and customers to every product discussion — she always advocates for solving problems from the user's perspective. She can quickly synthesize ambiguous or conflicting data into clear recommendations. Her background in engineering allows her to seamlessly align with the development team. She maintains a positive attitude under pressure. I'm confident she will continue to deliver tremendous value in her PM career.

DP
Daniel Poletti
Senior Product Manager
Direct Manager · PlanYear
"

Shavindya's ability to master complex areas and bridge the gap between technical teams and stakeholders is remarkable. She effectively collaborated across multiple functions, guiding projects from concept to launch. Her adaptability in handling evolving customer needs showcases her strong analytical skills and accountability. Shavindya is a highly valuable team member whose skills and dedication consistently drive positive outcomes.

SN
Senthil Nagarajan
Co-Founder
Direct Manager · PlanYear
"

I have had the privilege of closely collaborating with Shavindya as product manager. She excels as a collaborator, consistently embracing fresh ideas and constructive feedback. She possesses a keen eye for UX design, and her commitment to achieving exceptional customer outcomes is immeasurable. Coupled with her solid technical background, she is an ideal partner for engineering — receptive to developer input and adept at clearly articulating the product mission.

DT
David Trang
Principal Designer
PlanYear
"

I've witnessed Shavindya grow into an outstanding professional over nearly four years. She rapidly advanced from Associate Quality Engineer to lead the quality team, then seamlessly transitioned into Product Management — no small feat, managing a US-market product from Sri Lanka. Her analytical abilities, precise communication, and unparalleled dedication all contribute to her success. I wholeheartedly recommend her.

YL
Yohan Liyanage
Founder & CEO
Altrium
"

Shavindya and I worked on an InsureTech solution for a US Benefit Brokering Company. I'd highly recommend her for any role requiring great attention to detail, methodical planning, and exceptional organising skills. Her approach to work sets her apart — these qualities supported her journey from QA engineer to Product Manager and have brought clarity to development teams and stakeholders alike.

LP
Lasitha Petthawadu
Founder & CEO
Tetranyde
"

I have had the pleasure of working with Shavi at the University of Turku and can highly recommend her for roles requiring clear communication and strong organisational skills. She has a thoughtful, structured way of working and brings confidence even in fast-moving situations. She communicates with clarity, adapts easily to different audiences, and helps teams stay aligned and focused. Shavi is an asset to any organisation.

JT
Jemina Tyrkkö
Education Specialist
University of Turku

Let's build something together

Open to PM roles, collaborations, and conversations about product, AI, and what comes next.

Consultation Booking · Case Study