Valerio Milana
Software and website product manager and builder
Product Manager, Financial Services and Marketplaces
Summary
An impact-focused Product Manager with experience launching and scaling digital journeys in financial services and marketplaces. Skilled at leading cross-functional teams through the full product lifecycle, delivering value quickly through iterative, test-and-learn development. Trained in user research with a solid understanding of UX design principles and user behaviour. Well-versed in data analysis, A/B testing, and experimentation. Technically minded and effective at bridging engineering, commercial, and compliance requirements to deliver client-centric, regulatory compliant solutions.
Experience
Senior Product Manager at Ascot Lloyd
September 2024 – Present
Top 6 UK wealth management and financial advice firm with ambitions to reach the top 3. Owned the adviser portal and client digital account strategy and execution, reporting to the Chief Marketing and Product Officer. Led a cross-functional team of designers, software engineers, and data engineers.
- •Cut client fact find completion from 60+ minutes to 20 minutes by launching a streamlined adviser-led digital fact find journey with AI-powered rewriting and summarisation features
- •Reduced suitability report turnaround from 4 weeks to instant generation for clients with unchanged circumstances; 80% are now delivery-ready without edits
- •Digitised withdrawals and contributions requests, replacing manual Word documents with forms that trigger automated workflows for operations teams, reducing time per request by 75%
- •Halved time to book annual reviews by enabling advisers to send one-click invites with booking links
- •Launched a mobile-first, client-led review journey combining fact find, risk profiling, and automated suitability report generation, ensuring timely, compliant client reviews
Product Manager at Bionic
June 2021 – August 2024
Largest UK SME marketplace for energy, telecoms, insurance, and finance, powering brands including Compare the Market, MoneySuperMarket, and Uswitch. Owned key product areas, leading a squad of 2 to 5 engineers and 1 to 2 UX designers, and collaborating with 10 to 30 stakeholders and executives across the business.
- •Drove £1.2M annual revenue growth in business finance by launching a new loan product and a co-branded customer journey with MoneySuperMarket on mobile and desktop
- •Tripled business telecoms revenue from £1M to £3M+ by building and optimising a new mobile and desktop digital journey for Bionic, Compare the Market, Uswitch, and MoneySuperMarket
- •Cut business telecoms purchase duration by 20%, contract QA time by 85%, and contract errors by 12% by launching e-contracts
- •Reduced telecoms cost of sale by 15% by qualifying leads with conversion propensity scoring and optimised question flows
- •Contributed to scaling direct marketing EBITDA from £0 to £1M+ by driving A/B testing, SEO and mobile optimisation, and CMS enhancements for landing pages
UX Researcher at Bionic
August 2019 – June 2021
Largest business energy, telecoms, insurance, and finance marketplace in the UK, powering Compare the Market, MoneySuperMarket, Uswitch, and GoCompare.
- •Conducted user and market research to understand customers' attitudes and behaviours around business energy, telecoms, finance, and insurance comparison
- •Identified key user pain points in the company's digital customer journeys, informing initiatives that increased customer journey completion rates by 48%
- •Usability tested a screen-share software that increased enquiry to product sales by 14%, by enabling sales advisors to share information with customers in real time
Market Analyst at Kantar Media
January 2019 – August 2019
Global Market Research and Data Agency.
- •Led an online and social media research project to help Google understand the impact of their Corporate Social Responsibility activities in APAC countries, leading to contract renewal and further commissioned research
- •Analysed social and online media reactions to Philip Morris International's PR activity in real time, providing performance insights and recommendations that led to the client renewing the contract
Conversion Rate Optimisation Analyst at House of Kaizen
January 2018 – January 2019
Conversion Rate Optimisation and Marketing Agency.
- •Conducted website optimisation research projects for Pfizer and Shelter with insights and recommendations to improve their websites, helping convince both clients to buy A/B testing services
- •Delivered regular research reports to optimisation managers with insights that informed ideas for successful A/B tests (82% win rate) across acquisition, onboarding, and engagement metrics for publishing and e-commerce clients including The Wall Street Journal, Hearst, and WWD
Market Researcher at Perspective Research
September 2017 – January 2018
Market Research Agency.
- •Conducted hundreds of interviews with Small and Medium Enterprises as part of a national survey to understand attitudes towards business finance, on behalf of UK financial institutions and industry bodies including the FCA
Education
University College London (UCL)
MSc Digital Anthropology · September 2016 – September 2017
University of La Sapienza, Rome
BA Social and Cultural Anthropology · October 2012 – December 2015
Languages
- Italian: Native or bilingual
- Portuguese: Native or bilingual
- English: Full professional
- Spanish: Professional working
Key skills
- Product Strategy and Execution
- Data-Driven Decision-Making
- Cross-functional Leadership
- Testing and Experimentation
- UX Research and Design
- Stakeholder Engagement
Certifications
- Generative AI for Product Managers