Offir Ariel

Expertise

• Senior Product Manager with a combination of technical and marketing insights
• Proven capability to transform marketing opportunities into executable strategies and actual products
• Vast technical background in software engineering with 10 years of experience
• Intimate knowledge of the mobile market, working directly with Tier 1 operators worldwide
• Rich experience in writing marketing and technical documentations
• Excellent communicator, cross-functional awareness, leadership and management skills
• High responsibility and standards of work, self-learning ability and excellent interpersonal relations

2007 - Present
Head of Product Management, Samsung Telecom Research Israel (STRI)
STRI is the Israeli R&D and innovation center of Samsung Electronics Ltd., part of the Samsung Telecom Business division

• Leading the product management team and overseeing its activities, collaborating with other teams
• Responsible for the overall product definition and rollout of a variety of mobile applications
• Defining the product management methodologies and working processes within STRI
• Managing and promoting innovative thinking processes, in pursuit of Samsung’s future products
• Taking an active part in defining and developing the company's mid and long term roadmaps
• Presenting and negotiating product solutions with Samsung headquarters in South Korea
• Partner with Strategy & Alliance team, providing market research on various fields for possible M&A

2005 - 2007
Product & Marketing Manager, Handsets Line of Business, Comverse INC.
Comverse is a world leader in multimedia telecommunications applications and an S&P 500 and NASDAQ-100 index company

• Managed a line of cutting-edge mobile applications, sold to millions of subscribers worldwide
• Attended sales meetings with key customers, promoted sales of the company’s products
• Gathered requirements from operators and transformed these into successful products
• Worked directly with Tier 1 operators, including: Verizon, T-Mobile, Vodafone, TIM, BT and more
• Initiated, analyzed and interpreted market and customer research activities

2000 – 2005
Product Channel manager, Mobimate LTD.
MobiMate is the leading mobile software vendor in the travel market with WorldMate, a best-seller on all mobile platforms

• Responsible for overall product delivery: wrote MRDs and PRDs for mobile applications, managed team, resources and development processes
• Won prestigious prizes for WorldMate: Handango Awards, ZDNet Editor’s Pick, Pocket PC Magazine
• Worked with top handset vendors: Nokia, Sony Ericsson, HP, Palm, RIM, Siemens, Samsung, LG
• Managed mobile technology channels relating to the sales and distribution of finished product

Senior Software Engineer

• Wrote applications for Palm, Pocket PC, BlackBerry, Windows and various Symbian OS devices
• Took an active part in planning and designing the product roadmap

1999 - 2000
Software Engineer, Amdocs.
Outsourced as a contractor at Amdocs Ltd.

• Developed in C/C++ on Windows and UNIX, worked on-site in various locations abroad
• Took an active part in project designing and technical management

1997 - 1999
Software Engineer, Image ID
ImageID develops optical algorithm solutions

• Developed the first technological steps of the ‘Image code’ algorithm
• Developed in C on UNIX and in Visual Basic on Windows, SQL and Access

1993 - 1996

Software Engineer & Network Administrator, IDF
Participated in the army’s computer training program.

• Developed a system that holds classified military information on UNIX machines
• Served as a network administrator of a highly secured network

Education

2001 - 2004
Bachelor of Business Administration – The College of Management, Israel

1996 - 1997
Data communication programming – IBM Academy, Israel

1993 - 1994
Computer programming courses – MAMRAM/I.D.F, Israel

 

Voluntary Activities

2006 - Present

Co-Founder, Israel Product Management Association (ILPMA)
ILPMA is a nonprofit organization, dedicated to the career development and networking of product managers and product marketing managers in Israel (www.ILPMA.org)

• Co-managing the strategy, communication and promotional activities of the association
• Managing relationships with HR companies, responsible for the growth of the members database

2005 - 2007

Social Leader, Photography of a Neighborhood

 

Photographic course for the youth of Neve Sharet neighborhood, combining volunteers from Comverse and professional knowledge from Artneuland (http://www.artneuland.com/project.asp?pid=13)

• Leading the entire activity from Comverse side, working with a group of 10 volunteers and 10 kids
• Responsible for the challenging integration between the groups and overall success of the project

 

www.pbase.com/offir_a
This is my online photographs album. It has pictures that I've taken from around the world.

www.ilpma.org
The Israel Product Management Association (ILPMA) is a new professional, non profit organization dedicated to the career development of product managers and product marketing managers in Israel.

www.bhphotovideo.com
The B&H Superstore is the best place to buy video & photography gear! Check this out before getting to NYC.

www.dpreview.com
Digital Photography Review is the best site to learn about new photography gear before buying it.