Nikhil Kumar | Senior Product Owner
As a highly accomplished Senior Product Owner based in London with 23 years of experience, I excel at driving successful project delivery, shaping product strategy, and leading digital transformation initiatives. My expertise lies in collaborating closely with stakeholders to define and prioritize product backlogs, ensuring seamless execution and on-time delivery across cross-functional teams. I have a proven track record of managing complex products and services, working with technology, operations, compliance, and external vendors to deliver customer-focused outcomes.
I possess deep expertise in Agile and SCRUM methodologies, consistently implementing process improvements that enhance efficiency, scalability, and customer satisfaction. At Cognizant, I’ve led the successful launch of the UK Chase Banking App, modernized risk onboarding for NatWest, and enhanced cheque scanning and payment confirmation features. I’ve migrated critical systems to AWS Cloud for Discover Bank, resulting in major cost and performance gains. In the public sector, I delivered DEFRA’s Bluetongue Service and Nutrient Mitigation Scheme, drastically reducing processing timelines and manual work. I also drove major improvements for the Department for Education by enhancing data quality across 21K+ schools.
Earlier at American Express, I led digital transformations—deploying DocuSign & KoFax, automating onboarding, and developing enterprise tools like XRS and Doc Upload. I successfully launched pre-paid and virtual cards across India, Brazil, China, and the UK, and built India’s first Amex B2C gift card portal. My projects drove operational efficiencies with automation tools, winning multiple awards for innovation and impact.
Certified in SAFe®, CSPO®, PMI-ACP®, and PMP®, I’m passionate about solving complex challenges, aligning stakeholder goals, and continuously improving the product lifecycle. Let’s connect if you’re looking to build products that make a difference.
Skills
As a Product Owner, I blend strategic planning, agile execution, and user-focused thinking to deliver impactful digital products. I work closely with cross-functional teams to manage product roadmaps, backlogs, and sprints while aligning stakeholder goals with user needs. Proficient in tools like JIRA, Confluence, AWS, Figma, and MIRO, I drive collaboration, streamline delivery, and ensure product success.Â
Relevant Skills
- Product Ownership / Management
- Product Roadmap
- SCRUM Framework
- Business Requirement Gathering
- Backlog & Sprint Management
- Agile, Waterfall, Kanban Methodologies
- Risk Management
- Dependency Management
- Operations Management
- BETA & User Testing
- Product / UX Research
Soft Skills
- Stakeholder Management
- Team Management
- Conflict Management
- Communication Management
- Strategic Planning
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Liaison with End Users & Tech User
Tools Known
- Microsoft Suite
- JIRA
- Confluence
- Figma
- MIRO
- AWS
Projects
Decreasing telephony calls by 20% for HMRC HICBC by redesigning the journeyÂ
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Launched Technology Service for Nutrient Mitigation Scheme in DEFRA for UK Natural England team reducing the manual work by 95% thus decreasing the timeline.
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Spearheaded the launch of the Bluetongue Service Digital Service in DEFRA (Dept for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs), benefiting over 100% farmers across all regions, streamlining disease control measures by 98%.
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Migrated key banking components to AWS Cloud Service for Discover Banking, leading to significant cost reductions by 25%, improved system performance, and enhanced functionality for both users and stakeholders by 80%
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Modernized risk assessment for NatWest customer onboarding by replacing the APC (Adverse Press Check) tool from Equifax to Moody’s, achieving 100% compliance with risk checks and improving the accuracy of onboarding processes and reducing operational processing time by 50%
Streamlined payment confirmation processes on NatWest App by integrating a Second Line Reference into 100% of COP (Confirmation of Payments) transactions, resulting in enhanced traceability and reduced errors in payment handling and   ensuring compliance with FCA regulatory standard.
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Lead team in NatWest App that Designed and implemented advanced cheque scanning capabilities, driving a 62% increase in cheque deposits and a 275% rise in the total value processed, significantly improving customer convenience and operational throughput.
Developed the New Chase Banking app for the UK market, leveraging AWS Cloud and other external SAAS vendors to build a Reconciliation Data Lake, Data Flow, and Data Access framework, resulting in seamless data integration and enhanced operational efficiency to 100%.
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Digital transformation initiatives:
Deployed DocuSign across 5 geographical locations, reducing document processing time by 5 days and cutting manual errors by 90%
Digitalized legacy processes (e.g., fax and email), streamlining information flow into fully digital formats thus reducing manual intervention errors by 95%.
Reduced customer onboarding time from 5 days to 1 day, an 80% improvement impact by digitizing the onboarding process with digital devices.
Initiated XRS (Cross Repository Tool), enabling search across 3 repositories, improving search efficiency for operational teams and reducing time by 85% to locate critical data.
Replaced iVu with the Doc Upload tool, streamlining document upload processes and increasing throughput by 75%, benefiting 15 departments or processes.
Successfully launched pre-paid cards in India, Brazil, and the UK
Introduced Pre-Paid Travel Card in India, China, and Brazil
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Won the 6 Sigma Gold Award and the All-Ideas Matter award for the successful launch of MSN & AOL project, which delivered a 100% improvement in operational efficiency and saved $130,000 in dispute management costs
Experience
Interests
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