Sumaiya Noor

Award-winning Product & Strategy Leader | Product Management & Growth-PLG | AI driven B2B & B2C Products | 40Under40 | ex-IBM | Startup Advisor | Fulbright Scholar | Advisory Board Member, Judge, Coach & Keynote Speaker

In the end, we all become stories. Mine is about building products, AI solutions and ecosystems across the globe.

Outcome-driven AI, Technology & Product leader with 14+ years of experience leading product, data science, design and engineering teams. I love building transformative products and high-performing teams for solving customers' pain points. Specialized in AI based B2B, B2C & B2B2C SaaS products, User Experience & Engineering.

Adept in deriving optimal value from Applied AI, Data, Cloud applications, Web 3.0 and other emerging technologies. Technical, people and business experience with distinctive ability to utilize multi-functional expertise. Growth mindset with focus on execution utilizing analytical skills, agile and design thinking to deliver business results. 

Board Member, Startup Advisor, Author and graduate of IBM Leadership Development Program. Experienced in managing teams across 6 continents (being based in 4 continents) with Fortune100 companies and startups. C-suite leadership experience of collaborating with global cross-functional teams to drive innovation for high-growth organizations.

I attended Purdue University, USA on full scholarship (Fulbright - one of the most competitive scholarships in the world) for my MS/MBA. INSEAD certified Digital Strategy consultant, Certified AI Product Manager and a Software Engineer.

I speak frequently at multiple forums globally. Spoken at US State Department with delegates from 47 countries including US Congress members. Also gave a talk at Grace Hopper Conference, attended by more than 30K technologists world-wide.

In life, grit has enabled me to overcome adversity. Beyond work, avid supporter of women & human rights, education, and DEI.

EXPERTISE 
PRODUCT & TECH: Product Strategy and Development (0-1, 1-n) • Product-Led Growth (PLG) • Product Management • Product-Market fit • Product Roadmap • A/B Testing • SDLC • Experimentation • Applied AI & Digital Strategy • Agentic AI
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE/UX: Human-Centered Design • User Research 
BUSINESS & PEOPLE: Strategic Partnerships • Mergers & Acquisitions • Talent Strategy • Talent Acquisition • People Management • GTM Strategy 

VALUES & SKILLS
• Grit • Humility • Empathy & Kindness • Authenticity & Integrity • Critical Thinking & Problem Solving • Curiosity & Continuous Learning  

Looking for data-driven and customer-centric full stack Product & AI expert with global cross-functional leadership experience for taking your business to the next level or interested in hearing me speak, please reach out at sumaiyan@gmail.com.

Advisor - Product & Growth

I have been collaborating with multiple startups across the globe as an advisor mostly on Product and Growth for past few years. Some notable highlights of my work so far are:

• Enabled a startup to close $11.5Million of Round A funding.
• Helped an early stage startup in finding Product-Market fit for enhancing MVP and adding new features which finally resulted in 30% increase in conversion rate.
• Collaborated with founders to formulate a Product Strategy and Pricing Model for a 20% increase in retention rate over the period of 4 months. 
• Designed and helped the company to implement go-to-market strategy (PLG) for 45% MoM growth.
• Last and one of the most important ones is helping these startups to build highly effective teams responsible for delivering all these great results.

Please feel free to reach out if you want to take your startup to the next level.

EDOTCO Group

Director Human Resources

Telenor

Reporting directly to CHRO as part of the HR Leadership team. Leading four independent units, including Talent & Culture, Rewards & Policies, Learning & Development and Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding.
- Lead company-wide engagement and business continuity plan to proactively address needs of employees and the organization. Uplifting employee effectiveness through structured action plans created using data driven insights. 
- Facilitate leadership workshops based on principles of self-reflection and feedback.
- Lead design and delivery of people solutions in the domains of talent management, performance management, culture and way of work. 
- Drive the Company’s Diversity and Inclusion agenda through several context driven interventions.
- Leadership development through individual development and succession planning for CXO-1 in close partnership with top management and regional/group talent team.
- POC for extended management, work closely with CEO to design and facilitate monthly meetings to create cohesion between senior management teams and drive the required leadership behaviors.
- Develop and drive strategy related to Rewards and Talent Acquisition. Provide direction and focus to teams.
- Led company-wide project on Organizational Design to improve span of control and develop a market competitive job titles framework. Co-led group wide research project on Hybrid Working which laid the foundation for Flexible Way of Work for Telenor Pakistan.

Was heading the department in acting capacity from Mar 2020 till Oct 2022.

Head of Organizational Development 

Ensured the right strategy is developed and executed so that the talent acquisition unit is adding value to the business. Had a team of 5 direct reports. 
- Worked with senior management on successful executive level position placements.
- Enhanced recruitment and onboarding experience for internal and external partners by focusing on continuous improvement and digitizing the process.
- Developed a strong Employer Brand positioning through innovative digital mediums and partnerships with talent communities.

Senior Manager Talent Acquisition and Employer Branding

Partnered with senior executives including the CEO, CXOs for Corporate Affairs, Finance and HR, their departmental heads and extended teams. Worked on creating alignment between divisional strategies and HR plans. This included having a fit for purpose organization structure, developing right talent management / development programs and ensuring optimal reward structures. Led a team of two Generalists. 
- Led People Strategy 2019-2020 development for Telenor Pakistan and rolled out across the organization.
- Helped the leadership teams in driving mindset and culture change. Facilitated training sessions on Leadership topics. Developed and facilitated team building and collaboration sessions.
- Developed HR Functional Competency Model for structured development planning purposes.
- Successful Change Management across various divisions on several modernization and organizational design programs.
- Maintained high levels of employee effectiveness through a wide array of activities targeted towards engagement and enablement.

HR Business Partner - Corporate Functions

Virtual international assignment with Telenor Group. Reported to Telenor Group Head of Remuneration and Systems and had one Expert resource reporting. 
- Implemented the Job Architecture framework across BUs in different clusters, including Nordic, Central Eastern Europe, Developed and Emerging Asia. This included setting up project teams in all business units and training them on the model and implementation methodology.
- Led development of the model so that it continues to support the business strategy.
- Worked closely with the Group L&D, Talent and Reward teams in order to secure the model can be leveraged for core people processes.

Global Job Architecture Lead

Reported to the Head of Reward - South Asia Area and supported the team in execution of overall reward processes for three markets (Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), and led some area wide projects:
- Salary Review Process – including salary surveys, developing proposals for annual increments and getting approvals from local and regional governing bodies.
- Training HR Business Partners on Reward processes.
- Total Benefits Review for Sri Lanka.
- Review of Reward and Recognition Schemes for SAA.

Reward Manager - South Asia Area

Reported to Area Head of HR, South Asia Area and as a member of local HR Leadership Team, worked closely with HR Business Partners and Center of Expertise teams. I was leading a team of 10 (generalists and experts).
- Developed and implemented HR Cycle Plan in the areas of Recruitment, Learning, Payroll and MIS.
- Managed the end to end recruitment process, including onboarding. Worked towards developing recruitment and assessing capability for leaders.
- Worked closely with HRBPs to implement pragmatic development plans for key talent.
- Developed a sustainable, high calibre talent pipeline with the right skills and mind-set within the Services Unit.

International Assignment: Completed a three months assignment as HR Business Partner Marketing at British American Tobacco Korea. Was mainly responsible for rolling out of new Performance Management System. Also led a project on ‘Implications of Aging Field Force in Marketing’.

Employee Services Manager - Corporate

Was based at the factory and reported to Factory Head of HR. Led a team of 4 specialists. 
- Partnered with the Leadership Teams in formulation and execution of Talent, Learning, Engagement and Organizational Development Strategies.
- Led the implementation of Global Operations People Capability Framework through active engagement of managers at different levels.
- Designed and facilitated ‘Line of Sight’ workshops to create alignment between corporate, functional and individual KPI’s.
- Led the ‘Aligned Career Paths’ Project for BAT South Asia Area by identifying critical roles and linking them to the competencies they help develop.
- Developed positive working relations with the union and ensured timely resolution of worker’s issues like welfare, individual grievances, promotions, training and development etc.

HR Business Partner – Leaf / Operations

Reported to Head of Talent and OD and worked closely with functional talent leads on corporate Talent agenda.  
- Developed Talent Sourcing Strategy and ensured seamless execution of end to end recruitment process including competence-based interviews, Assessment Centers, finalizing of resources for hiring and bringing them onboard through Corporate Induction Program.
- Introduced, developed and implemented ‘Battle of Minds’, an employer branding activity to position BAT as employer of choice by engaging talent in target University campuses throughout Pakistan. 
- Ensured the development of Management Trainees as per the Global guidelines.

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Sumaiya Noor

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