Danica Coonan

Mercer Island, Washington, United States

Senior Product Manager, Platform Services and Emerging Technologies

Available for:

Video Call

I have over 10 years of experience delivering delightful software products, platforms, and processes for user segments that span industries across Academia, Communications, Financial Services, Global Development, and Healthcare at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I have a track record of taking products from concept to launch, including an Investment Management Platform to manage the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s $7B of annual grant and contract spend.

I am a seasoned cross-functional collaborator, regularly partnering with HR, IT, Finance, Legal, and programmatic teams. I enjoy helping people create outcome-based plans that help them focus their efforts. I also enjoy designing and facilitating workshops/conversations to get the best from divergent thinking.

I am a recent addition to Autodesk. I spent the past 13 years working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focused on process improvement, product management, and program management. I have a Lean / Six Sigma background and enjoy making processes and products work better for customers and internal teams.

At the Gates Foundation, I worked across 30 different strategy and operational teams to streamline our grant and contract-making processes. Once we stabilized those processes, I then worked with internal and external stakeholders to develop the product vision and roadmap for a Salesforce-based investment-making platform. I partnered with engineering, design, and other product managers to create and ship features spanning core UI, collaboration, tasks, notifications, workflow automation, payments, approvals, and financial reporting.

Other miscellaneous experiences include:
- Partnering with the Gates Foundation's Chief Financial Officer as a co-lead for the division's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) program
- Building an Airtable database to support the Controller's Strategic Roadmap, Program Management, and Project Management efforts
- Leading the Gates Foundation's "Day 2" New Hire Orientation & multiple training sessions for local and international staff
- Leading Request for Proposal (RFP) efforts, including the creation of scoring rubrics
- Strategizing and executing user testing, change management, and communications for product and process transformations
- Leading agile/SCRUM process (sprint planning, retrospectives, daily stand-ups, etc.)