Senior Product Manager · Platform

I turn complex platforms into scalable products.

Senior Platform PM focused on security, AI and data infrastructure. I read code, challenge architecture and align operating models so platforms deliver real adoption and business value.

  • ~$60K per month in coordination overhead removed at Bank of America by restructuring decision rights across security ops, engineering and compliance
  • $500K in platform funding secured at Splunk. 12% adoption growth across 2,000+ enterprise customers
  • $5M in enterprise renewals held at Yahoo Edgecast through 2 acquisitions by re-sequencing the roadmap around what customers said in renewal calls
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What I Am Looking For

Senior PM, Platform

Security. Data infrastructure. AI systems.

  • Platform programs at an inflection point that have outgrown their current structure
  • Engineering with real influence on the roadmap, not just a delivery queue
  • Cross-functional integration treated as core product work, not coordination overhead
Ryan K. McDonald

How I operate

What makes this different

I hold a patent for the Fast Channels delivery architecture. I read code, review PRs and challenge architecture from inside the system. That engineering foundation never left, which is why I can diagnose whether a stalled program is a roadmap problem, an architecture problem or an operating model problem.

The pattern is consistent: most programs fail on governance, not execution. Ownership is unclear. Outcomes are not defined. Roadmap and architecture have drifted apart. Fix those and delivery restores itself.

I have done this at Splunk, Bank of America, Yahoo Edgecast, Cognizant, Accenture and Disney across security, streaming, healthcare and media. Ascendvent is my own product practice. Checkin is live at checkin.ascendvent.life.

~$60K/mo
coordination overhead removed at Bank of America
$500K
platform funding secured at Splunk
50M/mo
test throughput scaled in 6 weeks
10→3 wks
onboarding reduction after product redesign

Selected Work

Case Studies

Bank of America Omni-SIEM (Anvilogic + Splunk) project cover
Enterprise · Security LeadershipStrategyInfluence

Bank of America Omni-SIEM (Anvilogic + Splunk)

3 teams, 1 stalled SIEM migration, 0 shared roadmap. Decision rights were undefined, outcomes were capability lists. $60K/month was burning in coordination overhead. I defined ownership, set the migration sequence and delivered the first plan security ops, engineering and compliance could all execute against.

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Splunk, Security Content Platform project cover
Enterprise · Security LeadershipStrategyCraft

Splunk, Security Content Platform

Security customers struggled to find and adopt detection content scattered across 3 systems. I unified engineering and product around a centralized discovery platform, driving a 12% adoption lift and cutting onboarding from 10 weeks to 3.

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Yahoo Edgecast, Session-Based Playback project cover
Enterprise · Streaming LeadershipStrategyCraft

Yahoo Edgecast, Session-Based Playback

Live-stream viewers had no way to pause, rewind or replay. It was a growing retention risk. I led the zero-to-one launch of session-based playback, driving a 35% engagement lift while reducing cloud storage costs by 18%.

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Abbott BinaxNOW, Scaling COVID Testing project cover
Enterprise · Healthcare LeadershipGritInfluence

Abbott BinaxNOW, Scaling COVID Testing

Took over Abbott's BinaxNOW population management platform and recruited a cross-functional team to scale from pilot to 50 million tests per month, enabling mass-market at-home COVID testing when the country needed it most.

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Ascendvent, AOSI®: AI-Native Product Development project cover
AI · Product LeadershipStrategyGrit

Ascendvent, AOSI®: AI-Native Product Development

I started building a B2C AI confidence app. Structured discovery killed that hypothesis and I pivoted to the real customer: coaches, tutors and mentors drowning in ops. Checkin is now live, replacing email check-ins with structured workflows that surface signal to practitioners.

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ESPN, Streaming & Ad Monetization project cover
Media · Streaming LeadershipStrategyCraft

ESPN, Streaming & Ad Monetization

Led ESPN's migration from Flash to HTML5 live streaming, drove a 25% uplift in video engagement and 60% increase in ad insertion success and architected the platform pivot from FreeWheel to Google Ad Manager across Disney.

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From People I've Worked With

What Others Say

On Leadership
“Showed grace under pressure and still tried to help everyone be great at their roles. That kind of leadership stays with you.”
— M.J., Former Peer
On Strategy
“Challenged rigid ways, coached junior PMs to always evolve and pushed us to question the status quo instead of trusting playbooks blindly.”
— M.R., Former Peer
On Craft
“His ability to quickly get proof of concepts to working code enabled deeper conversations with stakeholders about the what-ifs.”
— C.W., Former Peer
On Empathy
“A relator who reads the room, connects one-on-one and knows when to push and when to back off. He understood the reality of the situation.”
— K.T., Former Peer
On Influence
“Convinced us to adopt Lean Canvas as part of our product process. I still use it to this day and now recommend it to others.”
— E.K., Former Peer
On Grit
“I've never seen him give up. Strong, optimistic and dedicated. That's the opinion I've formed over years of working together.”
— A.S., Former Peer
On Orchestration
“You were the glue that kept all the moving pieces working together. Your responsiveness and technical insight made the job easier. You never just patched things—you explained what was happening behind the scenes.”
— A.S., Former Peer

Signal HoriZon

Writing

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Get in Touch

Let's talk.

Targeting Senior PM and Director roles at security, data infrastructure and AI systems companies where platform complexity is unsolved and engineering has real influence on the roadmap.

Prefer a faster route? Chat with my GPT. It knows my case studies and writing.