Joel Taylor

I like to learn about new ways of working, co-create with others, and share my learnings. I’ve worked in many parts of the software industry from programmer & analyst to my current role in product management. I’m currently in the process of becoming a better speaker and leader through toastmasters.

Senior Technical Product Manager with 15+ years of experience in the SaaS enterprise software industry supporting asset-intensive industries. Passionate about working with customers on product discovery, understanding their end-to-end processes, and translating requirements into outcomes that drive real business value.

Skills

Product Management & Strategy

Project Lifecycle Management Steering products from conception through launch, utilizing industry insights and customer feedback to guide product development and discovery.

Product-Led Customer Engagement Product discovery via iterative prototyping to translate business requirements into cost-effective and scalable platform solutions — validated iteratively with customers and tech leads.

Data & Analytics Combining qualitative surveys and study frameworks with environment telemetry and metadata to evaluate multiple dimensions of project performance.

Technical Proficiencies

Software Development Experienced in multiple languages and frameworks including C#, Entity Framework, and JavaScript. Proficient with Visual Studio, VS Code, and PowerShell.

Database Management Skilled in SQL Server management and performance optimization using Red Gate SQL Developer Tool Belt and SolarWinds Database Analyzer.

Cloud Computing & Virtualization Well-versed in deploying and managing applications on cloud and containerized platforms including Docker and Microsoft Azure.

Version Control & CI/CD Proficient in Git and Subversion; experienced integrating continuous integration/continuous deployment pipelines.

Drive & Communication

Agile Experienced with SCRUM and lean methodologies focused on hands-on experimentation to create minimum verifiable learnings in short, focused sprints.

Stakeholder Engagement Cross-functional experience working with customers, partners, and internal teams to gather requirements, define measures, and deliver solutions that address pain points and drive value.

Cross-functional Leadership Effective in partnering across departments to align technology development with strategic business goals.

Experience

IFS — Technical Product Manager, Platform AI

October 2024 – Present · Remote

  • Create product-led, outcome-based vision and roadmaps aligning cross-functional stakeholders for multi-tenanted SaaS AI platform features.
  • Analyze market requirements, emerging technology, and competitor capabilities to ensure the platform remains relevant.
  • Drive technology discovery with vendors, partners, customers, and sales to deliver transparent and governed AI systems.

IFS — Innovation Product Manager, IFS Labs

April 2022 – October 2024 · Remote

  • Led cross-functional trials with engineering excellence for new R&D tooling (e.g., GitHub Copilot), using the SPACE framework (a modified DORA methodology) to track benefits across groups of up to 400 software engineers.
  • Led company-wide hackathons to drive innovation, culminating in 175+ participants across 24+ teams with outcomes of 3 new R&D AI research projects.
  • Provided thought leadership through external blog articles and internal alignment documents.
  • Turned product vision into highly polished live demo stories recognized by press and senior leadership as exceptional, delivered at trade shows and industry events.
  • Collaborated with new and existing vendors and technology partners to establish technical requirements, budget, and vision to scale solutions incorporating IoT hardware and software.

IFS — Lead Software Engineer, IFS Labs

June 2019 – April 2022 · Remote

  • Quantified business value with customers during Business Value Engineering exercises to identify core problems.
  • Scoped, iteratively prototyped, and demoed solutions to gauge fit quickly.
  • Built physical demos for industrial applications including enterprise software integrated with head-mounted displays, IoT-enabled electronic ware labeling, and other integrated hardware solutions.

IFS — Lead Software Engineer, FSM (Field Service Management)

February 2018 – May 2019 · Brookfield, WI

  • Improved the FSM installer and Azure cloud components for consistent deployment into Azure App Services.
  • Increased DevOps automation using PowerShell scripts and C# installer changes for Jenkins CI pipelines, phasing out manual processes.
  • Scoped and developed the initial server-side components for the new OpenID Connect-based SSO authentication feature in FSM 6.
  • Mentored and coached junior team members and participated in all Agile ceremonies.

Wind Lake Solutions — Sr. Programmer Analyst

March 2012 – February 2018 · Mukwonago, WI

  • Technical Lead for SPANS, an enterprise SaaS product targeting power and telecom utilities managing complex B2B technology for asset-intensive industrial customers.
  • Managed full SDLC phases and served as Scrum Master, leading the full product lifecycle from requirements to deployment.
  • Drove a multi-year migration to a robust AWS cloud environment, showcasing technical leadership in scaling B2B SaaS infrastructure.

Taylor Consulting — Sole Proprietor, DevOps & Consulting

August 2001 – March 2012 · West Allis, WI

Designed and wrote custom software, databases, and websites while serving as a technology generalist.

Selected Projects:

  • Airbase One (Crawford, CO) — Maintained web server infrastructure for dozens of e-commerce sites; wrote tooling to maintain, deploy, backup, and migrate as needed.
  • Aviation Labs Oil Analysis (Houston, TX / Kenner, LA) — Migrated an existing DOS-based laboratory application into a client-server .NET application with enhanced statistical reporting across aircraft engine models.
  • Wind Lake Solutions (Mukwonago, WI) — Programmer for the initial SPANS Utility Pole Joint Use Information System ASP.NET SaaS prototype.

Education

Product Strategy Certificate · Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management May – July 2023 · Online Discovering, Developing, Managing, and Marketing Products as a Business.

B.S. Computer Science · Carroll University August 1998 – May 2002 · Waukesha, WI

  • Honors Program
  • Graduated with Honors
  • Delta Sigma Nu Scholastic Honor Society, 2002

Volunteer

Club President · Tosa Medical Toastmasters July 2025 – Present

Toastmasters clubs are volunteer-led organizations that give individuals the opportunity to practice leading, mentoring, and public speaking in a safe and supportive environment. During my tenure I led a hybrid meeting format change — equipping all in-person attendees with lapel mics so that online participants have a first-class, fully interactive experience equivalent to being in the room.