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SWAT Mobility - Product Manager (May 2025)

Product Manager (People Transport Solutions): Mobility Innovation Framework

Prepared by Muhammad Irsyad Bin Mohd Ramthan

Note: This document outlines my strategic approach to the Product Manager position at SWAT Mobility

What I'll Be Doing

Key Responsibilities

  • Drive product strategy and roadmap for the People Transport vertical (Public Transport and Employee Transport solutions)
  • Coordinate with cross-functional teams (Sales, Project Management, Design, Engineering) to gather and prioritize requirements
  • Create detailed product specifications and translate them into actionable development plans
  • Analyze operational data to identify optimization opportunities and inform product decisions
  • Manage a suite of applications serving multiple user types: passengers, drivers, fleet operators, and API partners
  • Support growth and scaling of SWAT's People Transport solutions across Southeast Asia and Japan

How I'll Approach the Job

Essential Knowledge Base

Transport Operations & Optimization

  • Demand Responsive Transport (DRT): Understanding the core principles of dynamic routing based on real-time demand
  • Route Optimization Algorithms: Knowledge of how algorithms balance efficiency, ETA, capacity, and other constraints
  • Transportation Operations: First/last mile challenges, fleet management requirements, and scheduling complexities
  • Regional Market Considerations: Southeast Asian and Japanese transportation infrastructure and user needs

Product Management Fundamentals

  • User-Centered Design: Methodologies for identifying and solving transport pain points across user types
  • B2B/B2B2C Solutions: Enterprise sales cycles, stakeholder management, and value proposition development
  • API Integration: Technical understanding of how SWAT's solutions integrate with MaaS providers and other platforms
  • Data Analytics: Methods for tracking product performance and translating insights into feature improvements

Core Product Areas

  1. Passenger Experience Solutions Purpose: Enable seamless, convenient transport booking and journey management for end users Key features/components:
    • Mobile booking application with intuitive interface and real-time updates
    • Journey planning and scheduling with predictive ETA capabilities
    • User profile management and preference settings for recurring journeys
    • Payment integration and fare management systems
  2. Operations Management Platform Purpose: Provide comprehensive fleet management capabilities for transport operators Key features/components:
    • Dynamic route optimization dashboard with real-time fleet visualization
    • Schedule management and driver assignment tools
    • Performance analytics and operational efficiency metrics
    • Exception handling and contingency management features
  3. Enterprise Administration & Integration Purpose: Allow enterprise clients to configure, monitor, and integrate SWAT solutions Key features/components:
    • Customizable authentication and access management
    • Configuration tools for branding, business rules, and policy implementation
    • Analytics dashboard for transport utilization and sustainability metrics
    • API integration framework for MaaS providers and third-party applications

First Month Plan

Week 1-2: Knowledge & Relationship Building

  • Complete comprehensive onboarding to understand SWAT's technology stack and solution architecture
  • Shadow sales and customer success teams on client interactions to understand market positioning
  • Review existing product documentation, roadmaps, and backlog to identify current priorities
  • Establish relationships with key stakeholders across engineering, design, sales, and operations teams
  • Analyze user feedback and feature requests to identify patterns and opportunities

Week 3-4: Quick Wins & Roadmap Planning

  • Identify 2-3 high-impact, low-effort improvements that can be implemented quickly
  • Document initial observations and recommendations for product enhancements
  • Draft preliminary roadmap updates based on business priorities and user needs
  • Begin participation in product development cycle, including sprint planning and reviews
  • Establish baseline metrics for measuring product performance and impact

First Three Months Plan

Month 1: Foundation Building (detailed above)

Month 2: Process Optimization

  • Streamline requirements gathering and documentation process across teams
  • Establish formal prioritization framework for feature development aligned with business goals
  • Conduct deep-dive analysis of user journey friction points and identify improvement opportunities
  • Develop data-driven insights dashboard for tracking product KPIs
  • Begin formal user research program to validate assumptions and test new concepts

Month 3: Strategic Planning & Execution

  • Finalize medium-term product roadmap with clear milestones and success metrics
  • Initiate development on at least one major feature improvement based on first 60 days of insights
  • Create structured feedback loop with key clients to inform product evolution
  • Establish cross-functional product council to ensure alignment across departments
  • Develop regional strategy considerations for different market adaptations (SEA vs Japan)

Key Success Metrics

For Passenger Experience

  • Increase in user retention and recurring bookings
  • Reduction in booking abandonment rate
  • Improvement in user satisfaction scores
  • Growth in active users across target markets

For Operations Platform

  • Reduction in manual intervention requirements
  • Increase in routes successfully optimized automatically
  • Improvement in on-time performance
  • Reduction in operational exceptions and issues

For Enterprise Administration

  • Increase in self-service configuration by enterprise clients
  • Growth in API integration adoptions
  • Reduction in time-to-value for new client implementations
  • Improvement in client-reported ROI metrics (vehicle utilization, mileage reduction)

My Unique Value-Add

  • Southeast Asian Market Experience: Extensive on-ground experience working with users and stakeholders across multiple Southeast Asian countries, aligning with SWAT's regional focus
  • Cross-Functional Team Leadership: Proven track record of building and managing product development teams from the ground up, with expertise in coordinating between technical and non-technical stakeholders
  • User Testing & Validation Expertise: Hands-on experience conducting user research and testing in diverse environments, ensuring products meet real-world needs
  • Data-Driven Decision Making: Strong analytical background with experience translating operational data into product improvements and efficiency gains
  • Technical Product Background: Engineering education combined with practical product management experience enables effective collaboration with development teams

Sources: SWAT Mobility Website, Job Description, Past Experience at AgriG8 and Hatch Technologies, Regional Transport Market Research