Martin Christov

2023 — Present

Remote / Nairobi

Product Lead — Akvo

Worked alongside the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and international stakeholders to define, design and coordinate the implementation of the Global Plastics Hub — a platform supporting global collaboration around plastic pollution initiatives.

• Led product discovery workshops with UNEP stakeholders to uncover requirements, align priorities and shape product direction.
• Translated complex policy, environmental and organizational requirements into intuitive digital workflows.
• Coordinated designers and developers throughout the delivery process.
• Balanced user experience, technical feasibility and project constraints when defining product solutions.
• Collaborated closely with engineering teams to ensure consistent implementation and product quality.
• Facilitated communication between technical teams and non-technical stakeholders.
• Drove iterative product improvements through continuous stakeholder feedback.
• Leveraged modern AI tools to accelerate research, specification writing, UX exploration and implementation.

2019 — 2021

Remote / Amsterdam

Technical Product Lead — Akvo

• Owned the front-end and UX of Akvo's Monitoring & Evaluation platform, used by a Dutch NGO's global partner network to win government and EU funding.
• Rebuilt a complex product from scratch with a much-improved design and functionality, working hand-in-hand with the in-house designer.

2017 — 2018

Sofia

Lead Front-end & UX — Sensika Technologies

• Led a complete redesign of a mature media monitoring platform, dramatically simplifying user workflows without sacrificing functionality.
• Established a scalable design system that improved consistency across the platform.
• Shipped a few apps with React and React Native.

2017 — 2018

Dubai

Lead Front-end — Bookanyservice.com

• Led front-end for an "Amazon for services" marketplace: a high-performance PWA plus a cross-platform iOS/Android app.

2015 — 2016

Sofia

Fractional Product Lead & Technical Consultant — StartupCommando

• Founded a studio helping startups and companies ship products. Ran client discovery, designed UX/UI, coordinated a small team, and delivered across sectors — from clinical cancer-research software to a fintech POS and a think-tank's digital platform.

2012 — 2015

Sofia

Co-founder & Product Lead — GymRealm

• Co-founded a B2B SaaS for gym management. Owned product and UX, ran user interviews, managed the team, and helped raise multiple rounds — turning a dated interface into an above-industry-standard product.

2008 — 2012

Freelance Product & Front-end — Independent

• Worked with dozens of international clients across multiple industries.
• Learned requirement discovery and how to communicate with non-technical stakeholders.
• Developed the ability to rapidly understand unfamiliar business domains.