Helsinki · Finnish citizen

IT project manager. The bridge between business and engineering.

Delivery, change, and end-to-end client onboarding in regulated fintech. I make things happen against the odds while keeping the business objective at the centre.

Portrait of Natalia Koroleva
  • 75NPS — best of six countries
  • €1.5Mproject budgets delivered
  • 22FTE teams managed

About

The person who keeps developers and stakeholders talking.

My background sits on both sides of the table at once: IT delivery and commercial operations. I translate between developers and stakeholders without a third language in the middle, and keep a programme moving when the two start talking past each other.

Most of my recent work is fintech and debt management — end-to-end client onboarding, UAT, change on critical systems, and process documentation in regulated environments where the details are not optional.

Based in Helsinki. English fluent · Finnish intermediate · Russian native · Ukrainian basic.

Experience

Fifteen years of delivery, compounding.

  1. IT Project Manager

    Mar 2024 – present

    GF Money · Fintech

    • Made communication between business and IT straightforward; minimised disruption while changing critical systems and services.
    • Built a new balance-calculation system and a data warehouse so the business can reach data without a ticket queue.
    • Cut the backlog by 60% in three months.
    • CRM development, integrations, implementation, and UAT; decomposed work into detailed tasks for technical teams.
    • Launched two new products in two countries in one year.
    • Day-to-day team management, hiring developers, and conflict resolution.
    • Stood up the company’s Confluence from scratch; wrote CRM technical documentation and facilitated business-logic docs.
  2. IT Project Manager, Business Analyst

    Jan 2020 – Oct 2022

    Axactor, Zolva · Fintech debt collection · Client onboarding

    • Helped the business adopt a new way of working: clarified priorities, documented them, and established processes.
    • Core collection-system development, integrations, implementation, and UAT; resource and budget planning and control.
    • Launched a new core collection system for a new country through first GoLive in three months.
    • Owned end-to-end client onboarding; documented the process by client type and tooling.
    • Steering-committee packs, weekly reports, and closure reports; requirements for new features.
    • Wrote guides and ran training so users could actually use the new software.
  3. Junior Web Developer

    Aug 2019 – Dec 2019

    JAS Partners

    • Proof of concept: rebuilt the site as a React single-page application.
    • Architecture for the migration, implementation, and ongoing maintenance.
    • JSX, React, Bootstrap, Redux, Axios, AJAX, Highcharts, Firebase, Thunk, CSS Modules, Jest, Enzyme.
  4. Assistant Development Manager, Digital Services

    Aug 2016 – May 2018

    YIT Construction

    • Launched corporate and business sites on Episerver; UX/UI design.
    • Created and validated a social-media strategy for the Russian market and launched the channels.
    • Took a Scaled Agile Framework course and sat on the change-management team adopting SAFe.
    • Trained marketing specialists on Episerver, SharePoint, social communications, storytelling, and selling copy.
  5. Project Coordinator

    Jan 2011 – Dec 2015

    Multicultural Association of Porvoo

    • Event and project management, fundraising, grant applications, and budgets.
    • Recruited, coordinated, managed, and trained organisational volunteers.
    • Business consulting for immigrant members; coaching on motivation, CVs, and project management.
  6. Marketing & Communication Manager

    Jan 2005 – Dec 2010

    Financial companies & nuclear industry

    • Marketing and communication, public affairs, social media, reputation management, and branding.

Skills & tools

What I bring to a delivery team.

Core

  • Project management
  • Budgeting & cost analysis
  • Resource planning
  • Change management
  • UAT
  • Process documentation

Methods

  • Agile
  • Scrum
  • Kanban
  • SAFe

Tools & technical

  • Jira
  • Confluence
  • Monday
  • MS Project
  • Trello
  • JavaScript
  • Java
  • React
  • HTML/CSS

Languages

  • English — fluent
  • Finnish — intermediate
  • Russian — native
  • Ukrainian — basic

Education & certificates

Studied on both sides of the bridge.

Master’s — Professional Project Management

JAMK University of Applied Sciences · 2020 – present

Vocational qualification in ICT — Full-stack web developer

Business College Helsinki · 2019 – 2020

Marketing & Business Administration

Porvoo International College, Finland · 2011 – 2013

Diploma with highest honours — Marketing

MIRBIS Business School, Plekhanov Economic Academy · 2008

Master’s with highest honours — Philology

State Pedagogical University, Russia · 1998 – 2005

Professional courses

SAFe · Episerver · group facilitation · mental resilience · coaching (business, time, decision-making).

Volunteering with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, SAMHA, Sininauhasäätiö, and Luckan. Off the clock: Brazilian jiu-jitsu and screenwriting. References available on request.

Contact

Let’s talk about your next programme.

Based in Helsinki and open to the right delivery, programme, or PM role. The fastest way to reach me is email.


natalia.p.koroleva@gmail.com