Engineering Leadership · Team Leadership · Agile (Scrum & Kanban) · Hybrid Delivery · Stakeholder Management · Budget & Resource Planning · GDPR Compliance · SSDLC · Azure DevOps · iGaming · IoT · FinTech · InsurTech · Product Roadmap · Risk Management
JANEZ STEFANIC
Senior PM · Engineering & Delivery Leader · Development Center Management · iGaming · FinTech · InsurTech · 15+ yrs · Ljubljana
I help companies run tighter projects, ship better products and bridge product strategy and delivery execution – combining 15+ years of hands-on IT delivery with the business discipline of running my own company.
My career has taken me across some of the most demanding corners of the software industry: iGaming, telecom infrastructure, industrial IoT, FinTech & InsurTech, ERP consulting, and digital publishing & marketing. What connects them isn’t the sector — it’s the challenge. Complex products, regulated environments, cross-border teams, and the constant need to bridge engineering execution with business strategy.
At Comtrade Gaming I led delivery of multi-million EUR online gaming software with a 20+ person engineering team. At Aviat Networks I directed a €1M+ R&D hub expansion and implemented SSDLC governance for a Slovenian engineering center reporting to US headquarters and VPs. At Citadela I was Head of Development with full P&L accountability, reporting directly to CPO and CTO. Throughout, I’ve operated both as the technical decision-maker and the person responsible for people, process, and delivery outcomes.
I work best in environments where someone needs to own the whole picture — technical direction, team health, stakeholder alignment, and operational execution — without needing to be managed through it.
Based in Ljubljana. Open to roles across Slovenia and the EU or Remote.
My approach:
Trust, but verify. I give teams the autonomy to do their best work, and I stay close enough to the details to catch problems before they become crises.
Core strengths:
Engineering Leadership · Team Leadership · Agile (Scrum & Kanban) · Hybrid Delivery · Stakeholder Management · Budget & Resource Planning · GDPR Compliance · SSDLC · Azure DevOps · iGaming · IoT · FinTech · InsurTech · Product Roadmap · Risk Management
Personal information
Ljubljana, Slovenia (EU)
+386 41 795 755
janez.stefanic@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/janezstefanic/
Languages
Slovenian // Native
English // Advanced
Croatian // Professional
Serbian // Limited working
German // Basic
Management skills
- responsible for 20+ people
- team leadership (by example)
- multinational & diverse team
- understanding business side and P&L
- strategic planning
- vendor and contractor management
- coaching, mentoring and career paths
- organising work and units
- negotiating deals and contracts
Project Management
- Project Planning
- Resource Planning
- Project Analysis
- Team Management
- Cost Control
- Risk Management
- Stakeholders Management
- Agile methodologies (Scrum, XP, Kanban, Lean)
- Hybrid Agile methodologies
- Waterfall methodology
Product Management
- product business goals
- product feature goals
- product vision & roadmap
Professional skills
- committed & supportive
- quality control
- process driven
- organised & methodical
- attention for the details
- task focused
- great task juggler
- ability to work in a fast-paced environment
- understand other stakeholders
Other skills
- PjM / PdM (+ + + + +)
PPM Clarizen, Azure DevOps, Atlassian, Microsoft Project, PowerBI - UX (+ + +)
Figma, Microsoft Visio - Web development (+ + + + +)
PHP, HTML, JS, CSS, jQuery, MySQL - Graphic design (+ + + +)
Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Gimp - CMS dev & use (+ + + +)
WordPress (websites, themes, plugins …), Concrete5, Joomla, Drupal … - Web CSS Framework (+ + + +)
Materialize, Bootstrap - Web E-commerce dev (+ + +)
Magento, Presta Shop, WooCommerce - Web Code Framework (+ + +)
Codeigniter, Zend (1.9) - API dev & use (+ + +)
Rest, Soap - Social (+ +)
Google Analytics, Google Ad-Words, Facebook, LinkedIn … - IT Administration (+ +)
Network, MikroTik Router, OSs - Programming (+)
Python, iOS Swift 2.x , Java, C/C++/C#, Delphi - Mac & Windows user
Senior Consultant – IT Delivery & Operations
December 2025 – Present
Freelancer
- Overseeing regional R&D hubs and local engineering operations
- Providing plug-and-play project and product management
- Bridging strategy and engineering across multiple sectors
- Auditing workflows and fixing Agile bottlenecks
- Managing cross-border teams and executive reporting
Project Manager
June 2023 – December 2025
Aviat Networks
- Software Projects management
- SSDLC implementation
- Led vendor selection and contract negotiations for SSDLC implementation and LAB expansion, ensuring compliance with company standards
- Directed 1M EUR LAB expansion and infrastructure scaling project for Slovenian R&D hub
- Managing external partners, vendors, and contractors
- Oversee other PMs and help PMO Director
- Small HW Project management (250k budget / project)
- PowerBI reports for VPs (ETL & DWH included)
Senior Project Manager
January 2023 – June 2023
Adacta d.o.o.
- Project management
- Work management
- Team management (15+ TMs)
- Client coordination
Software Project Manager / Product Manager / Scrum Master
May 2022 – January 2023
Danfoss Trata d.o.o.
- Project Manager for LHM (Leanheat® Monitor): application for remote management, monitoring and optimization etc. (devices connected to heating systems)
- Road Map consulting
- Daily Meetings with stakeholders
- Team management (10+ TMs) with career path involvement
- Work Items (Azure DevOps) preparation & refinements
- Working also as a Scrum Master
Project Manager
November 2019 – May 2022
Comtrade d.o.o.
- Project Manager for Online Gaming Software with yearly budget of several millions EUR
- Work management
- Team management (20+ TMs) with career path involvement
- Leading client & internal meetings
- Client coordination
- Contractor coordination
- Coordination between different teams/projects
Senior Project Manager
July 2019 – October 2019
Ascaldera d.o.o.
- Project Management
- Team Leading (5+ TMs)
- Partially responsible for retention and health of development department
- Managing external partners and contractors
- Web & UX Consulting
- Odoo ERP & CRM Consulting
- Integration Consulting
- Sales pitches
Technical Consultant
September 2017 – June 2019
Ascaldera d.o.o.
- IT Consulting
- ITSM Consulting
- Odoo ERP & CRM Consulting
- Security Policies
- Web & UX Consulting
- Business Analyst & Technical Writer
Project Manager / Product Manager / Consultant
December 2016 – August 2017
Freelancer
- Project Management
- Product Management
- Ensuring product is GDPR compliant
- Team Leading
- IT Consulting
- Linking Marketing and Development
- Web & UX Consulting
- Web Application Architecture
- Web Developing (Frontend & Backend)
- Business Analyst
- Technical Writer
Development Project Manager / Product Manager
Januar 2015 – November 2016
Citadela d.o.o. / Edition Digital Ltd.
- Managing 1.5Mio EUR product
- Management of development projects
- Management of production projects
- Ensuring product is GDPR compliant
- Head of Development (10+ TMs)
- Work & people management
- Partially responsible for recruitment, retention, and health of development department
- Mentoring and coaching resulting knowledge transfer
- Reporting to CPO & CTO
- Search for new & innovative solutions
- Encourage & challenge the team to be better
- Architecture of some back-office systems
- Architecture of some front-end systems
- iOS Application development
- New product features
Consultant & Developer
December 2014
Freelancer
- Product Management
- GDPR compliance
- Web & UX Consulting
- Web Application Architecture
- Web Developing (Frontend & Backend)
- Web Application development
Head of Customer Service
March 2010 – November 2014
Sonce.net d.o.o.
- Managing the department and organization processes in the department
- Team management (3 TMs)
- Mentoring and coaching resulting in internal promotions and/or retention
- Responsible for recruitment (support department) and retention
- Ensuring GDPR compliance
- Cost saving implementation
- P&L Manement
- Ensuring contractual obligations to the clients
- Coordinating maintenance contracts
- Project management within the department
- Monthly reports preparation
- Designing facebook applications, web sites, web applications and web shops
- Sales of services to existing customers
- Leading sales meetings with the client