Merve Salmaz - Product Manager, Corporate Investment Products

Q: Where is Merve based?

Merve is based in Istanbul, Turkey .

Q: What languages does Merve speak?

Merve speaks the following languages: Turkish (Native), English (Advanced), German (Intermediate), Chinese (Elementary) .

Q: How many years of experience does Merve have?

Merve has at least 7 years of experience. During this time, Merve has worked in at least 5 different roles and for 6 different companies . The average length of individual experience is 1 year and 11 months . Note that Merve may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

Q: What is Merve's latest experience?

Merve's most recent position is Product Manager, Corporate Investment Products at Garanti BBVA .

Q: What companies has Merve worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Merve has worked for Garanti BBVA , Intenseye , TalentGrid , and 4D Sight .

Q: Which industries is Merve most experienced in?

Merve is most experienced in industries like Information Technology (IT) , Banking and Finance , and Advertising . Merve also has some experience in Media, Entertainment and Publishing and Energy .

Q: Which business areas is Merve most experienced in?

Merve is most experienced in business areas like Product Development , Research and Development (R&D) , and Information Technology (IT) . Merve also has some experience in Marketing , Finance , and Business Intelligence .

Q: Which industries has Merve worked in recently?

Merve has recently worked in industries like Information Technology (IT) , Advertising , Media, and Entertainment and Publishing .

Q: Which business areas has Merve worked in recently?

Merve has recently worked in business areas like Product Development , Research and Development (R&D) , and Finance .

Recommended expert

Istanbul, Turkey

Experience

May 2025 - Present

11 months

Product Manager, Corporate Investment Products

Garanti BBVA

Supervising the development of investment and treasury solutions for enterprise and commercial clients, driving adoption across digital channels.
Leading API integrations with the Agricultural Stock Exchange and Central Clearing Institutions to enable EWR trading, collateral management, and automated settlement.
Managing domestic and international stock account trading flows across internet and mobile banking, improving corporate clients’ digital experience and transaction efficiency.
Collaborating with compliance, legal, investment banking, and engineering to design microservice-based system interactions between internal and external platforms.
Developing product KPIs and OKRs aligned with the bank’s digital transformation strategy, supporting a 13% YoY increase in investment transaction volume.

Sep 2023 - Jul 2024

11 months

Product Owner AI ML

Intenseye

Managed the development and launch of Chief resulting in a 30% reduction in manual safety report generation time and enhancing decision-making efficiency for enterprise clients
Implemented a conversational UI that allowed users to interact naturally with Chief, increasing user engagement by 40% and boosting user satisfaction scores by 20% based on post-deployment surveys
Executed Gen AI and LLM Proof of Concept (PoC)’s using the models of OpenAI, Anthropic and Gemini showcasing expertise in integrating cutting-edge technologies into product strategy.

Jan 2023 - Apr 2023

4 months

Head of Product

TalentGrid

Successfully managed the complete lifecycle of three products—B2B, B2C, and internal platforms—and led strategic initiatives from initial discovery through to execution
Increased sourcing efficiency by 40% by launching a browser extension that streamlined talent partner processes, replacing manual Notion entries with a unified platform
Expanded the product team by hiring and mentoring a junior product manager and a UX/UI designer, resulting in a 25% reduction in feature delivery time.

Jul 2022 - Jan 2023

7 months

Product Manager

TalentGrid

Spearheaded the development of a B2B platform for corporate clients, which reduced hiring cycle time by 30% by allowing end-to-end management of the recruitment process
Collaborated closely with sales and engineering teams to develop a seamless user experience for clients, resulting in a 20% reduction in onboarding time for new users
Increased community growth by 66% per user through the successful launch of TalentGrid's first referral program, enhancing user engagement and network effects.

Jan 2021 - Jul 2022

1 year 7 months

Senior Product Manager

4D Sight

Increased company valuation by $65 million by leading the development of an ad marketplace platform from scratch, enabling streamers and brands to collaborate seamlessly with real-time ad placements and performance tracking
Reduced software bugs by 80% and improved development efficiency by building an in-house product team, transitioning from a low-quality outsourced solution to a high-performing internal software development lifecycle (SDLC)
Launched an MVP within 6 months by collaborating with a design agency, conducting comprehensive user research and interviews, and validating key design decisions, ensuring a strong product-market fit
Expanded the product team from 0 to 5 members, including developers and designers, which resulted in a 50% faster product iteration cycle and a more cohesive product development process.

Sep 2019 - Jan 2021

1 year 5 months

Product Manager

Kavaken

Led an engineering team of 4 data scientists and 4 software developers, collaborating with a UX designer, customer support, and other product teams to ensure continuous discovery and delivery
Developed and managed AI-driven modules for predictive maintenance, power optimization, sales forecasting, and outage tracking, addressing critical needs in the renewable energy sector
Achieved over 10% improvement in wind energy production forecast accuracy and implemented predictive maintenance with a 2-month advance warning for failures.

Feb 2019 - Sep 2019

8 months

Product Manager

Garanti BBVA

Managed and grew the open market & advice domain, overseeing the entire product life cycle
Contributed to the success of Digital Onboarding, Know Your Customer (KYC), and customer acquisition projects, demonstrating experience with first-time user experiences and customer lifecycle management
Boosted product reach by 12% by leading a successful local expansion strategy.

Jul 2017 - Jan 2019

1 year 7 months

Product Manager

Akbank

Led core mobile banking app development, driving digital customer growth from 4.7M to 6.7M and improving App Store rating to 4.8 within one year
Managed key innovative features including Face Recognition login, touchless ATM withdrawals via QR code, and AI-powered personalized advice integration
Collaborated with cross-functional teams and multiple business units to align vision, prioritize backlog, and ensure smooth project execution across 7 Agile teams.

Industries Experience

See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time. Longer bars indicate deeper hands-on experience, while shorter ones reflect targeted or project-based work.

Experienced in Banking and Finance (3 years), Information Technology (3 years), Advertising (1.5 years), Media and Entertainment (1.5 years), and Energy (1.5 years).

Banking and Finance

Information Technology

Advertising

Media and Entertainment

Energy

Business Areas Experience

The graph below provides a cumulative view of the freelancer's experience across multiple business areas, calculated from completed and active engagements. It highlights the areas where the freelancer has most frequently contributed to planning, execution, and delivery of business outcomes.

Experienced in Product Development (7.5 years), Research and Development (1.5 years), Information Technology (1.5 years), Finance (1 year), Business Intelligence (1 year), and Marketing (1 year).

Product Development

Research and Development

Information Technology

Finance

Business Intelligence

Marketing

Summary

Senior Product Manager with 8+years of experience leading cross-functional teams in fintech, AI, and digital banking.Currently driving the development of corporate investment and treasury products at Garanti BBVA, one of Europe’s most technologically advanced banks. Proven success building scalable API-based B2B solutions, AI-enabled analytics platforms, and data-driven decision systems across diverse domains including banking, energy, and SaaS. Known for blending strategic insight with technical fluency, aligning business goals, customer value, and engineering excellence. Outside of work, I enjoy crafting my own clothes and performing improv comedy, bringing creativity and adaptability to every aspect of my life.

Skills

Product Vision
Roadmapping And Product Strategy
User Research And Interview Techniques
Data-driven Decision Making & Analytics
Okr Setting And Tracking
A/b Testing
Go-to-market Strategy
Market Research And Competitive Analysis
User Experience (Ux) And User Interface (Ui) Design Principles
Product Lifecycle Management
Agile And Scrum Methodologies
Mvp Development
Sql
Api Integration
Machine Learning
Stakeholder Management
Cross-functional Team Leadership
Vendor And Outsourcing Management
Miro
Amplitude
Figma
Slack
Pendo
Productboard
Jira
Ml/ai
Mathematics
Statistics

Languages

Turkish

Native

English

Advanced

German

Intermediate

Chinese

Elementary

Education

Oct 2015 - Jun 2016

Shanghai University

Chinese · Shanghai, China

Oct 2013 - Jun 2017

Bogazici University

Bachelor's degree in International Trade · International Trade · Istanbul, Turkey

Profile

Created

December 2025

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Frequently asked questions

Do you have questions? Here you can find further information.

Where is Merve based?

Merve is based in Istanbul, Turkey.

What languages does Merve speak?

Merve speaks the following languages: Turkish (Native), English (Advanced), German (Intermediate), Chinese (Elementary).

How many years of experience does Merve have?

Merve has at least 7 years of experience. During this time, Merve has worked in at least 5 different roles and for 6 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 1 year and 11 months. Note that Merve may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

What roles would Merve be best suited for?

Based on recent experience, Merve would be well-suited for roles such as: Product Manager, Corporate Investment Products, Product Owner AI ML, Head of Product.

What is Merve's latest experience?

Merve's most recent position is Product Manager, Corporate Investment Products at Garanti BBVA.

What companies has Merve worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Merve has worked for Garanti BBVA, Intenseye, TalentGrid, and 4D Sight.

Which industries is Merve most experienced in?

Merve is most experienced in industries like Information Technology (IT), Banking and Finance, and Advertising. Merve also has some experience in Media, Entertainment and Publishing and Energy.

Which business areas is Merve most experienced in?

Merve is most experienced in business areas like Product Development, Research and Development (R&D), and Information Technology (IT). Merve also has some experience in Marketing, Finance, and Business Intelligence.

Which industries has Merve worked in recently?

Merve has recently worked in industries like Information Technology (IT), Advertising, Media, and Entertainment and Publishing.

Which business areas has Merve worked in recently?

Merve has recently worked in business areas like Product Development, Research and Development (R&D), and Finance.

What is Merve's education?

Merve holds a Bachelor in International Trade from Bogazici University.

What is the availability of Merve?

Merve is immediately available for suitable projects.

What is the rate of Merve?

Merve's rate depends on the specific project requirements. Please use the Meet button on the profile to schedule a meeting and discuss the details.