Currently seeking my next opportunity for excellence as a remote based professional.

April Mazzola

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Senior Technical Product Lead & Product Owner

Driving Scalable, Accessible, and Human-Centered Experiences

― My background

I am a Senior Technical Product Lead & Product Owner who thrives at the intersection of complex technology, user-centric strategy, and high-stakes regulatory requirements.

With over 20 years of experience evolving from a full-stack developer to an executive leader, I bridge the gap between technical engineering, marketing vision, and legal compliance. I don’t just manage platforms; I understand the systems behind them—allowing me to architect high-velocity Product Operations that turn business needs into actionable, high-impact roadmaps.

The "Regulated Challenge" While many find strict governance and enterprise constraints grueling, I treat these environments as a mental workout. I specialize in finding the "third path" during critical moments—whether it’s negotiating a 33% discount and expanded feature set with Contentful leadership to secure a high-stakes renewal, or executing direct-action strategies to decommission fraudulent clone sites at the registrar level to preserve brand integrity. I ensure that "regulated" never means "static."

An Advocate for Clarity & Process My leadership philosophy is rooted in clarity over assumptions. I am a transparent advocate for the SDLC, balancing honest feedback with a commitment to protecting the development cycle. I take pride in ensuring that engineering squads have the "clean air" to build excellence—often by building the custom triage and intake systems they need to succeed—while stakeholders have a data-backed line of sight to the "why" behind every epic and feature.

My Mission: Accessibility as a Growth Driver I challenge the notion that accessibility is an "edge case." Instead, I view WCAG compliance as a primary driver of SEO, a tool for universal readability, and a strategic business advantage. Inclusive design isn't just a requirement; it’s a gateway to an undertapped market and a core component of a healthy digital product.

Core Impact Areas:

Strategic Orchestration: Specialized in "0 to 1" product builds (Jenius Bank) and global enterprise overhauls (Unilever).
Agile Architecture: Expert in defining the structural hierarchy of Epics, Stories, and Spikes, and optimizing Jira/Confluence ecosystems for maximum team velocity.
Performance & Data: Proven record of 600% organic growth through technical SEO and high-integrity GA4 analytics infrastructure.
Compliance & Risk: Expert in navigating WCAG, ACAA, and financial privacy mandates without sacrificing UX or delivery speed.

― Skills

Digital & Product Strategy
Platform & Web Architecture
Enterprise CMS & Content Operations
SEO & Organic Growth Strategy
Accessibility & Regulatory Compliance
Cross-Functional Delivery Leadership

April Mazzola and her family in front of Cinderella's Castle at Disney World

― Beyond Work

Beyond my professional work, my life is centered on my family, creativity, and a shared love of making things that last.

My husband and I were major contributors to the early development of the National Videogame Museum, restoring machines for their collection—he focused on woodworking and cabinet restoration, and I worked on board repair and wiring. Our work and our photo remains on display there today.

That same spirit continues at home, where we maintain our own home arcade and enjoy hands-on projects. My creative interests also include gaming, 3D printing functional and experimental designs, and fiber arts such as knitting and crochet.

Most of all, I value time with my family—my husband, our daughter, our son, and his spouse. We spend as much time as we can at Disney World, drawn to places that blend storytelling, engineering, and immersive design. Whether building, restoring, or simply exploring together, curiosity and shared experience are at the center of our life outside of work.

― Work History

Simpler Trading - Remote

Analytics Lead Product Owner
Jul 2021 – May 2022

Served as the primary lead for the enterprise transition to GA4, managing the GTM tagging and data infrastructure, including server-side tagging, to provide the marketing team with high-integrity performance metrics.
Secured enterprise revenue streams by executing a direct-action digital brand protection strategy; leveraged registrar-level protocols to successfully decommission fraudulent clone sites and neutralize phishing threats without the latency of legal filings.
Partnered with leadership to translate complex funnel analytics into actionable product insights, optimizing the user journey for high-traffic subscription platforms.

― Education

Jenius Bank (SMBC) - Remote

VP Digital Platform & Experience Owner
May 2022 – Mar 2026

As the inaugural Product Owner to deploy live, established the end-to-end Jira workflow and structural hierarchy for Epics, Stories, and Spikes to ensure a repeatable, high-velocity delivery model.
Transformed a fragmented, multi-departmental request process into a centralized Product Operations workflow, utilizing automated intake systems resulting in a 40% reduction in request-to-backlog cycle time and significantly improved stakeholder transparency.
Managed a dynamic 12-month roadmap in Miro and built a custom milestone calculator in Confluence to provide stakeholders with delivery timelines based on actual development and QA cycles.
Navigated extreme regulatory complexity, translating legal, security, and WCAG accessibility mandates into a high-priority technical backlog without compromising launch timelines or user experience.
Directed cross-functional squads consisting of engineering, marketing, and compliance stakeholders, serving as the critical bridge between business vision and technical execution.
Created comprehensive test scenarios and executed end-to-end User Acceptance Testing (UAT) within Xray, ensuring 100% alignment with regulatory security standards and the Definition of Done.

TIGI (Unilever) - Remote / Lewisville, TX

Web Manager
Jul 2018 – July 2021

Project Manager (Jul 2018 – Sep 2019)

Secured the 2021 Markie Award for Most Improved Customer Experience by spearheading a comprehensive B2B site overhaul that delivered a 30% increase in sales.
Achieved #1 rank in digital compliance across the global Unilever ecosystem by auditing and remediating assets for WCAG accessibility and data privacy.
Managed global digital operations across 7 international markets, standardizing B2B and B2C delivery frameworks to ensure technical and brand consistency for a multi-million dollar global portfolio.
Integrated complex e-commerce solutions, including where to buy platform, PriceSpider, while managing cross-regional vendor collaborations for professional and retail channels.
Modernized analytics infrastructure by deploying GA4, improving data-driven strategy for senior leadership.

University of Texas at Dallas - Richardson, TX

Web Manager
Jul 2017 – May 2018

Boosted QA compliance from 60% to 98% for the Jonsson School of Engineering, significantly improving accessibility scores and site health.
Earned the 2018 Gold Award for the digital redesign of the school’s magazine site, enhancing mobile engagement and user retention.

American Airlines - Fort Worth, TX

Associate Web Editor
Mar 2015 – Apr 2017

Ensured 100% regulatory compliance across global digital platforms by adhering to strict WCAG and ACAA (Air Carrier Access Act) accessibility standards, mitigating legal risk for a Fortune 50 enterprise.
Improved content deployment efficiency within complex enterprise CMS workflows, ensuring real-time accuracy for corporate communications and customer-facing digital touchpoints.
Standardized digital accessibility protocols across the corporate site, serving as a subject matter expert for inclusive design and screen-reader compatibility.