Syed Faizan Amjad · Senior Technical Product & Project Manager · PMP · Author
Hire me as your fractional product lead
More than ten years leading cross-functional teams from discovery to launch across SaaS, FinTech, HealthTech and AI. I bring structure to the messy middle: clear roadmaps, honest estimates, and software that actually reaches users.
Who I work with
Three situations I'm brought into again and again. If yours is close, we should probably talk.
"We have the vision and a dev team — but nobody actually owns the backlog."
I step in as your product owner: I turn the vision into PRDs and a ruthless MVP scope, set up a lean sprint cadence, define launch metrics, and protect the team from mid-sprint chaos.
"Delivery keeps slipping, stakeholders are anxious, and no one has the whole picture."
I run the program end-to-end: integrated plan, RAID log, dependency and vendor management, and executive reporting that means leadership hears about risks from me first — not from a missed date.
"Our processes live in people's heads and a dozen spreadsheets. We need systems."
I map how the business really works, redesign the process, specify the systems and integrations (including where AI automation genuinely pays off), then manage the build and the adoption.
What I do
Most product failures aren't engineering failures — they're gaps between what was asked, what was built and what was needed. I sit in those gaps and close them.
Turning a founder's vision or a stakeholder's wish-list into a validated, prioritised roadmap with clear success metrics.
Running multi-team programs with predictable cadence — the right ceremonies, the right amount of process, and no surprises for leadership.
Mapping how a business really works, then designing the processes, data flows and integrations that let software support it.
Selected work
A few representative engagements across the domains I work in most. Client names are withheld under NDA; details available on request.
Heading project management and business analysis for a clinical laboratory software vendor serving hospital networks across the US.
Read case studyLeading discovery, requirements and phased delivery to move paper-based citizen services onto a secure digital platform.
Read case studyActing product owner for an early-stage payments platform — from problem framing and PRDs through launch and the first iteration cycles.
Read case studyHow I work
Every engagement is different, but the arc is the same: understand deeply, commit carefully, deliver in slices, and keep everyone honest with data.
Stakeholder interviews, current-state mapping and user research to find the real problem behind the requested feature.
A written PRD or program charter: scope, non-goals, success metrics, risks and a roadmap the team actually believes in.
Short cycles, demoable increments, transparent boards. Blockers get surfaced in hours, not at the retrospective.
Launch is the start. I instrument outcomes, review them with stakeholders and feed learning straight back into the backlog.
A bit about me
I started out writing software, and I still think like someone who has to build the thing — which is exactly why I stopped building and started making sure the right thing gets built.
After a B.S. in Software Engineering I spent my early career as a business analyst and project manager for startups and SMEs, mostly through Upwork, where the work compounded into 176 completed contracts and a Top Rated Plus badge. Along the way I earned my PMP, completed a master's in Product Management at the University of Virginia, and co-founded a software firm so I'd never lose touch with how delivery actually feels from the inside.
Today I head project management and business analysis for a US healthcare software vendor, take on a small number of fractional and advisory engagements alongside it, and I'm the author of The AI-Native Project Manager, a book about redesigning the project lifecycle for teams of people and AI. I work asynchronously by default, write things down, and believe the kindest thing a PM can do is tell you the truth about the date.
A New Project Lifecycle for People and AI
AI now drafts the charter, builds the schedule and writes the status report. The project lifecycle was not designed for that. In the book I set out the Governed Loop: five phases, three human checks, and an Autonomy Dial for deciding how much the machine does. Written from ten years of running multi-team programs, not from the sidelines.
Ways to work together
No packages to squeeze into. These are the three shapes most engagements naturally take — through Upwork or a direct contract, whichever you prefer.
I embed with your team as the product owner you don't have yet — running discovery, owning the roadmap and backlog, and being the single point of accountability for what ships.
For the delivery that can't slip: a migration, a vendor-led build, a regulated implementation. I set up governance, run the plan, manage risk and report to leadership until it's live.
When you're about to start building — or you've stalled — a focused sprint of interviews, process mapping and specification that leaves you with a build-ready PRD and backlog.
Track record
Upwork's Top Rated Plus badge is reserved for the top tier of freelancers on large, long-running contracts. Every rating below is public and verifiable.
What clients say
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Questions clients ask
All three, depending on the shape of the work. Fractional roles are usually a weekly retainer, deliveries are milestone-based, and discovery sprints are fixed price. I'll recommend one after our first conversation — and I'm happy to contract through Upwork if you prefer its payment protection.
I work US Eastern hours that overlap with the UK in the mornings and with my delivery team in Pakistan. Most of my clients are in the US and UK. I work async-first — written updates, recorded demos, decisions logged — so progress never waits for a meeting.
Yes. I'm fluent in Jira, Confluence, ClickUp, Monday.com, Asana, Notion and Linear, and I've administered Jira for teams from five people to fifty. If you have no process yet, I'll set up something lean — and I promise not to introduce a ceremony you don't need.
Product and delivery leadership is what you're hiring me for. If you also need an engineering team, I can bring one through Aptagon Technologies, the software firm I co-founded — as a clearly separate, optional arrangement. Plenty of clients use me purely as an independent PM alongside their own developers or vendors.
Advisory calls and discovery sprints can usually begin within a week. Fractional and delivery roles typically start within one to two weeks, depending on current commitments. If your timeline is tight, say so in your message and I'll tell you honestly what's possible.
Thirty minutes, no pitch deck. You describe where you are and what's not working; I ask questions and tell you plainly whether I'm the right person and how I'd approach it. You get a short written summary afterwards either way.
Syed Faizan Amjad is a PMP-certified Senior Technical Product and Project Manager with more than ten years leading delivery across SaaS, FinTech, HealthTech, GovTech and AI. He heads project management and business analysis for a US healthcare software vendor, co-founded Aptagon Technologies, holds an M.S. in Product Management from the University of Virginia, and is the author of The AI-Native Project Manager.
It's a book for working project managers about what happens to the project lifecycle when AI does the drafting, tracking and reporting. It sets out a redesigned lifecycle, the Governed Loop: five phases (Frame, Simulate, Orchestrate, Sense, Learn), three human checks (Intent, Verification, Accountability) and an Autonomy Dial for deciding how much the machine does. You can read the preface and see where to buy it here.
Tell me where you are and what "done" would look like. I'll reply within a business day with an honest take — even if the answer is that you don't need me.
