Mostafa Motaweh.
Some teams can’t deliver — usually it’s not the people, it’s the process. Over a decade of fixing what gets in the way: legacy systems, shifting goalposts, and structures that create work instead of removing it. 275,000+ users across six continents — on budget, ahead of schedule.
Over a decade of delivery.
I’m Mostafa, a product and engineering leader with over a decade of hands-on delivery across fintech, insurance, SaaS, and livestock technology. I’ve led cross-functional teams at Nasdaq, shipped SaaS to 261,000 users across 4,400 organisations, migrated waterfall shops to agile, and rebuilt a DOS-era claims system in React so younger consultants could actually use it. My favourite projects tend to sit where a spreadsheet meets a paddock meets a production incident.
Before software I was a paramedic and firefighter. That background is the reason I stay calm on day two of a new role when production breaks — and the reason I care about the people behind the keyboards more than the Jira board in front of them.
I currently lead product, engineering, and IT at ABRI, the Agricultural Business Research Institute, owned by the University of New England. When I took over, the team was capable but buried — leadership interference, constantly shifting goalposts, and a culture where people meant to lead were stuck on the tools or writing reports that went nowhere. Within months the team was shipping under budget and ahead of schedule, and we’ve stayed there.
A core part of that turnaround is believing in the brilliant people I work with, giving them the space to do what they do best, and leveraging the right tools. AI in the hands of a skilled developer is a force multiplier. The lesson is simple: invest in the people first. The tool amplifies whatever you give it.
Selected roles.
- 2026 —
Product & Engineering Manager ABRI — Agricultural Business Research Institute
Leads product, engineering, and IT at a genetic research institute owned by the University of New England. Took over a development team that was capable but buried — unclear governance, constant roadmap changes, and broken processes. Within months the team was shipping under budget and ahead of schedule. Introduced AI tooling that tripled backend engineers’ output and enabled them to ship production frontend code for the first time.
- 2025
Agile Product Owner Auto & General
Helped modernise a legacy claims process by designing and delivering an API between internal systems and repairers, improving the customer journey.
- 2024
Agile Product Manager PCN Strategies
Led a cross-functional scrum team building a Dynamics 365 replacement for a U.S. non-profit. Promoted within three months. Delivered PayPal and other payment API integrations under strict compliance.
- 2023 — 24
Solution Engineer EML Payments
Australian-market subject-matter expert for EML’s payment platform. Onboarded clients and architected REST integrations between EML and client systems.
- 2016 — 22
Agile Development Lead · Product Owner Nasdaq
Led product delivery across three international scrum teams for Nasdaq’s Corporate Governance suite — 261,000 users across 4,400 organisations. Migrated three SaaS products off a legacy in-house login to Okta SSO, cutting password-reset tickets by 42%. Localised into 30 languages. Recipient of the 2020 International Service Excellence Award.
- 2015 —
Technical Lead & IT Consultant Elite Livestock Auctions · StockLive
Delivered the first Australian cattle auction to stream live video and audio in real time. Scaled the startup to multi-million dollar revenue in its first year. Ongoing consulting relationship since 2015.
- 2012 — 16
Mac Certified Repair Technician Apple
Developed a counterfeit-detection methodology using voltmeter readings to identify tampered iPhone processors during trade-ins. Diagnosed complex hardware faults and resolved escalated service cases that other technicians could not close.
- Earlier
Medic II / Firefighter · Critical Care Medic City of Alexandria Fire Department · Physicians Transport Service
Before the keyboard came the radio. Years on ambulances and fire trucks teach you things that show up later in standups, outages, and stakeholder meetings — composure, triage, and knowing which alarm to answer first. Served on a medical protocol review committee, helping write and refine new life-saving field protocols used by medics on-road.
Selected projects.
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BreedLOGIC
ABRI’s new registry-first platform for breed societies. Animal records, pedigrees, member workflows, and registrations for registrars; public search, sale catalogues, EBVs, and a Mating Predictor for breeders, buyers, and agents. Built on the BREEDPLAN data backbone.
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CompEngine
Competition management platform for powerlifting and strongman meets. Real-time scoring, attempt tracking, and live display boards — built for gyms running their own events.
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Studbooks
Sales catalogue platform for livestock auctions and stud sales. iOS app and two web apps serving three distinct user flows.
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Nasdaq Boardvantage
Enterprise board portal SaaS for corporate governance teams. Delivered as Agile Development Lead during Nasdaq tenure.
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Nasdaq Directors Desk
Secure board collaboration platform for directors and corporate secretaries. Part of the Nasdaq Corporate Solutions suite.
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Project Ghan
Self-hosted infrastructure with real-time service monitoring, media servers, and analytics — all running on a personal homelab.
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Duelyst
Open-source revival of Duelyst, a tactical collectible card game by Counterplay Games (3,800+ stars on GitHub). Recompiled from source and self-hosted.
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Photography
Personal photography portfolio.
Work with me.
Available for product and engineering
leadership consulting.
- Team turnarounds
- Legacy modernisation
- AI enablement & dev productivity
- Fractional CTO / Interim leadership