Digital Product Manager · Mobile Apps · Banking · Travel · 0→1
I turn product chaos into clear, adopted, high-trust flows.
I'm Ilnur Shabanov, a product manager based in Tbilisi. I work where structure matters: mobile banking, operational flows, and early-stage products that need sharp positioning, clean execution, and calm delivery under pressure.
Tbilisi, Georgia
Open to relocation
English / Russian
Fintech, Travel, B2B
Career edge
Hockey captain → product operator
I bring the same discipline to product that I learned in elite team sports: read the game fast, align the team, execute cleanly.
Selected Work
Three kinds of product work I know how to drive.
Scale, international MVPs, and ambitious consumer concepts. Different constraints, same job: make the product clearer, more usable, and more commercially viable.
Ak Bars Bank · Product Manager · 2025—Present
Owning high-frequency flows in an 800k+ MAU banking product.
I own core mobile banking flows around onboarding and payments. My work combines funnel analysis, delivery discipline, and product cleanup in a regulated environment where adoption and stability matter equally.
Outcome
Improved onboarding and payment conversion by 12%.
Reliability
Reduced critical issue resolution time by 30% through tighter product-engineering alignment.
Context
In the wider stabilization program, the team moved 84.9% of clients to the latest three app versions in Q1 2026.
800k+
Monthly active users
+12%
Conversion uplift
-30%
Incident resolution time
84.9%
Users on latest 3 versions
Jira
Confluence
Figma
Firebase
AppMetrica
Qlik
Kazan International Institute · Product Manager · 2023—2025
Packaging Abu Dhabi as a playable city for Russian-speaking travelers.
For Ghazal, I led product strategy and roadmap definition for an international tourism app built around city quests, events, and a mascot-led brand experience. The goal was not just utility, but a product people would want to share.
0→MVP
Took the product from concept to MVP and early iterations.
Audience
Positioned for an estimated 253M Russian-speaking market.
Market signal
The UAE reached about 2M trips from Russian tourists in 2024, making the use case commercially relevant.
0→MVP
International launch path
253M
Language market
2M
Trips to UAE in 2024
UGC
Mascot-led media loop
Entrepreneurial concept · Tourism venture
Reframing city tourism as a game loop, not a brochure.
For the "Bez Viz" concept, I worked on a city-quest product for younger travelers: personalized routes, reward loops, partner monetization, and a city-by-city rollout strategy. It was a strong exercise in packaging user value and business logic together.
Audience
Focused on travelers aged 14–30 who want social, interactive city experiences.
Business model
Freemium product with partner commissions, premium routes, and expansion logic.
Scale logic
Deck positioned a path to 5+ cities, starting with Kazan and Moscow.
$600M
TAM from the concept deck
14–30
Core audience
5+
City expansion thesis
Prototype
Mobile demo prepared
Other Signals
I can work on both polished user experiences and messy internal logic.
The user-facing side matters, but so do permissions, business rules, specs, rollout mechanics, and the uncomfortable edge cases that usually break delivery.
OpenWorkRT
Operational flow design
I can translate salary rules, bonuses, penalties, and admin workflows into understandable mobile steps. This is the kind of product work where clarity matters more than decoration.
Happy Ice
0→1 in sports tech
Launched a regional mobile app for hockey players with the Hockey Federation of Tatarstan and grew it to 1000+ users.
Sber
Requirement clarity under banking constraints
Worked as a product / system analyst inside banking, tightening the handoff between business and engineering, reducing rework, and making delivery decisions more precise.
Captain mindset
Pressure is familiar territory.
Before product, I was a professional hockey player and captain of the Ak Bars youth team. That background still shapes how I run a room, prioritize under pressure, and keep teams moving.
How I Work
I like product work where the stakes are real and the brief is still fuzzy.
Strategy with adoption in mind
I don't treat roadmap, positioning, and rollout as separate jobs. If a feature is not understood and adopted, it is not done.
Data-aware, not dashboard-drunk
I use funnels, MAU, retention, support signals, and qualitative feedback together to decide what should move next.
Strong with business and engineering
I can move from product narrative to operational detail, which is why I fit well in regulated and cross-functional environments.
Experience Snapshot
Product Manager
Ak Bars Bank · 2025—Present
Core mobile banking flows, conversion, stabilization, analytics.
Product / System Analyst
Sber · 2025
Requirements, delivery clarity, business-engineering alignment.
Product Manager
Kazan International Institute · 2023—2025
International product strategy, Ghazal roadmap, MVP delivery.
Product Manager
Hockey Federation of RT · 2024—2025
Happy Ice launch, concept, UX, early user growth.
Professional Hockey Player
HC Ak Bars · 2017—2021
Youth team captain. Leadership foundation before moving into product.
Figma
Jira
Confluence
SQL
Firebase
AppMetrica
Miro
Qlik
Contact
If you need a PM who can own the product story and the messy middle, let's talk.
Best fit: mobile products, fintech, travel, consumer, or B2B workflows that need both strategic thinking and solid execution.