Leonor Cogneau
Fractional CPO and Product Transformation Advisor
Bio
Free mentoring: I offer free 1:1 sessions to junior women only, specifically for feedback on your resume or portfolio. That's the scope, and it's intentional (I'd rather go deep with fewer people than spread thin). For anything else: (career pivots, leadership transitions, UX/Product maturity, advisory etc) reach out on LinkedIn and we'll figure out if I can help. About me: I'm a fractional CPO and product transformation advisor. I help scaling companies bring structure, clarity, and direction to how they build products and run their product orgs — OKRs, operating models, team design, prioritization frameworks. Previously: CPO at Fastback (largest B2B automotive marketplace in Benelux) and Group Head of UX at CARSOME (Southeast Asia's largest car e-commerce platform, $2B valuation), where I scaled a team from 3 to 28 across 5 countries. Passionate by nurturing the next Product leaders, have taught 150+ students since 2020.
Expertise
Building a team
Hard to beat me at this. Built and scaled a UX department from 3 to 28 members while maintaining 95% retention rate during my 2.5y tenure as a Head of UX at tech unicorn CARSOME. That meant establishing killer onboarding processes, career frameworks, and team rituals that became standard across a 1000+ person organization. Created sustainable practices for hiring, developing, and retaining design talent.
Career guidance
Guided 150+ professionals through UX career transitions as an instructor at Nanyang Technological University and CareerFoundry. I currently mentor designers on ADPList, focusing on career development and leadership skills. Previous students have landed roles at companies like Netflix, JP Morgan, and UOB (Bank of Singapore)
Customer success
Fostered strong collaborations between UX, CX, and Customer Support teams to create seamless customer experiences. Implemented regular user research and mystery shopping programs, translating customer feedback into actionable product improvements while breaking down silos between departments.
Design / UX
9+ years of UX experience across automotive, banking, and e-commerce industries in Europe and Southeast Asia. Formerly Head of UX at CARSOME (tech unicorn), where I scaled the UX team from 3 to 28 practitioners and turned UX into the company's competitive advantage. Previously: UX instructor at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) and mentor of 150+ professionals through CareerFoundry, with students landing jobs at Netflix, JP Morgan, TikTok.
Imposter syndrome
Navigated leadership challenges as a young female Head of UX in a tech unicorn, developing strategies to overcome imposter syndrome while leading a team of talented UX professionals mostly older than me. Now help others build confidence and find their authentic leadership style, particularly women in tech facing similar challenges.
Leadership
Experienced in building high-performing teams in high-growth environments. Scaled a UX team from 3 to 28 practitioners across 5 countries while maintaining 95% retention rate over my tenure of 2.5 years. Have been nurturing future leaders for years, both in my own team and pro bono as a mentor.
Operations
Led UX for complex internal tools serving 4000+ employees across logistics, supply chain, and car inspection operations. Product Team operations wise, I established DesignOps practices that increased design delivery speed by 35%.
User research
8 years experience conducting user research in banking, supply chain and ecommerce. At tech unicorn CARSOME, I increased the user research adoption by 320% across product teams. Implemented various research methods such as usability testing, mystery shopping, and user interviews. Established scalable research processes and trained teams on research best practices.
Toolkit
Confluence
7 years of experienceCreated and maintained comprehensive knowledge bases for UX and product teams, including standardized PRD templates and documentation guidelines. Established centralized information architecture that improved team efficiency and onboarding processes.
Figma
9 years of experienceCreated and unified design systems on Figma for major financial institutions (UOB Bank, Permata Bank) and tech companies (CARSOME, RinggitPlus). Experienced in establishing Figma best practices, including repository management and team workflows. Led the shift from Professional to Organization Plan. Often use FigJam for large Design Thinking workshops. Recognized thought leader in the Figma community, speaking at Figma's official Malaysia launch event.
Maze
6 years of experienceUsed Maze for rapid usability testing and design validation across multiple products. Created test flows for both consumer apps and internal tools, training team members on running unmoderated tests efficiently. A year later though, we switched to UserTesting because resourcing and technical bugs.
UserTesting
5 years of experienceLed the sourcing process of a usability testing tool for the Product team myself. The verdict was UserTesting at the time. Led remote user testing initiatives, creating test plans and moderator scripts for multiple products. Trained team members on best practices for conducting and analyzing usability tests, establishing scalable research operations.
Amplitude
5 years of experienceTrained my UX team on implementing and analyzing product metrics using Amplitude. Established tracking frameworks for design decisions and user behavior, enabling data-driven design improvements across multiple products.
Hotjar
6 years of experienceUsed Hotjar across multiple products to analyze user behavior through heatmaps and session recordings. Trained designers to use these insights for data-driven design improvements and user journey optimization.
JIRA
9 years of experienceImplemented UX-focused JIRA workflows and established standardized templates for design operations across large product teams. Created guidelines for UX ticket creation and management, improving collaboration between design, product, and engineering teams.