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Héctor Medina Toledo
Growth & Research Ops Specialist, Product Manager (EN/ESP)
About
I help driven organizations bridge the gap between the the unknown and business strategy.
I do this by discussing your strategic goals with you, leading the discovery of your customer's needs to find actionable insights aligned to your strategy and accompaning you in the implantation of changes through structured project management with clear communication.
PORTFOLIO
Leading a High-Velocity UX Research Pilot (Rapid Cycles)
Services: Agile Project Management • Research Strategy • Mixed Methods (Qual/Quant)• Cross-Border Management (LATAM)
Timeline: 6 Months
Client Type: International Ride-Sharing & Transportation Company
The Challenge: An international ride-sharing giant needed to drastically shorten their feedback loop. They launched an experimental initiative to see if it was possible to generate rigorous qualitative and quantitative insights on a weekly cadence—moving from "monthly deep dives" to "real-time market pulses."
My Approach: I led the operations for this 24-week marathon, coordinating research teams across Mexico and Colombia to deliver a complete report every 7 days.
Process Engineering: I utilized a strict RACI matrix and Agile sprint planning to synchronize data collection and analysis across borders, ensuring no bottlenecks delayed the Friday deliverables.
Stakeholder Alignment: Conducted weekly alignment meetings to adjust the research scope in real-time based on the previous week's findings.
The Impact: Operationalized "Rapid Research" as a Service. We successfully delivered 24 consecutive weekly reports without missing a deadline. The pilot was so successful that the client purchased other research workflows for their other service lines.
Timeline: 6 Months
Client Type: International Ride-Sharing & Transportation Company
The Challenge: An international ride-sharing giant needed to drastically shorten their feedback loop. They launched an experimental initiative to see if it was possible to generate rigorous qualitative and quantitative insights on a weekly cadence—moving from "monthly deep dives" to "real-time market pulses."
My Approach: I led the operations for this 24-week marathon, coordinating research teams across Mexico and Colombia to deliver a complete report every 7 days.
Process Engineering: I utilized a strict RACI matrix and Agile sprint planning to synchronize data collection and analysis across borders, ensuring no bottlenecks delayed the Friday deliverables.
Stakeholder Alignment: Conducted weekly alignment meetings to adjust the research scope in real-time based on the previous week's findings.
The Impact: Operationalized "Rapid Research" as a Service. We successfully delivered 24 consecutive weekly reports without missing a deadline. The pilot was so successful that the client purchased other research workflows for their other service lines.
State-Wide Process Mapping & Workshop Facilitation
Services: Qualitative Research • Research Strategy• Focus Group Moderation • Remote Facilitation (Miro) • Process Mapping
Timeline: 9 Months
Client: Public Health Sector
The Challenge: The "Access to Wellness" initiative provides flexible funding for high-risk adults with severe mental illness across Ohio. Because each of the participating counties had the liberty to implement the program differently, the state lacked visibility into how funds were actually being used. The client needed to map these varied implementation processes to understand the landscape.
My approach: I co-designed and facilitated a series of high-volume workshops to capture data from diverse stakeholders.
Visual Collaboration: Utilized Miro to conduct live, synchronous process mapping with county representatives.
Scalable Facilitation: Managed 4 simultaneous breakout sessions per workshop, guiding moderators to ensure consistent data capture across all counties.
The Impact: We successfully mapped the operational workflows of the participating counties. This consolidated data allowed the client to identify distinct implementation patterns, spot "best practice" tools, and create a knowledge-sharing framework to improve program efficiency state-wide.
Timeline: 9 Months
Client: Public Health Sector
The Challenge: The "Access to Wellness" initiative provides flexible funding for high-risk adults with severe mental illness across Ohio. Because each of the participating counties had the liberty to implement the program differently, the state lacked visibility into how funds were actually being used. The client needed to map these varied implementation processes to understand the landscape.
My approach: I co-designed and facilitated a series of high-volume workshops to capture data from diverse stakeholders.
Visual Collaboration: Utilized Miro to conduct live, synchronous process mapping with county representatives.
Scalable Facilitation: Managed 4 simultaneous breakout sessions per workshop, guiding moderators to ensure consistent data capture across all counties.
The Impact: We successfully mapped the operational workflows of the participating counties. This consolidated data allowed the client to identify distinct implementation patterns, spot "best practice" tools, and create a knowledge-sharing framework to improve program efficiency state-wide.
B2B Service-to-Product Creation
Services: Research Strategy• Quantitative Research • Qualitative Research • New Product Development (Pricing Strategy, Market Validation)
Timeline:14 Months
Client Type: Internal Strategy Initiative
The Challenge: To increase profit margins and scalability, the leadership team at Scale Strategic Solutions wanted to transform their high-touch consulting services into a standardized training product. I was tasked with leading this "productization" lifecycle, taking the concept from hypothesis to MVP.
My Approach I adopted a lean product framework (via the Vecteris Productize Pathway) to validate the market before building.
Market Research: Conducted 16 in-depth interviews and 2 surveys to map the B2B buyer journey and develop user personas.
Pricing Strategy: Executed a Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity analysis to determine the optimal price point for the new offering.
Concept Testing: Validated the initial roadmap against real customer pain points.
The Impact: My research prevented a costly launch into a high-risk market. While we successfully developed a training MVP for one market segment (Social Workers), my analysis revealed that the second target segment (Nurses) faced insurmountable regulatory hurdles and unfavorable political shifts. This insight allowed leadership to pivot resources early, avoiding significant financial loss on a non-viable market.
Timeline:14 Months
Client Type: Internal Strategy Initiative
The Challenge: To increase profit margins and scalability, the leadership team at Scale Strategic Solutions wanted to transform their high-touch consulting services into a standardized training product. I was tasked with leading this "productization" lifecycle, taking the concept from hypothesis to MVP.
My Approach I adopted a lean product framework (via the Vecteris Productize Pathway) to validate the market before building.
Market Research: Conducted 16 in-depth interviews and 2 surveys to map the B2B buyer journey and develop user personas.
Pricing Strategy: Executed a Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity analysis to determine the optimal price point for the new offering.
Concept Testing: Validated the initial roadmap against real customer pain points.
The Impact: My research prevented a costly launch into a high-risk market. While we successfully developed a training MVP for one market segment (Social Workers), my analysis revealed that the second target segment (Nurses) faced insurmountable regulatory hurdles and unfavorable political shifts. This insight allowed leadership to pivot resources early, avoiding significant financial loss on a non-viable market.
Co-Creating a Park with the Community
Services: Qualitative Research • Community Co-Creation • Multi-Generational Interviewing • Public Sector Consulting
Timeline: 6 Months
Client Type: Greater Parks of Cincinnati
The Challenge: Greater Parks of Cincinnati and local government stakeholders planned to develop a new community park on the historic Procter & Gamble estate. To ensure the investment actually served the neighborhood's needs, the architectural firm in charge of designing the park required deep insight into local desires, safety concerns, and preferred features
My Approach: I utilized a "Co-Design" methodology to gather feedback from diverse demographics, ensuring the park was built with the community, not just for them.
Adult Residents: Conducted in-depth interviews to map out fears (safety/lighting) and functional needs (event spaces/walking paths).
Youth Engagement: Analyzed the findings of a session moderated by our partners where children were asked to draw what they would like in the park in order to capture the creative needs of the park's primary users.
The Impact: Our findings directly influenced the master plan for the site. The architectural firm used our "Community Requirements" to design specific features of the park on Werk Road. The research ensured that the final build included high-value amenities requested by residents, fostering a sense of ownership within the neighborhood.
Timeline: 6 Months
Client Type: Greater Parks of Cincinnati
The Challenge: Greater Parks of Cincinnati and local government stakeholders planned to develop a new community park on the historic Procter & Gamble estate. To ensure the investment actually served the neighborhood's needs, the architectural firm in charge of designing the park required deep insight into local desires, safety concerns, and preferred features
My Approach: I utilized a "Co-Design" methodology to gather feedback from diverse demographics, ensuring the park was built with the community, not just for them.
Adult Residents: Conducted in-depth interviews to map out fears (safety/lighting) and functional needs (event spaces/walking paths).
Youth Engagement: Analyzed the findings of a session moderated by our partners where children were asked to draw what they would like in the park in order to capture the creative needs of the park's primary users.
The Impact: Our findings directly influenced the master plan for the site. The architectural firm used our "Community Requirements" to design specific features of the park on Werk Road. The research ensured that the final build included high-value amenities requested by residents, fostering a sense of ownership within the neighborhood.
Managing Global Research Operations (13 Countries)
Services: International Project Management • Qualitative Research • Cross-Cultural Recruitment • Remote Team Leadership
Timeline: 9 Months
Client Type: International Non-Profit (Generations)
The Challenge "Generations," an international non-profit, needed to evaluate the implementation of their "training-to-work" programs globally. The challenge was standardizing data collection across diverse cultures and time zones to understand how local nuances were affecting program fidelity.
My Approach: I served as the central Operations Lead for a qualitative study spanning 13 countries (including Kenya, Singapore, India, France, and the UK).
Team Recruitment: I sourced and onboarded a multilingual research team (French, Portuguese, and English speakers) to ensure native-language data collection.
Operational Rigor: Established a RACI matrix to clarify roles across borders and utilized asynchronous communication workflows (Slack) to manage the project across wildly different time zones.
Quality Control: Personally audited interviews in real-time to ensure the remote teams were adhering to the research objectives.
The Impact The study provided the first unified view of their global program performance. The stakeholders were so impressed by the operational smoothness and the depth of the insights that they extended the contract and purchased additional services to implement our recommendations.
Timeline: 9 Months
Client Type: International Non-Profit (Generations)
The Challenge "Generations," an international non-profit, needed to evaluate the implementation of their "training-to-work" programs globally. The challenge was standardizing data collection across diverse cultures and time zones to understand how local nuances were affecting program fidelity.
My Approach: I served as the central Operations Lead for a qualitative study spanning 13 countries (including Kenya, Singapore, India, France, and the UK).
Team Recruitment: I sourced and onboarded a multilingual research team (French, Portuguese, and English speakers) to ensure native-language data collection.
Operational Rigor: Established a RACI matrix to clarify roles across borders and utilized asynchronous communication workflows (Slack) to manage the project across wildly different time zones.
Quality Control: Personally audited interviews in real-time to ensure the remote teams were adhering to the research objectives.
The Impact The study provided the first unified view of their global program performance. The stakeholders were so impressed by the operational smoothness and the depth of the insights that they extended the contract and purchased additional services to implement our recommendations.
Qualitative Fieldwork & Patient Safety Monitoring
Services: Qualitative Research • Clinical Interviewing • Protocol Adherence
Timeline: 12 Months
Client: International Research Firm
The Challenge: A clinical team needed to capture the "Before and After" experience of patients in a chronic neurological disease trial. To ensure the data was valid, they required an unbiased, third-party researcher to conduct the interviews and—crucially—to act as a safety filter, identifying any immediate patient risks or protocol deviations during the conversation.
My Approach I executed the qualitative fieldwork for a longitudinal patient cohort, strictly adhering to the provided interview guide to ensure data consistency.
Neutral Data Collection: Conducted entry and exit interviews, maintaining a neutral, non-leading stance to capture the patient's raw, uninfluenced experience.
Risk Monitoring: Served as the frontline observer. While gathering data, I actively monitored for "red flags"—such as unreported side effects or signs of extreme distress—and escalated these issues to the principal investigators immediately.
The Impact: High-Fidelity Data Capture & Safety Assurance. I successfully delivered 100% of the required interview audio and transcripts.
Timeline: 12 Months
Client: International Research Firm
The Challenge: A clinical team needed to capture the "Before and After" experience of patients in a chronic neurological disease trial. To ensure the data was valid, they required an unbiased, third-party researcher to conduct the interviews and—crucially—to act as a safety filter, identifying any immediate patient risks or protocol deviations during the conversation.
My Approach I executed the qualitative fieldwork for a longitudinal patient cohort, strictly adhering to the provided interview guide to ensure data consistency.
Neutral Data Collection: Conducted entry and exit interviews, maintaining a neutral, non-leading stance to capture the patient's raw, uninfluenced experience.
Risk Monitoring: Served as the frontline observer. While gathering data, I actively monitored for "red flags"—such as unreported side effects or signs of extreme distress—and escalated these issues to the principal investigators immediately.
The Impact: High-Fidelity Data Capture & Safety Assurance. I successfully delivered 100% of the required interview audio and transcripts.
Education
University of Cincinnati
Bachelor of the Arts in Cultural Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology provides the "Why" behind the "What." While Big Data tells you what users are doing, Anthropology tells you why they are doing it.
Instituto Panamericano de Alta Dirección de Empresas (IPADE)
Masters in Business Adminstration
The IPADE places you in a case-study simulator where you must mdiscuss cases with team members from diverse roles and cultures in order to make decisions about operations, marketing, HR, ethics, and finance with incomplete information just like any C-Suite would have to do.
Explore My Pictures
Each picture, taken by myself, is available for purchase as a museum-quality poster in a variety of sizes.
These pictures are meant to inspire, motivate, or create a sense of calm.
Shipping is free and available worldwide.
Personal Details
Getting to know me
Among my proudest achievements are surviving childhood leukemia, being the oldest child of 3 in an immigrant family, traveling to various countries, and completing my international MBA.
My hobbies include watching anything geek ( 30 Rock to LOTR), weight training, photography (all the background pictures are mine), traveling, reading fiction and listening to non-fiction audiobooks.
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