CV / Resume | Steve Zitkovich

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STEVE ZITKOVICH
email: steve@zitkovich.com | mobile: (request number by email) | currently in Seattle, USA

SUMMARY
I increase customers and revenues in international markets through multilingual marketing, product management, localization strategy and go-to-market tactics, building teams, processes and partnerships.

360-degree view of international business from working at large (Microsoft), highly creative (Getty Images, Zefa) and startup companies in Seattle, Europe, and APAC.

A team player with a positive attitude looking to join a company long-term. See “Testimonials” at the bottom of my resume/CV (at the bottom of this page) for what my managers and colleagues have said it is like to work with me.

Personal

* Lived 15+ years in 8 countries in Europe (UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Czech Republic, Slovakia)

* Languages: English (native), German (fluent), French (business conversational)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Localization Director at Markforged (remote from Seattle) March ’21 – Oct ’24
Part of Marketing team supporting the field offices and partners globally.
* SME and champion for localization issues across all departments of the company.
* Set up from scratch the processes and people, including Phrase TMS and vendors, to manage large amounts of multilingual content and hands-on managed the localization projects.
– Managed 7 website languages + up to 16 languages of technical documentation
– Led integration of AI (LLMs) into localization processes
* Received top percentile annual reviews from my managers and numerous compliments from colleagues in the company #kudos Slack channel. Happy to share these with prospective employers.

Projects + job search (Seattle) May ’20 – March ’21
Return to Seattle from Europe and project work while looking for a long-term job.
* Consultant to a company taking first steps of international expansion
* Creating online community connecting international tech companies with Seattle tech companies
* Mentoring international graduate students on their job searches in the Seattle area
* Teaching English online through University of Washington (volunteer)

Director of Marketing at IT-Development SAS (Lyon) June ’17 – Oct ’19
ITD is a SaaS provider to telecoms companies for managing projects, assets and logistics. Company has 12,000 daily users across 20 countries in Europe, Africa, Middle East and SE Asia.
* Managed all marketing activities, with emphasis on product marketing.
– Did online demos, new release webinars, managed trade show presence & activities
* Wrote marketing & sales support materials, including blog posts and newsletters.
* Contributed to product management.

Director International at Nubart (Frankfurt & Barcelona) March ’17 – Nov ’17
Nubart is a startup with innovative technology for delivering museum audio guides.
* Worked with the two founders on all aspects of product/company strategy, sales, marketing and business development.
* Wrote business plans which won EU funding, earning certificates of excellence.

Program Director at Moravia IT (Monterey, CA) April ’16 – October ’16
Managed localization services account at global Silicon Valley internet company. Sales + P&L responsibility. Gained insight to the vendor side of localization and translation services, but at heart I am a product and marketing person focused on the customer and this role was too far removed from end-users.

E-Commerce Mobile App Business Plan & International Move (Barcelona) June ’15 – March ’16
1. Wrote business plan for an innovative e-commerce mobile app that delivers digital content by independent artists (especially music, books, video).
2. Moved back to Europe on my own, i.e. not re-located by an employer. Moving one’s life abroad is a lot like doing a startup: requires flexibility, agility and decisions based on opportunities or challenges.

International Product- and Program Manager consulting / contracting Sept ’08 – April ’15
(Between contracts I worked on entrepreneurial/business ideas in the Seattle startup community.)

Holland America Line (Seattle)
* Increased speed + quality of promotions and content translations across 4 languages and worldwide markets to establish simultaneous release (simship) delivery.
* Delivered localization projects, including $500K project, to budget and on-time delivery.
* Managed international e-commerce purchase path, data protection and privacy.

Tango Card (Seattle)
* Business development in identifying and setting up partnerships globally, including Amazon and iTunes e-gift cards procurement across Europe and Asia.
* Assisted VP Product Management on 2 MVP products.
* Supported sales teams on calls and proposals; international capabilities were a differentiator in landing a number of key customers.

Sogeti USA (Seattle)
* Consulted Starbucks on localization strategy and best-practices in creating an internationalized platform and processes to host websites for 39 countries.
* SharePoint 2010 implementation: Co-author of governance document and SME for international/localization issues supporting Starbucks global offices, stores and operations.
* Assessed dev team processes at Charles Schwab and made recommendations to improve development speed and reduce risk using Agile methodologies.

Earth Class Mail & Swiss Post Box (Seattle & Zurich)
* Did knowledge transfer of Earth Class Mail processes to Swiss Post Box, including technical implementation, marketing, operations, customer service and overall business rules.
* Managed implementation to launch deadline. Launched in 5 countries.
* Member of core team planning Swiss Post Box product road map and marketing.

[Private Entrepreneur] (Den Haag, NL)
* For a startup, took business concept and defined an online service (including functional requirements and wireframes) to develop an MVP to attract further investment.

International Program Manager at Microsoft (Redmond) May ’07 – July ’08
Team managed localization of 350+ projects, more than 3 million words and a budget of nearly $6 million.
* Led globalization and localization strategy, planning and requirements for international versions of Microsoft Dynamics, People Ready Business and other Microsoft customer campaigns websites.
* Managed localization budget to within 5% of target on a quarterly basis.
* Authored best-practices (“Localization Framework”) for reference across Microsoft.

Project work for Alice In Chains and Soundgarden (Seattle) 1992 – June ’15
Various projects and managing archives. 2006-2007 was particularly busy during Alice In Chains reunion.

Previous Positions
International Product Marketing Manager at Ofoto (now Shutterfly) (Amsterdam, NL) July ’04 – Oct ’05
Program Manager & Interim Head of IT at Zefa Visual Media (Düsseldorf, DE) Oct ’02 – Jan ’04
Director Product Management at B2Build SA (Paris, FR) May ’00 – July ’01

OTHER EXPERIENCE
* Teacher of German and English in Czechoslovakia (Bratislava 1991/92, Prague 1993).
* Non-profit and volunteering:
— 2014 – present: Homestay host for international students & program participants
— 2006 – 2020: Teach an English class I created for international students
— 2011 – 2014: Translators Without Borders
* Play two soccer games per week on teams I have played with for decades. I practice in life the values team sports teach: strive to excel, collaborate, compromise, respect, win gracefully, lose gracefully; when defeated, get up and try again.

EDUCATION
University of Washington, Certificate in Software Product Management (9-month program)
University of Washington, Bachelor of Arts, German Area Studies
– included one year at Johannes Gutenberg Universität, Mainz, Germany

MARKFORGED ANNUAL REVIEWS & TESTIMONIALS HIGHLIGHTS

Annual Performance Review 2023
It’s a delight working with Steve. One could conquer the world with a team of people like him! Not only does Steve deliver on timelines and deliver top quality work, he does it in a seemingly effortless, drama-free way, as if our localization effort is on autopilot. It’s remarkable.

Steve is a highly valued partner to both corporate marketing and the regions. He has been an important voice as well as enabler in Markforged marketing’s journey towards being a truly global organization. He is always within or below budget.

How well does this person support others within the team?
– Consistently far exceeds expectations

Overall, how would you evaluate this person’s embodiment of the Markforged values in 2023?
– Steve lives ALL of the Markforged values: Do Great, Own It, Believe, Customer Obsession, One Team and Innovate
– Consistently far exceeds expectations

Overall, how would you evaluate this person’s performance for 2023?
– Achieved results that fully met expectations

Annual Performance Review 2022
While 2022 was a challenging year — both in the macro market environment and also in the operating conditions at Markforged — Steve continued to perform at an extremely high level and is making good progress at helping turn our company into a true global leader. Most importantly to me, in the face of uncertainty and limited budgets/resources, Steve continued to be an unflappably positive and collaborative leader.

Steve has built his internal brand at Markforged. He is known as ‘the expert’ on the subject and everyone at the company comes to him first for any localization need.

Feedback from Creative Services Manager:
Steve is a kind and fierce advocate of the global regions. He has a unique way of bringing people together and uniting people around common goals and always seeing the upside. And in the ways he shares his knowledge and passion widely… he’s the rising tide that helps raise all boats. Steve is one of my favorite people to work with at Markforged – he’s kind, funny, friendly, and exceedingly polite.

Annual Performance Review 2021
Steve exceeded my expectations for what he could accomplish in his first year at Markforged. And, he did this while overcoming challengers & blockers.

2021 was a big year for Markforged and a big year for Steve. Steve built a company-wide localization practice from scratch and is a champion for always meeting the customer where they live with relevant, localized experiences.

Steve is thoughtful in his approach to learning and has a natural curiosity which leads him to meet new people and learn new things. I saw him strengthen his culture awareness and empathy skills through reading books and online content from inside and outside our industry.

It is a pleasure having Steve on my team. I appreciate Steve’s independence and approach to accountability making it easy to work together.

FROM LINKEDIN, RECOMMENDATION BY MARKFORGED’S PRIMARY TRANSLATION AGENCY
Rosa M Pradas Regné, Co-Founder at LocalizationLab S.L. Language Solutions
November 19, 2024

I was lucky to work closely with Steve for several years, assisting him with the localization of both technical user documentation and marketing content. Throughout our collaboration, Steve consistently impressed me with his organization, professionalism, and deep knowledge of the localization industry. He has a remarkable ability to stay ahead of emerging trends and leverage the latest technologies to drive efficiency and quality in every project.

Steve is not only a highly skilled expert in international growth but also a visionary leader in multilingual and multicultural marketing and product management. His strategic insights and innovative approaches have helped countless initiatives succeed on a global scale. Steve’s commitment to excellence and his ability to bridge cultural and linguistic gaps make him an invaluable asset to any organization aiming to expand its international presence.

Working with Steve was both a professional highlight and an inspiring experience, and he is a pleasure to work with.

FROM THE MARKFORGED #KUDOS SLACK CHANNEL

What do you want to give them kudos for?
When an unforeseen time crunch hit our team yesterday, Steve stayed until 10PM last night to help us build studio sets and get our studio ready by Investor Day. Steve is always an A+ team player who continually goes out of his way to support others. Thank you for going out of your way to help us out, Steve and for just generally being one of the kindest humans I know.

What Company Value did they most exhibit?
One Team

What do you want to give them kudos for?
When we needed rapid translations from a German customer story, Steve not only rose to the occasion, but he also singlehandedly translated nearly 2 hours of German-language footage into English. He went above and beyond the laborious work of simply translating words by also creating detailed commentary on picture quality, authenticity and believability — helping us better understand some cultural nuances behind the words.

What Company Value did they most exhibit?
Own It

What do you want to give them kudos for?
Steve is always helping, somewhere. There are so many things to highlight Steve for — from localizing our websites, to tradeshow displays, to the many documents of Markforged — and on top of it all, Steve jumped at the chance to help localize our FIRST robotics series 125 and even found great ways of improving our process in the meantime. Everyone who’s ever worked with Steve can likely attest: you’re a joy to work with, a total pro and one of the kindest humans we have. Thank you for all of it!

What Company Value did they most exhibit?
One Team

What do you want to give them kudos for?
Did you know we maintain documentation in nearly a dozen languages with sane reliable version control and information management, on ever-shifting deadlines, while rapidly adapting to a complex regulatory landscape, in a world where ‘time zones’ exist? NO? Perhaps the reason you didn’t know this is that Steve just handles it, all of it, dead solid. In collaboration with [others], Steve helps this company live up to its cosmopolitan internationalist aspirations — on point, all week, focused and real. I really look forward to getting to work with him. Plus he’s got the hippest taste in music of the whole company. Well, second-hippest. I dunno, he doesn’t like Phish. Nobody’s perfect.

What Company Value did they most exhibit?
Do Great

What do you want to give them kudos for?
Big props to Steve of house Zitkovich, translation duke, for consistently observant detailed responsive generous collaboration on a couple of projects — as well as two clutch German translations to satisfy a big client’s persnickety demands. (Polyglot is the best kind of glot.)
Kudos, too, for being a Best Coast colleague taking early-morning meetings on Beast Coast time. And for superb musical taste and genial comradeship. Glad to be working with him.
And if you don’t know, now you know.

What Company Value did they most exhibit?
Be Wise

What do you want to give them kudos for?
Steve has a very holistic approach when it comes to content marketing and translations, which is extremely effective. He’s taken our localizations to the next level and has fun doing it. Thank you Steve!

What Company Value did they most exhibit?
Do Great