Fernando Caldeira — Product Manager leveraging design to scale global products with delight.

From driving monetization at Ablo to spearheading innovation at Tinder, I build products that millions of people love to use. I believe great product management is the art of balancing design empathy with data-driven execution. Based in Portugal, collaborating with distributed teams worldwide.

I’m at my best when bridging the gap between technical complexity and user simplicity. I don’t just manage roadmaps; I foster a culture where engineering and design work in sync to solve the right problems — not just the easiest ones.

Beyond the roadmap, I'm currently obsessed with three frontiers: identifying sustainable AI value that survives the hype at a global scale, leveraging AI to shift the PM role from execution to pure strategy, and building hyper-local tools to drive regional development back home.

Tinder

Product Manager — Innovation Lab, Tinder SELECT, Profile, Chat & Connections

2022 – Present

Working within Tinder’s Innovation Lab, I lead cross-functional teams that operate like an internal product studio. We own "Big Bets" from A to Z, spearheading game-changing features across Chat, Profile, and Discovery. Once we find product-market fit and scale the initial impact, we transition ownership to core teams for long-term optimization.

  • Tackling Gen Z Engagement: Spearheaded the "Double Date" initiative and new discovery frameworks to reverse declining usage trends, focusing on shared experiences rather than just swiping.
  • Scaling Premium Value (Tinder SELECT): Orchestrated product enhancements for the high-end segment, directly increasing retention and premium revenue through targeted, high-touch user experiences.
  • High-Impact Feature Validation: Focused on rapid experimentation to identify sustainable engagement drivers, successfully scaling innovations that were later integrated into the core product ecosystem.
  • Design-Led Profile Optimization: Launched a suite of profile features that led to record photo uploads and discovery depth.
  • Retention Uplift: Improved conversation depth and active days—particularly among female users—by shipping features that prioritize meaningful connection over volume.
  • Trusted Execution: Maintained role through layoffs—delivering confidence and consistent results.

Ablo

Product Manager — Monetization & Growth

2020 – 2022

Ablo connected people worldwide with real-time chat, video, and live translations. It was named Google App of the Year in its first year. I was responsible for transforming a viral sensation (50M+ users) into a sustainable business, ensuring that revenue growth never compromised the "magic" of serendipitous global connection.

  • Aggressive Monetization Strategy: Engineered a new revenue roadmap that delivered a 300% increase in quarterly revenue. I achieved this by balancing new subscription tiers with gamified micro-transactions.
  • Strategic Feature Pruning: To sharpen retention, I proposed and executed the removal of low-value legacy features, reallocating resources to a new streaming vertical that drove higher user LTV (Lifetime Value).
  • Scale from Zero to 50M: Navigated the challenges of hyper-growth, working closely with data teams to identify and double down on the core features that moved Ablo from a niche tool to a global platform. During my stay I've created +150 specs.

This role gave me my first managerial responsibilities and shaped how I approach problem framing, solution design, and data analysis/impact measurement.

Side Projects

Personal projects built alongside my full-time roles to explore new technologies and solve problems I'm passionate about.

Linkuid

Co-Founder — Product & Design

2023 — 2024

Built alongside my role at Tinder, Linkuid was born from a personal frustration with development bottlenecks. I co-founded this platform to automate staging environments platform to speed up software development by providing instantly available, isolated environments.

  • Product-Led Infrastructure: Defined the vision for a staging-automation tool that integrated Docker and GitHub, turning a complex DevOps workflow into a one-click experience for developers.
  • Full-Cycle Ownership: From initial user research and Figma prototyping to managing the deployment of isolated environments, I acted as the bridge between technical feasibility and market need.

Skills & Tools

Product Management

User research, A/B testing, Growth strategy, Product roadmapping, Cross-functional collaboration

Analytics & Data

Mixpanel, Amplitude, SQL, Google Analytics, Data-driven decision making

Design & Prototyping

Figma, Sketch, User-centered design, Wireframing, Design systems

Tools & Workflow

Jira, Linear, Notion, Slack, GitHub, Agile methodologies

Past Roles

UX/UI Designer

Freelancer • Brussels, Belgium • 2020

Designed digital interfaces focused on usability and user experience.

User Interface Designer

Pacsis • Lisbon, Portugal • 2019–2020

Developed interface designs for software solutions and ensured design consistency.

Graphic Designer

Information Planet • Lisbon, Portugal • 2019

Created marketing materials for international education services.

Generalist Designer

Physis Studio • Braga, Portugal • 2017–2019

Worked across graphic, digital, and branding design projects.

Get In Touch

Interested in working together? I'd love to hear about your product challenges and explore how we can create meaningful impact together.

Based in Lisbon, Portugal — Available for local and global opportunities.