Hobby Express
Launching a craft supplies marketplace on an off-the-shelf platform
Under a fixed-term contract, I organised the launch of Hobby Express, a marketplace bringing together craft supplies sellers. At the outset, there was an idea and a selected off-the-shelf solution, but no working system. I built an eight-person technical team and led deployment, platform adaptation and preparation of the first release. Within one year, we connected four sellers with their catalogues and products and established links with accounting and 1C, the bank and delivery services, primarily CDEK. The system was tested and accepted by the client's specialists. The contract ended after the agreed scope was completed and the first release handed over.
- Participation started
- 2017
- Company
- Hobby Express Marketplace
- Positions in the project
- Project Manager
Roles and achievements
| Responsibilities | My contribution | Results and metrics |
|---|---|---|
Project Manager
|
Invited by the executive director, I built an eight-person technical team covering frontend, backend and 1C development, DevOps and analysis. Led the work from server rental and deployment of the standard product through testing and acceptance. Defined and assigned tasks, coordinated developers, a designer and testers, and organised collaboration with future sellers and commercial staff. Documents for the owner and business stakeholders were prepared in Word and Notion; internal tasks, diagrams and specifications were managed in Jira. |
An eight-person technical team prepared the first working release within one year. Four sellers were connected and their catalogues and products loaded. The system was tested, checked and accepted by the client's specialists for further use. My involvement ended with the fixed-term contract after the release handover. Established connections with internal 1C and accounting, the selected bank and delivery services, primarily CDEK. Delivery included manual operations and coordination. |
Business Analyst
|
Served as the lead analyst and requirements author. With the team and commercial specialists, compared the standard product with the future marketplace's processes. Defined product selection, checkout, seller accounts, price and delivery management, craft supplies attributes and catalogue imports. The key change was moving from a single marketplace warehouse to dispatch from individual sellers' warehouses, requiring shipment tracking, delivery lead times and coordination between participants. Solutions were discussed as a team; I owned the main document, task definition and business communication. |
Bulk product-data imports from multiple sources replaced manual entry of individual product cards. Algorithmic matching and discrepancy reports were introduced, followed by corrections to source registers and re-imports. The data-preparation process helped partners organise their own product registers. Adapted the standard platform to a custom product selection and checkout workflow, price management, shipments and delivery lead times from sellers' warehouses. Redesigned the interface and reworked the original forms. |
Systems Analyst
|
Investigated an off-the-shelf product with no documentation: examined its database structure and relationships, reconstructed the data model and worked out changes with developers. Adapted reference data, product cards and seller accounts, and redesigned the frontend and forms. Specified seller data imports and connections with internal 1C and accounting, the selected bank and delivery processes. The technical team used JavaScript, PHP and MySQL; my responsibilities were analysis, requirements and implementation coordination. |
Reconstructed the database structure and relationship logic of an undocumented off-the-shelf solution. Adapted reference data and domain-specific product attributes, expanded seller accounts and supported dispatch from sellers' own warehouses. Bulk product-data imports from multiple sources replaced manual entry of individual product cards. Imports through APIs, Excel and 1C integration were used with sellers’ actual product data. |
Competencies and skills
Tools and technologies
Project testimonials
I have known Yuri since the development of the E-city project.
I know him to be a successful manager and organizer.
When the need arose, I brought him on board to help bring the first release of our project to its production-ready version.
I would like to highlight his accuracy in estimating timelines—the actual timeframes matched his projections exactly.
I also want to note his ability to manage communication across the board—engaging effectively with the owner, senior management, business units, external partners, and the development team. Thanks to him, many tasks were completed almost seamlessly and within a very tight timeframe.