I’m Walter Colindres — a designer, a front-end developer and a product manager, all three at once. For 15+ years I’ve built the apps, platforms and systems millions of people use every day, mostly without ever knowing my name. That’s the job: you succeed when the product gets out of the way and just works.
I’m a first-generation Nicaraguan refugee turned immigrant and American citizen. My mother cleaned houses to make ends meet; my father worked late evenings at a slaughterhouse until his wrist gave out. I didn’t come from tech.
“I came from people who worked with their hands so I could work with my mind — and I carry that with me every single day.”
That origin shapes how I work. I don’t take shortcuts. I don’t treat users as abstractions. And I never forget that on the other side of every screen is a real person trying to do something that matters to them.
Designer, front-end developer and product manager is a rare combination, and I’ve spent my career leaning into it rather than picking a lane. I don’t just write the PRD — I prototype, build and ship.
My work is digital transformation and e-commerce for consumer brands: digital ordering, loyalty, mobile apps and payments, mostly in quick-service restaurants. What drives me is solving complex experience problems with great design and real technology, alongside people I can learn from — and mentor in return. Some of the most meaningful work I’ve done hasn’t shipped a feature; it’s helped someone else find their footing as a product leader.
Today I bring that experience to brands as a digital product consultant and fractional Head of Product.
Owned the full guest-facing digital stack — iOS, Android and web — alongside back-of-house systems including order management, fraud detection and enterprise tooling. Rebuilt what was broken, shipped what mattered, and built a team and culture meant to outlast any single feature.
Led the Growth & Retention portfolio — the strategies and systems that kept millions of small-business customers coming back. This is where I sharpened my thinking on lifecycle, loyalty, and what it really means to earn a customer’s long-term trust.
One of the most creatively ambitious roles of my career: leading the Metaverse Rewards System, an early exploration of connected, cross-platform identity and rewards inside one of the world’s most beloved brands.
Launched 15 ordering platforms in 6 months across web, native apps and kiosk for Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons — more than fifty features shipped in a year. The kind of pace that either breaks you or defines you.
Wore every hat: led the web discipline, served as technical lead across web, email, SMS and internal tooling, and drove accessibility and architecture best practices. Built and shipped the MySonic experience end to end — rewards, e-commerce, SSO, and the Digital Menu Manager that powered Order Ahead at national scale.
I make things with my hands. It’s how I decompress, how I stay creative, and honestly where some of my best product thinking happens — the overlap between craft and design is real.
I also write about product leadership and building with AI at notes.waltercolindres.com.
30 minutes. No deck. Just an honest conversation about where you are and what’s in the way.