Ryan Foster Baker

Senior Data Product Manager

Data architect and product manager with 25 years of experience designing data systems and the products built on them. Designs data models at every scale, from a single team's applications to global systems behind a 500+ person organization, and builds what sits on top: schema, ingestion, API, and interface. Works with business leaders to understand their challenges and translate them into products that inform, optimize, and delight, turning messy but valuable data into structured, trustworthy information. Most recently at Adobe. Currently building independently and open to opportunities.

Core Competencies

Data Architecture & Information Structure

  • Designs data models at every scale, from a single team's applications to global systems behind a 500+ person organization.
  • Led a global initiative at Adobe to unify sales, marketing, finance, and product data into a single customer-profile model, the foundation for segmentation, targeting, and performance measurement across the marketing organization.
  • Rearchitected 10+ years of accumulated legacy data at UC Berkeley into a new relational model, migrating an MS-SQL Server/ASP platform to PostgreSQL and Python as sole developer.

Measurement Strategy

  • Worked with marketing and sales leadership at Adobe to establish the KPI set and metric definitions behind executive reporting for a 500+ person global organization.
  • Defined the attribution model and demand-funnel stage definitions at TubeMogul and built the analytics instrumentation beneath them, allowing a publicly listed company to measure marketing ROI across the full funnel.

Product Design & UX

  • 25 years of user- and public-facing product work: intranet development at Dartmouth's Interactive Media Lab, TubeMogul's marketing website, and the analytics product portfolio at Adobe in Power BI, Tableau, and custom applications.
  • Pairs design expertise with agentic engineering to ship custom applications on short timelines, with the schema and architecture discipline to keep them maintainable as they grow.

Core Data Management & Organizational Strategy

  • Led a 12-person cross-functional Adobe task force maintaining centralized core data, breaking down silos and establishing the stewardship practices that kept marketing leadership, data science, and engineering aligned at scale.

Technical Acumen

  • Fluent in Python and SQL. Builds working systems personally when that is the necessary path, and evaluates proposed technical approaches with engineering teams on their terms.
  • Drove several data platform migration initiatives (including moving from Hadoop and SQL Server to Databricks), and designed custom B2B marketing schemas in Adobe CDP, working with engineering on the setup and execution.

Professional Experience

Independent Practice

Oakland, CA June 2024 – Present

Data Systems & Product Design

Designing and building bespoke data systems end to end: relational data model, ingestion, database, API, and user interface. Pairs design expertise with agentic engineering to ship custom applications on short timelines, with the schema and architecture discipline to keep them maintainable as they grow.

Portfolio Analytics Hub

Designed and built a personal investment management platform that supports better decision-making through clearer information and customizable funds. Designed relational data model, ingestion pipelines, SQLite database, and Flask API supporting position tracking and trade analysis, and built a UI with customized KPIs and analytics tools for stock market trading analysis.

Peer-to-Peer Live Concert Recording App

Built a robust peer-to-peer app (Flask, SQLAlchemy, PyWebView) that enables live concert recording archivists to manage and enjoy their collection, and to share it with others. Designed the data model, metadata standards, and user experience.

Stock Trading Indicator Library

Built a custom set of technical indicators and strategies for stock market trading execution, including market condition assessment tools, and custom signals that indicate potential trade entry opportunities.

  • Each initiative is an ongoing project, solo-built and managed while adhering to strong product management practices.

Adobe

Oakland, CA January 2017 – May 2024

Manager, Strategic Planning & Analytics

  • Lead architect, developer, and product manager for the primary SQL database behind global enterprise insights, used by 500+ marketing and sales employees worldwide.
  • Led a global initiative to centralize sales, marketing, finance, and product data into a single customer-profile model, the foundation for segmentation, targeting, and performance measurement across the marketing organization.
  • Drove the migration of that primary analytics database from Hadoop and SQL Server into Databricks, and designed custom B2B marketing schemas in Adobe Customer Data Platform, working with engineering on setup and execution.
  • Worked with marketing and sales leadership to establish the KPI set and metric definitions behind executive reporting for a 500+ person global organization.
  • Owned the organization's portfolio of analytics products in Power BI, Tableau, and custom applications, each from requirements through deployment.
  • Led a 12-person cross-functional task force maintaining centralized core data, breaking down silos and establishing the stewardship practices that kept marketing leadership, data science, and engineering aligned at scale.
  • Managed a team of four analysts and data operations engineers supporting account-based marketing strategy and executive KPI reporting.

TubeMogul (acquired by Adobe)

Emeryville, CA December 2014 – December 2016

Director, Marketing TechnologyPromoted from Manager, Digital Marketing

  • Led marketing technology strategy and owned the company's marketing website for a publicly listed programmatic advertising company, reporting to the VP of Marketing.
  • Defined the attribution model and demand-funnel stage definitions and built the analytics instrumentation beneath them, integrating Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Marketo, and Salesforce to measure marketing ROI across every stage of the funnel.
  • Led the Marketo implementation and redesigned lead management to improve MQL quality and volume.

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA August 2014 – November 2016

Data Systems Analyst & DeveloperConcurrent contract engagement, held alongside the TubeMogul role

  • Sole developer on the migration of a legacy MS-SQL Server/ASP platform to PostgreSQL and Python, rearchitecting 10+ years of accumulated legacy data into a new relational model.
  • Built the custom reporting application and data visualization layer on top of it (Django, PostgreSQL, D3.js).

Sugar Hill Records

Nashville, TN 2006 – July 2012

Director of Digital MarketingPromoted from Digital Marketing Coordinator

  • Built and maintained custom MySQL-driven CRM systems and web applications supporting marketing and sales operations for an independent record label.
  • Launched the label's direct-to-consumer e-commerce channel, generating $50K+ in new revenue in its first year.

Earlier Experience

Lead Web Developer, Interactive Media Lab, Dartmouth College — Intranet and public-facing web application development, the start of 25 years of user-facing product work.

Skills

Data Architecture & Modeling

Relational schema design, data modeling, normalization, entity resolution, taxonomy and naming standards, metadata standards, data migration

Systems & Development

Python, SQL, ingestion pipelines, ETL, database design and implementation, API development, data quality and validation

Analytics & Data Products

Tableau, Power BI, D3.js, dashboard and report design, KPI definition, requirements through deployment

Languages & Frameworks

Python, SQL (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite), Flask, Django, SQLAlchemy, JavaScript, HTML/CSS

Platforms & Business Systems

Databricks, Adobe Customer Data Platform, Adobe Analytics, Salesforce, Marketo, HubSpot, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager

Leadership

Team management (4 directs), cross-functional program leadership, executive stakeholder management, product management

Education

University of California, Berkeley — School of Information

Master of Information Management and Systems (MIMS)

Belmont University

B.S., Audio Engineering Technology

Bates College

B.S., Music Composition