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Experience
Product Manager
myfooddata.com | Sep 2024 - present
Project to help renovate nutrition tracking tool in this crowded space. User engagement. Product innovation.
- Increased click-rate to sign-up page by 11% by deeply engaging with the core value of the product.
- Introduced feature ideas, including AI, to the platform.
Innovation Research Specialist
Nestlé Research | Sep 2022 - Jun 2024
Innovated within Food Science, focusing on nutritional solutions for brain health and development of untapped nutrients. Managed project feasibility, IP research, regulatory considerations, and consumer insights.
- Pitched transformative prototypes, two of which reached final stages.
- Top 5 innovator at Nestlé, with winning concepts recognized across departments.
- Introduced new on-pack Communication research methods to Marketing.
Startup co-founder and Innovation Manager
Persometrics | Mar 2016 - Aug 2022
Led co-creation of transformative products within a health-tech spin-off from EPFL. Focused on consumer insights, marketing strategy, product innovation, and managing R&D activities.
- Increased web traffic by >100% with new media strategies.
- Developed and launched company’s best-selling product during the COVID-19 period.
- Led biodegradable straw feasibility study, decreasing the company's reliance on plastic.
Research Project Manager
EPFL | Mar 2012 - Feb 2016
Created a research platform to study stress in humans, managing cross-functional projects in collaboration with psychologists, economists, and neuroscientists.
- Established an ethics committee, enabling streamlined research publication, and faster research projects for non-invasive studies.
- Set up VR and Eye-Tracker labs, demonstrating adaptability and technical skills.
- Authored and co-authored several publications.
Business Innovation Consultant
Wood Holmes | Jun 2011 - Feb 2012
Worked on business innovation and sustainability, including projects for PepsiCo and Mars. Contributed to new product feasibility studies and competitor research.
- Introduced sentiment analysis to enhance market research capabilities.
Education
- King's College London | Career Accelerator course - Product Management | Mar 2025
- Project Management Institute | PMP - Project Manager Professional | Dec 2016
- Durham University | PhD in Applied Psychology | Dec 2012
- University of Stirling | BA in Psychology | Dec 2006
- Toulouse School of Economics | BSc in Management and Economics | Dec 2002
Publications
- Maksimenko, V., Labbe, D., Eldridge, A. L., Mak, T. N., Huo, J., Bansal, P., & Thoresen, J. (2024). Do people need guidance to estimate a food portion size? Evidence from an exploratory eye-tracker study. Food Quality and Preference, 120, 105250.
- Ellena, G., Bertoni, T., Durand-Ruel, M., Thoresen, J., Sandi, C., & Serino, A. (2022). Acute stress affects peripersonal space representation in cortisol stress responders. Psychoneuroendocrinology.
- da Cruz, J, Rodrigues, J, Thoresen, J., Chicherov, V., Figueiredo, P., Herzog, M., and Sandi, C. (2018). Dominant men are faster in decision-making situations and exhibit a distinct neural signal for promptness. Cerebral Cortex. (shared first author)
- Çöltekin, A., Francelet, R., Richter, K. F., Thoresen, J., & Fabrikant, S. I. (2018). The effects of visual realism, spatial abilities, and competition on performance in map-based route learning in men. Cartography and Geographic Information Science.
- Thoresen, J., Francelet, R., Coltekin, A., Richter, K. F., Fabrikant, S. I., & Sandi, C. (2016). Not all anxious individuals get lost: Trait anxiety and mental rotation ability interact to explain performance in map-based route learning in men. Neurobiology of learning and memory.
- Goette, L., Bendahan, S., Thoresen, J., Hollis, F., & Sandi, C. (2015). Stress pulls us apart: Anxiety leads to differences in competitive confidence under stress, Psychoneuroendocrinology.
- Thoresen, J. (2012). Body Motion Cues Drive First Impressions: Consensus, Truth and the Origins of Personality Trait Judgements based on Targets' Whole-Body Motion. PhD, Durham University.
- Thoresen, J., Vuong, Q. C., & Atkinson, A. P. (2012). First impressions: Gait cues drive reliable trait judgements. Cognition.
- Kempe, V., Thoresen, J., Kirk, N. W., Schaeffler, F., & Brooks, P. J. (2012). Individual differences in the discrimination of novel speech sounds: effects of sex, temporal processing, musical and cognitive abilities. PloS one.
Contact
Email: johnÔąthoresen.swiss
Phone: +41 078 228 29 20
LinkedIn: Visit my LinkedIn profile
