Matt Brilus

Principal Product Owner for Commercial Applications

Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

About

With over 30 years of experience spanning commodity trading, operational management, and digital transformation, I bring a unique blend of commercial, operational, and technology leadership to complex business environments. My career began in Analysis and then Power Trading, developing strong analytical, risk management, and decision-making capabilities in fast-paced markets. I then spent 9 years in operational leadership roles, overseeing teams, processes, and business performance while driving continuous improvement and organisational efficiency. Today, as a Principal Product Owner, I lead the strategic oversight and prioritisation of a portfolio of internally developed applications. I work closely with business and technology stakeholders to align product investments with organisational objectives, optimise resource allocation, and guide CAPEX expenditure towards initiatives that deliver the greatest value. A key focus of my role is advancing digitalisation, modernising business processes, and ensuring technology investments translate into measurable operational and commercial benefits. I am passionate about bridging the gap between business strategy and technology delivery, combining practical operational experience with a data-driven approach to product management, transformation, and value creation.

Experience

  • Uniper (12 yrs 2 mos)
    • Principal Product Owner
      Jan 2024 - Present · 2 yrs 6 mos

      Principal Product Owner with responsibility for the strategic oversight and prioritisation of a diverse portfolio of internally developed applications. Accountable for aligning product roadmaps with business objectives, optimising resource allocation across development teams, and guiding investment decisions to maximise value delivery.

    • Power Trading Innovation and Development
      Sep 2018 - Dec 2023 · 5 yrs 4 mos

      Working with AI and machine learning in commodity trading to understand and develop the energy trading needs of the future

    • Head of Short Term Trading
      May 2014 - Aug 2018 · 4 yrs 4 mos

      Leading all short term operations for Unipers central European and Nordic generation portfolio, including optimisation, bidding, ancillary services and short term trading down to intra-day

  • E.ON Global Commodities (6 yrs 2 mos)
    • Asset Optimisation Manager
      Mar 2013 - May 2014 · 1 yr 3 mos

      Short term planning, analysis and portfolio optimisation for E.ON's UK asset base

    • UK Power Operations Manager
      Apr 2008 - Mar 2013 · 5 yrs

      Day ahead portfolio optimisation, for the E.ON UK upstream and downstream portfolios.

  • Lead Power & Carbon Trader at E.ON UK
    Jan 2006 - Apr 2008 · 2 yrs 4 mos

    Trading hedge and prop books across UK and European power and carbon.

  • Powergen (8 yrs 3 mos)
    • Senior Prompt Power Trader
      Mar 2001 - Jan 2006 · 4 yrs 11 mos

      UK short term power trading

    • Gas risk analyst
      Nov 1997 - Mar 2001 · 3 yrs 5 mos

      Risk management of UK I&C gas portfolio

  • Commercial Analyst at PowerGen
    1994 - 1995 · 1 yr

    Pool forecasting during my placement year