ZyngaSr. Engineering Manager - Words With Friends
Jan. 2013 - Jul. 2015San Francisco Bay AreaZynga is a web and mobile gaming company known for some of their popular early facebook and mobile games such as Farmville, Mafia Wars, Zynga Poker, Words with Friends and many other games. I began at the company as an individual contributor and through my impactful work rose to Sr. Engineering Manager. I eventually moved on to California Labs in order to have a greater impact on product development and help form the base of our company culture. ➜ Built & Led High-Performing Teams: Managed over 15 direct reports across diverse platforms (Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, Web) for Words with Friends franchise. Fostered a collaborative culture implementing agile development teams centered around scalable pods which could be leveraged into quick and large strategic bets.. ➜ Delivered Revenue-Driving Results: Orchestrated the successful migration of users from the legacy Words with Friends app to the new "New Words With Friends," maximizing engagement and retention. Collaborated with product and design to implement revenue-boosting features and achieve peak revenue for the game. ➜ Strategic Expansion & Optimization: Oversaw the game's largest expansion with multilingual gameplay and professional dictionaries. Optimized and sunsetted the original Android client, ensuring a smooth transition for users. ➜ Developed Talent & Performance: Managed performance reviews, promotions, and bonus recommendations for team members, fostering their growth within the company.