Daniel Krikorian Email & Phone Number

Boston, Ma, Us

Greater Boston

- Advised projects end-to-end, from requirements gathering and risk assessment to task prioritization and personnel management, ensuring optimal project outcomes.- Offered an external perspective to help clients avoid tunnel vision, balancing attention to both micro and macro elements in project execution.- Collaborated closely with team members to set and achieve personal development goals, contributing not only to project success but also to individual career growth and promotions.- Supported studios with first party submission verification, maintaining high standards of compliance and quality for successful product launches.- Advised clients on conflict scenarios, providing structured guidance to resolve complex situations effectively, maintain team cohesion, and assure high customer satisfaction scores.- Partnered with cross-functional teams to align workflows with client expectations, enhancing project agility and efficiency for consistently successful outcomes.

Greater Boston

Full stack web developer bootcamp

- Led production and served as Scrum Master and Product Owner on multiple complex projects, including mobile games and an integrated mobile app for a Fortune 100 client, managing project pipelines, client expectations, and resource allocation.- Guided creative approvals of a unique mobile game, partnering with clients to refine their vision. - Streamlined the art approval process across client, internal teams, and third-party contractors, documenting requirements to ensure clarity and alignment.- Oversaw resource allocation and scheduling for concurrent projects, balancing team needs for efficient task prioritization and seamless integration of workloads.- Managed integration and update cycles for a licensed software project tied to a major retail brand, successfully inheriting and validating IP assets, adding content, and performing necessary reintegration to meet client standards.- Averted a potential delay in a high-profile media tie-in by coordinating an alternate branched release of targeted art assets, preserving a critical timeline for the IP holder’s marketing initiatives.

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

- Delivered high-quality products for the Skill Games division, leading a team that grew from 5 to 29 QA Engineers across Boston, Massachusetts; San Francisco, California; Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine; Bengaluru, India.- Evolved QA process improvements in a Scrum/Agile environment, shifting left in the development cycle to foster early collaboration with developers and designers.- Directed manual and automated testing teams, ensuring robust testing of platform code, API endpoints, and front-end UI across desktop, mobile browsers, and native iOS/Android applications.- Oversaw testing of proprietary tournament systems, ranking systems, third-party payment integration, and multiple microservices supported on AWS.- Supported the full SDLC, managing monthly updates of Sparcade including the integration of major game titles like Pac-Man and Tetris.- Leveraged user feedback from CRM ticketing systems and community forums to inform the feature roadmap and help guide product evolution.- Utilized MySQL to monitor the performance impact of new features and updates, ensuring data-driven decision-making.- Managed department scaling in response to a strategic pivot, aligning resources and restructuring to meet changing business needs.- Coordinated live operations testing, build releases, and maintenance schedules to support seamless game updates and player experience.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

- Defined and refined QA processes and procedures to improve operational efficiency and ensure quality across multimillion-dollar projects.- Led, mentored, and trained a team of 6 QA project leads overseeing teams of up to 14 Senior and QA Testers, fostering growth and accountability within the team.- Developed and monitored QA budgets, maintaining alignment with financial targets and proactively managing outsourcing partnerships to optimize resource allocation.- Engaged and motivated the team, sustaining high morale and productivity through challenging and ambiguous phases of development.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

- Established and implemented an annual departmental employee performance evaluation process, supporting professional development and performance growth across the team.- Comprehensive team management and operational oversight including time approval, space planning, interviewing, hiring, conducting performance reviews, and compensation management to drive team alignment and maintain operational efficiency, as well as managing sensitive areas such as layoffs and terminations.- Directed staffing and project assignments for a department of 21-87 full-time and contract employees, ensuring effective resource allocation and coverage.- Managed external test partner budgets, carefully tracking expenditures to stay within budget while maintaining quality standards.

- Led a team of 5-20 QA testers in developing and executing detailed test plans to validate game system functionality, ensuring quality across various components.- Acted as the primary point of contact for offsite test teams, streamlining communication and alignment on testing protocols and objectives.- Contributed to department policies and procedures, helping establish standards that enhanced consistency and quality in QA processes.- Maintained strong cross-functional rapport by keeping leads informed on build status and updates during daily stand-ups.- Managed both planned testing tasks and dynamic ad-hoc requests, balancing priorities to ensure timely, high-quality results.

Dedham, Massachusetts, United States

- Collaborated with a team of content designers to bring the game world to life by populating it with dynamic content, including quest mechanics, NPCs with engaging dialogue, dungeon challenges, quest hubs, cities, and other points of interest.- Worked closely with world builders and combat designers to design encounters that captivated players and aligned with game objectives.- Partnered with systems programmers to enhance player interactions, creating a seamless and immersive experience.- Coordinated with artists to develop unique art assets and requested custom designs to enrich game environments.- Tested and provided feedback on proprietary design tools with tools programmers, supporting the tool's development for broader team use.- Documented quest content guidelines, ensuring clarity and alignment across the design team.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

- Led a focused Development Support team to test newly implemented features and provide immediate, actionable feedback to developers, enhancing responsiveness and collaboration.- Performed QA testing for multiple game elements, including hands-on testing, bug tracking, and reporting directly to developers.- Conducted design research, implemented and balanced low-level game design metrics, and created initial game maps in a proprietary level editor to support level designers.- Collaborated with the Development Support Manager on team allocation, assigning test runs, and overseeing team coordination to meet project goals.- Coordinated with Vivendi Universal's larger publisher QA team to align testing efforts, ensuring efficient resource use and access to additional support as needed.

Lawrence, Massachusetts, United States

- Led QA efforts across multiple titles spanning genres, including RTS and flight simulators, ensuring high standards in testing, bug tracking, and reporting quality.- Used an in-house level editor to create custom test levels, enabling comprehensive functionality testing and validating gameplay mechanics which greatly facilitated the build verification process.- Acted as the primary liaison between QA and development teams, aligning priorities and ensuring clear communication.- Conducted interviews for QA tester roles, playing a key role in building a skilled team aligned with project needs.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

- Promoted quickly from QA Tester to QA Lead, becoming the primary liaison between QA and development teams to ensure clear communication and alignment on testing priorities.- Developed and assigned test cases, reviewed execution quality, and maintained high standards in bug tracking and reporting.- Led weekly bug review meetings with development leadership, improving the efficiency of bug resolution and issue prioritization.- Oversaw QA for a new game engine, testing features during implementation and creating detailed documentation to support future user education.