DJ Stiner
Sr. Technical Program Manager - Franchise Growth at Mojang Studios- Claim this Profile
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Bio
Vivian Ortenzi
A few people have the opportunity to work with a standout professional like DJ Stiner. I feel privileged to work with a PM with the energy to hype and bring the best of people around him empowering them. I had the pleasure of working with DJ for about one year. Collaborating on Minecraft for PlayStation and Minecraft PSVR. I was particularly impressed by DJ's ability to get people producing on their best—effortlessly. The positivity he brings to any situation and the creative ways to overcome opportunities always made me feel in awe. It was always easy to achieve anything. I will miss our lunch talks, sharing funny facts, knowledge on the gaming industry, and our very early meetings with lots of coffee! DJ is definitely an asset to any team, anyone would be incredibly lucky to have him as a PM!
John Stumme
Dave is a standout example of what most people think of when they consider the kind of manager that they -wish- they had. As a game designer, I worked closely with him and his team, and saw that they were always treated with respect - and more importantly, care. Dave genuinely cares about the people that he works with, and wants to see the best for them both personally and professionally. His kindness does not come at the expense of his effectiveness. Dave is still able to run a tight ship where things get done to a high degree of quality. Testers knew that anything less would be letting him down, and he's the kind of guy that you want to respect you. It's a fair and mature style of leadership, that I learned a lot from when it was time to manage a team of my own. Dave managed to keep the mood light even in the worst of crunch times, such that I wouldn't mind the long hours if meant our professional paths crossed again!
Vivian Ortenzi
A few people have the opportunity to work with a standout professional like DJ Stiner. I feel privileged to work with a PM with the energy to hype and bring the best of people around him empowering them. I had the pleasure of working with DJ for about one year. Collaborating on Minecraft for PlayStation and Minecraft PSVR. I was particularly impressed by DJ's ability to get people producing on their best—effortlessly. The positivity he brings to any situation and the creative ways to overcome opportunities always made me feel in awe. It was always easy to achieve anything. I will miss our lunch talks, sharing funny facts, knowledge on the gaming industry, and our very early meetings with lots of coffee! DJ is definitely an asset to any team, anyone would be incredibly lucky to have him as a PM!
John Stumme
Dave is a standout example of what most people think of when they consider the kind of manager that they -wish- they had. As a game designer, I worked closely with him and his team, and saw that they were always treated with respect - and more importantly, care. Dave genuinely cares about the people that he works with, and wants to see the best for them both personally and professionally. His kindness does not come at the expense of his effectiveness. Dave is still able to run a tight ship where things get done to a high degree of quality. Testers knew that anything less would be letting him down, and he's the kind of guy that you want to respect you. It's a fair and mature style of leadership, that I learned a lot from when it was time to manage a team of my own. Dave managed to keep the mood light even in the worst of crunch times, such that I wouldn't mind the long hours if meant our professional paths crossed again!
Vivian Ortenzi
A few people have the opportunity to work with a standout professional like DJ Stiner. I feel privileged to work with a PM with the energy to hype and bring the best of people around him empowering them. I had the pleasure of working with DJ for about one year. Collaborating on Minecraft for PlayStation and Minecraft PSVR. I was particularly impressed by DJ's ability to get people producing on their best—effortlessly. The positivity he brings to any situation and the creative ways to overcome opportunities always made me feel in awe. It was always easy to achieve anything. I will miss our lunch talks, sharing funny facts, knowledge on the gaming industry, and our very early meetings with lots of coffee! DJ is definitely an asset to any team, anyone would be incredibly lucky to have him as a PM!
John Stumme
Dave is a standout example of what most people think of when they consider the kind of manager that they -wish- they had. As a game designer, I worked closely with him and his team, and saw that they were always treated with respect - and more importantly, care. Dave genuinely cares about the people that he works with, and wants to see the best for them both personally and professionally. His kindness does not come at the expense of his effectiveness. Dave is still able to run a tight ship where things get done to a high degree of quality. Testers knew that anything less would be letting him down, and he's the kind of guy that you want to respect you. It's a fair and mature style of leadership, that I learned a lot from when it was time to manage a team of my own. Dave managed to keep the mood light even in the worst of crunch times, such that I wouldn't mind the long hours if meant our professional paths crossed again!
Vivian Ortenzi
A few people have the opportunity to work with a standout professional like DJ Stiner. I feel privileged to work with a PM with the energy to hype and bring the best of people around him empowering them. I had the pleasure of working with DJ for about one year. Collaborating on Minecraft for PlayStation and Minecraft PSVR. I was particularly impressed by DJ's ability to get people producing on their best—effortlessly. The positivity he brings to any situation and the creative ways to overcome opportunities always made me feel in awe. It was always easy to achieve anything. I will miss our lunch talks, sharing funny facts, knowledge on the gaming industry, and our very early meetings with lots of coffee! DJ is definitely an asset to any team, anyone would be incredibly lucky to have him as a PM!
John Stumme
Dave is a standout example of what most people think of when they consider the kind of manager that they -wish- they had. As a game designer, I worked closely with him and his team, and saw that they were always treated with respect - and more importantly, care. Dave genuinely cares about the people that he works with, and wants to see the best for them both personally and professionally. His kindness does not come at the expense of his effectiveness. Dave is still able to run a tight ship where things get done to a high degree of quality. Testers knew that anything less would be letting him down, and he's the kind of guy that you want to respect you. It's a fair and mature style of leadership, that I learned a lot from when it was time to manage a team of my own. Dave managed to keep the mood light even in the worst of crunch times, such that I wouldn't mind the long hours if meant our professional paths crossed again!
Credentials
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Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®)
Scrum AllianceSep, 2019- Sep, 2024 -
ISTQB Foundation Level (CTFL)
ASTQB - Official Page - American Software Testing Qualifications BoardDec, 2016- Sep, 2024
Experience
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Mojang Studios
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Sweden
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Computer Games
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400 - 500 Employee
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Sr. Technical Program Manager - Franchise Growth
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Oct 2023 - Present
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Mojang Accessibility Champ
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Oct 2021 - Present
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Sr. Product Manager - Player Care
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Jan 2021 - Oct 2023
• Responsible for Player Care partner and business relationships.• Product owner for Player Support and Moderation tooling, managing schedule, prioritization and incoming requests. • Owner of Incident escalations and Sunsetting efforts across the franchise.
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Sr. Program Manager - Player Safety
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Jan 2021 - Apr 2022
• Owned Player Safety Strategic and Tactical planning for the Minecraft Franchise. • Created policy for Moderation, updated Community Policy for the franchise. • Coordinated with stakeholders to create our infrastructure plan • Owned the product roadmap for implementation of the new infrastructure.
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Sr. Program Manager - Platform
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Oct 2019 - Jan 2021
• Launched Bedrock version for PS4, PSVR and OpenXR projects.• Owner for end of life assessment across Bedrock devices.• Responsible for project planning and scheduling for tasks, issues, and milestone deliveries.• Owned primary communication with stakeholders across multiple disciplines and business teams • Established end of life criteria for device sunsetting from franchise support.
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Amazon Games
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United States
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Entertainment Providers
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700 & Above Employee
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Senior QA Manager
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Apr 2016 - Sep 2019
QA Director for an internal studio development team • Tracked milestone deliveries in partnership with production. • Release manager responsible for project planning and scheduling for tasks, issues, and milestone deliveries. • Created a scaling staffing plan that reduced cost for the studio in partnership with the production team. • Managed staff of full time, and a scaling vendor workforce (50 max) • Managed teams with diverse skillsets and roles (Business Intelligence, Test Engineers and Tools Engineers). • Leveraged telemetry to drive more data informed strategies. • Created and managed team budgets for three separate projects in tandem. • Managed and staffed global industry events (GamesCom, GDC, etc). • Owned feedback loop with Community Management to create a more customer focused QA philosophy on Crucible. • Established a cadence with the Crucible QA team to drive improving scripting abilities across the team. Show less
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Undead Labs
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United States
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Computer Games
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1 - 100 Employee
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QA Director
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May 2013 - Apr 2016
• Directed staff of 3 full time, and 10 contract staff. • Created and managed the internal QA database in JIRA. • Created and managed QA budget for all products according to development schedules. • Administrated the company’s iOS and Steam portals. • Used Trello to manage delivery expectations in an Agile Kanban process. • Managed external QA vendor relationships. • Directed staff of 3 full time, and 10 contract staff. • Created and managed the internal QA database in JIRA. • Created and managed QA budget for all products according to development schedules. • Administrated the company’s iOS and Steam portals. • Used Trello to manage delivery expectations in an Agile Kanban process. • Managed external QA vendor relationships.
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PopCap Games
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United States
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Computer Games
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1 - 100 Employee
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Director of Quality
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Apr 2012 - Dec 2012
Director for an international quality assurance team supporting a PC/Mac, Console, handheld, social and mobile game development company.• Oversaw the QA activities across the company for four separate studios.• Directed a department with a staff of 40 individuals from Dublin to Seattle.• Created and managed QA budget for all products according to development schedules.• Coordinated with QA management staff for growth and reduction procedures.• Focused on training to introduce skills towards social and mobile game development.• Managed external QA vendor relationships.• Coordinated with EA QA departments for compatibility and certification requirements. Show less
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Studio QA Manager
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May 2010 - Apr 2012
Software testing manager for a PC/Mac, Console, handheld and mobile game development company. Took over management of the in-house QA team and managed their growth with the company.• Managed a team of 15 traditional QA staff.• Managed a team of 5 Software Development Engineers.• Responsible for a team having 7 straight first submission approvals on console.• Responsible for hardware purchasing and allocation for QA and development teams.• Coordinated with international studio development, QA and localization teams.• Administrated and maintained bug database using Jira.• Organized strategy for migration from a wiki to Confluence for all QA documentation.• Promoted to Director Show less
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Loose Cannon Studios
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Computer Games
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1 - 100 Employee
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Project Manager / External Producer
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Apr 2008 - May 2010
Product involvement includes Tornado Outbreak™ for PS3, Xbox360 and Wii consoles in addition to prototyping. Responsibilities included: • Owned milestone delivery status, risk assessment and communication for tracking status across the studio. • Owned communication between studio and Publisher, and all on and off-site QA groups. • Managed and tracked text integration and localization status. • Managed game related deliveries to the publishing team for marketing. • Managed in-house testing and maintained internal bug & task tracking database • Owner of in-game movie compression and integration. Show less
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ArenaNet
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United States
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Computer Games
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200 - 300 Employee
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Producer / Product Manager
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Jan 2007 - Mar 2008
Product involvement includes Guild Wars: Factions™, Guild Wars: Nightfall™, Guild Wars: Eye of the North™ and Guild Wars: Bonus Mission Pack™ for the PC. Responsibilities included:• Scheduling and tracking status on milestone deliveries.• Evaluating team workloads and budgeting man hours.• Communicating with team leads.• Streamlining communication and process to help provide a streamlined work environment.• Coordinating with localization and off-site test teams.• Coordinating with in-house writing team and marketing for manuals & strategy guides. Show less
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QA Manager
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Oct 2005 - Jan 2007
In-house software testing manager for a PC game development company. Worked closely with artists, programmers, producers and designers. Product involvement includes Guild Wars: Factions. • Coordinating with localization and off-site test teams.• Hiring and managing in-house test team.• Maintaining bug database.• Creating milestone test cases, team test cycles, and budgeting man hours.• Responsible for creation of Gold Master ISO’s and delivering them.• Primary in-house contact for all off-site QA Show less
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Sucker Punch Productions
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United States
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Computer Games
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100 - 200 Employee
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QA Manager
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Jun 1999 - Oct 2005
In-house software testing manager for a console development company. Product involvement includes Rocket: Robot on Wheels™. Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus™, Sly 2: Band of Thieves™, and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves™ for the PS2. Responsibilities included: • Hiring, creating, and managing a small test team. • Creating and maintaining a bug and task tracking database in Lotus Notes. • Creating milestone test cases, team test cycles, and budgeting man hours. • Owned build delivery and communication for build health and status to Sony Production and QA Leads. Show less
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Microsoft
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United States
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Software Development
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200 - 300 Employee
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Software Testing Engineer
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Jan 1999 - Jun 1999
Contract testing engineer through Volt for Microsoft's research division. Primary responsibilities include development and implementation of test cases for the Allegiance, a massively multiplayer PC game project, along with documenting and monitoring server and client network status. Contract testing engineer through Volt for Microsoft's research division. Primary responsibilities include development and implementation of test cases for the Allegiance, a massively multiplayer PC game project, along with documenting and monitoring server and client network status.
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Nintendo of America
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United States
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1 - 100 Employee
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Product Tester
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Jan 1998 - Nov 1998
Contract product tester through Remedy Staffing for NOA. In-house alpha and beta testing Nintendo software and assisting in the application and development of software for the Nintendo 64™ and GameBoy™ game systems. Contract product tester through Remedy Staffing for NOA. In-house alpha and beta testing Nintendo software and assisting in the application and development of software for the Nintendo 64™ and GameBoy™ game systems.
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Phoenix Art Group
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United States
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Real Estate
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Senior Lab Technician
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Feb 1996 - Oct 1997
Coordinated photography and production of high-quality color prints for sample books utilized by art sales representatives. Responsible for control of lab supply inventory, monitoring the maintenance and upkeep of film and print processing equipment, and overseeing the operation of the department. Instructed lab assistants in day-to-day operations. Responsible for research regarding hardware purchases for digital integration project. Coordinated photography and production of high-quality color prints for sample books utilized by art sales representatives. Responsible for control of lab supply inventory, monitoring the maintenance and upkeep of film and print processing equipment, and overseeing the operation of the department. Instructed lab assistants in day-to-day operations. Responsible for research regarding hardware purchases for digital integration project.
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