James Payne

I am a Lead Project Manager / Executive Producer with 20 years of software development experience with various sized firms, from startups to large publicly traded companies.   I have built my career by focusing on bringing traditional agile product development and project management functionality to development / team environments where these skills are greatly needed.  

I have served as the lead executive in transitioning acquired companies and external teams into the parent organization and helped them establish consistent project methodology, business + development expectations, and above all, communication.

I have contributed in various roles (QA, Art, Design, Production) to the product development of multiple software genres ranging from health tech, early childhood & family entertainment to more mature action adventure, and casino based titles all while adapting to multiple platforms (console / PC / web / mobile / tablet). 

I started out on the ground level in gaming as a contract QA Tester at 3DO during the PlayStation (PS1) / N64 console era, and more recently served as the Lead Producer of one of the most profitable social media games ever, Zynga Poker.  I was hired on-site by Zynga founders as the first traditional game Producer where I had the opportunity to work on a wide portfolio of products and train external studios (Baltimore, MD, Eugene, OR, Dallas, TX, Austin, TX, Bangalore, IN, etc.) how to get quality product development completed on-time through effective production pipelines.

Outside of my technical prowess, my creative + visual background also allows me to effectively communicate with 2D/3D/UX artists, designers, and VO + audio composers.  Conversely, I equally understand and represent the best interests of all cross disciplines and domains; e.g. Product Management, Engineering, Audio, QA, Customer Support, Community Management, Legal, Finance, and Human Resources / HRBPs.

​I have an effective and positive personal style with my communication, interacting with others, decision making, and leadership skills.  My greatest enjoyment and value added to a company comes from ensuring that the focus is realistic, helping teams navigate complexity, and seeing projects through conclusion.