Hi, I’m
Daryl Welsh
Puyallup,WA
Summary
Innovative Director of Engineering with 27 years developing and applying new technologies to deliver both exceptional and failed products. Combines technical engineering capability with effective management techniques (typically highest MS-Poll and Leadership scores across peer groups).
Dedicated to driving rapid, advanced product development through mentorship of junior staff and hands-on participation.
Overview
28
years of professional experience
Work History
Microsoft, Windows Servicing And Delivery
Partner Director of Engineering
01.2015 - 09.2023
Job overview
- Delivered each month software updates to ~1.5B PC's from XP through Win11. Never missed the deadline (2nd Tuesday each month)
- Responsible for all security fixes in Windows for Azure, Xbox, Hololens, Windows Server, Office365 infrastructure
- Built a strong team (230 engineers at max size). Grew two direct reports from Principal to Partner (Top ~1.5% of talent at Microsoft)
- Functioned as primary point of contact for high-profile customers, addressing concerns and meeting or exceeding expectations.
Microsoft, Windows Phone - Core OS
Principal Engineering Manager
07.2010 - 01.2015
Job overview
- Owned quality for the Platform OS across Windows Phone 7 (WinCE based), Windows Phone 8 (Windows 8 base kernel) and Windows Phone 10 (Windows 10 base kernel)
- Led commercialization and experiences team - launched first Windows Phone in China, first certified software stack for LTE, and bring up of multiple Nokia phones.
- Evaluated project requirements to identify and mitigate risks.
- Recruited, placed and oversaw project staff for optimal project results.
Microsoft, Premium Mobile Experiences (KIN)
Principal Test and Release Management - Director
02.2007 - 01.2010
Job overview
- Owner of all testing and release management efforts across in-house designed phone, and backend service.
- Led geo-separated teams (60% in Redmond, 40% in Palo Alto)
- Led integration efforts for a newly acquired company (Danger - makers of the Sidekick Phone and Service)
- Bring up and commercialization of two phones with two different radio stacks (GSM and CDMA) across US and European mobile operators
- Oversaw deployment of operating system patches, security improvements and hardware compatibility updates.
- Managed release validation through development, testing and production phases.
- Responded to emergent issues in production releases to quickly iterate and remediate weaknesses in subsequent releases.
Microsoft, XBOX
Principal Test Manager
03.2001 - 02.2007
Job overview
- Owned all quality for Xbox OS and SDK for launch of Xbox 360 and platform evolution every six months
- Worked hand in hand with Hardware bring-up team, mitigating many HW issues through core OS changes.
- Commercialized Microsoft's first Video Marketplace (2006)
- Owned efforts for bring-up and launch of Xbox 360 Camera (2005) and HD-DVD player (2006)
- Was 'voice of' the overall Xbox team by being primary writer for the Xbox team blog (example: https://tinyurl.com/darylw)
- Oversaw release management for console launch, security updates, functional improvements and OS compat for Hardware cost reductions.
- Created a never done before preview/beta program for Microsoft employees to help validate fixes and feature updates (program caught two Sev-0 bugs that would've bricked millions of devices had it been released to public)
- Defined testing and acceptance strategies and determined quality assurance benchmarks.
- Analyzed historical testing results to isolate failure patterns for long-term investigation into possible development process improvements (in 2006 -> 2007 transitioned entire engineering effort to Agile methods - Scrum based)
- Coordinated with off-site vendor staff to verify correct use of test procedures and ensure compat across all games and HW configs
Microsoft, Small Business And BackOffice Server
Test Manager
01.1998 - 02.2001
Job overview
- Owned overall quality for development and launch of Microsoft's first integrated server suites (Small Business Server and BackOffice Server - 3 versions of each)
- Responsible for all hiring in this newly created team (from 1 to 35 engineers in ~8 months) through on campus and international hiring events (Turkey and Australia)
- Mentored and grew 3 engineers from front-line coders to Team Leads.
- Tested and released our unique Suite Integration Toolkit - a complex setup designed to properly install Win Server, SQL, Exchange, Proxy Srv, and client roll-out. Toolkit was adopted and used by Visual Studio team for >10 years.
Microsoft, Windows NT Stress Team
SDET Engineer Then Team Lead
02.1996 - 02.2001
Job overview
- SDET for Windows NT Stress Team writing tests across Kernel, Filesystem Graphics, and Networking on Win NT 3.5 and 3.51 (introduction of PowerPC CPU)
- Promoted to NT Stress Lead - delivered Win NT 4.0, Windows 2000
- Triage and debugged at Kernel and User modes for up to 300+ machines each morning to ensure delivery of daily stress results for Senior Management.
- Automated bug and follow-up process by reducing end developer efforts by >75%.
- Developed first pattern matching process for memory dumps greatly reducing wasted time and efforts.
- Developed automated OS Install, Stress Tools download, and kick-off of test execution for client/server stress lab - reducing needs for vendors by 2 people.
Education
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott
3 Yrs Towards B.S. from Aerospace Engineering Then Computer Science
Skills
- Change Management Process
- Code Compliance
- Team Direction
- Goal Management
- Systems Integration
- Critical Thinking
- Technical Direction
- Quality Assurance and Control
- Effective Multitasking
- Engineering Leadership
- System Updates
Timeline
Partner Director of Engineering
Microsoft, Windows Servicing And Delivery
01.2015 - 09.2023
Principal Engineering Manager
Microsoft, Windows Phone - Core OS
07.2010 - 01.2015
Principal Test and Release Management - Director
Microsoft, Premium Mobile Experiences (KIN)
02.2007 - 01.2010
Principal Test Manager
Microsoft, XBOX
03.2001 - 02.2007
Test Manager
Microsoft, Small Business And BackOffice Server
01.1998 - 02.2001
SDET Engineer Then Team Lead
Microsoft, Windows NT Stress Team
02.1996 - 02.2001
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
3 Yrs Towards B.S. from Aerospace Engineering Then Computer Science
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