About Me
I'm George Pătrășcan, a Software Engineering Manager at Google with over 20 years of experience in technology. My career has taken me from systems administration and QA engineering through software development to engineering leadership, giving me a unique perspective on what makes teams truly effective.
At Google, I spearheaded the development and landing of Fitbit Labs which enables experimental health features like unusual trend detection and a hypertension study that reach thousands of users. I also led the restructuring and rearchitecting of mobile apps, and drove a large migration involving 100+ engineers across a dozen teams, delivered ahead of schedule. Throughout my career I've maintained a deep focus on people, helping individuals grow into leaders and building cultures where teams do their best work.
I believe that great engineering leadership isn't about having all the answers. It's about asking the right questions, creating the conditions for others to thrive, and having the courage to make decisions with incomplete information.
Career Journey
Software Engineering Manager
Spearheaded the development and landing of Fitbit Labs: experimental health features like unusual trend detection and a hypertension study reaching thousands of users. Led restructuring and rearchitecting of mobile apps, and drove a large migration involving 100+ engineers across a dozen teams ahead of schedule.
Engineering Manager
Fitbit
Shaped Fitbit mobile applications strategy. Strengthened culture of ownership and engineering excellence.
Software Development Manager
AMOMA.com
Led multiple software development teams. Reorganised from siloed to cross-functional self-organising teams; 80%+ engineers reported increased productivity. Introduced microservices and DDD.
Head of Infrastructure and Tooling Development
1&1 Internet
Led multiple teams building an OpenStack-based cloud platform. Drove change management for development and testing practices.
Head of Quality Assurance Technology
1&1 Internet
Led multiple QA teams. Defined and implemented QA strategy aligned with divisional goals.
Test Manager
SIVECO Romania
Led several testing teams across Health, Geo, and Education scopes. Built and designed testing department strategy. Reported directly to COO.
QA Manager
Avira
Grew from beta tester to managing QA engineers across security products on Windows and Unix platforms. Contributed to O'Reilly publications.
Control Engineering
Universitatea Petrol Gaze Ploiesti
Bachelor's degree in Control Engineering. Also served as Network and System Administrator (2002–2004).
Publications
O'Reilly Media
Published articles on GUI testing methodologies, sharing practical approaches to automated testing with the global development community.
Open Source
POE SMTP Library
Contributed the POE SMTP library to CPAN, the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, enabling asynchronous SMTP communication for the Perl community.
Certifications
Associate Certified Coach (ACC)
ICF
Oracle Certified Professional, Java SE 8 Programmer
Oracle
Oracle Certified Associate, Java SE 8 Programmer
Oracle
Functional Programming in Scala Specialization
Coursera / EPFL
OpenStack Administrator
OpenStack Foundation
ISTQB Certified Tester
ISTQB
Beyond Work
Outside of work, I spend my time with family, practicing sport, and playing chess with my daughter. I believe the best leaders bring their whole selves to work, and that diverse interests make for better problem-solving.