Andrew: Live Search Profile

Search Program Manager

So, you work on performance as a PM? Sounds serious.

It's totally serious! When you're on the hook for making sure millions of customers around the world are getting the fastest answers possible to their questions, there's a lot to do. Much of my time is spent finding innovative ways to measure, monitor and improve our performance - which is a total adventure that crosses all sorts of disciplines and teams. The people I work with on this are great and really are the best in the business - they are super engaged, and that intensity really is contagious (and fun). I also work on the core index so it's also a lot of fun to be at the center of it all - as we make Search better, make more types of information available, I know I'm making a big difference to our customers while getting to work on really deep technical problems.

Do they ever let you out of your cage?

Only on special occasions. Like the random excursions that a bunch of us make to some random bar or club in Seattle every now and then to unwind together. I think working on a live service like Search, where the product is constantly evolving and moving forward really gives you the power to control your destiny and call the shots between your work mode and life mode. Of course, I also just got back from being on vacation out of the country, so I guess they do let me out every now and then.

What makes the search team better then most?

Better than most? Come on, better than the rest! I wouldn't have wanted to join the team if I knew it wasn't full of the best people you could possibly find - I came from a great team before (SQL Server) and had a great job there, but really wanted the challenge of being a serious underdog, and the opportunity to work on a v1 release. I remember hearing someone say one time, in the context of the intersection of the Search world and the database world, that Search people have more fun. It's true - you've got super smart people working on a tough problem (one that I'd say is at the forefront of everybody's minds in the industry) - but we also have a lot of fun doing it - where else do you get to solve hard computer science problems that also can involve the crazy stuff we've got out there on the Internet?

How would a new member of the team get up to speed and integrated quickly?

It's pretty simple - will be immediately assimilated into the BORG (it's actually pretty small and we move pretty quickly). Actually, just come hang out in my office for a couple of days - we're a team that has been growing for the past two years, and really the knowledge of the system and how things work has spread organically. The best way I've found is to go top down - figure out what all the various components of the system actually do - and then drill in on the specifics - you know, read the specs, design docs, talk to the folks working on those components. Everybody's different, though - and there's definitely no BORG mentality here.

What's my favorite Search query?

Any query that gets to our customers faster than it would from our competitors.