Cesar Villa-Garcia

About Cesar Villa-Garcia

Hey there! I’m a product manager with 6+ years of experience spanning product management, software engineering, and nonprofit leadership. I’ve led cross-functional teams, shaped product strategy, and launched impactful, value-driven capabilities across consumer experiences, advertising, and developer platforms. I’m passionate about crafting experiences that empower people and organizations to reach their goals, bringing a blend of technical, product, and design expertise to deliver intuitive, high-impact solutions.As a product manager, I’ve owned end-to-end product development from discovery and design to delivery and go-to-market. I’ve delivered solutions that improved customer satisfaction, increased user engagement, and improved operational efficiency across teams. I thrive in complex environments where collaboration, user insight, and data-driven decisions drive outcomes.Earlier in my career, I was a full-stack software engineer, building portfolio management tools and working across the development lifecycle. Before that, I was a graphic designer focused on branding and digital marketing for mission-driven organizations. My foundation in design and engineering have made me a versatile and empathetic product manager who can align stakeholders, prototype ideas, and bring visions to life.Outside of work, I’m the Co-Founder of INIT, an ed-tech nonprofit with a mission to build the next generation of tech leaders. Through our university chapters and employer partnerships, we’ve supported over students in landing internships and full-time roles - advancing economic mobility through access, education, and opportunity.I’m excited to connect with others who are passionate about building great products, advancing equity in tech, or exploring new ideas. Whether it’s to collaborate, share experiences, or explore opportunities, feel free to reach out!

Experience

1. Manager, Product Management - Amex Ads

   American Express

   Sep 2025 — Present · New York, NY, US

   American Express Ads is a new digital advertising platform designed to help brands connect with American Express’ 34 million U.S. Consumer Card Members. Brands can serve high-spending Card Members relevant, contextual ads in the moments they are likely to engage, shop and spend with the brands they love.• Own the product roadmap of Amex’s new advertising capabilities (with a focus on targeting and attribution), ensuring alignment with strategic priorities of the Digital Advertising team• Lead the design, development, and deployment of these new ad capabilities, collaborating across multiple Amex platforms (Amex Travel, Resy, Amex App) and functional teams (product, technology, marketing, control management, legal)• Translate business requirements into actionable tech specifications (features, user stories) for engineering teams• Closely track delivery of each capability, prioritize engineering effort when necessary, and manage an active backlog• Lead regular standups with tech owners to ensure timely delivery of capabilities as well as tech leadership updates to highlight progress and potential blockers• Help resolve tech issues that arise and proactively identify opportunities to automate processes• Spearhead assessments of external tech solutions to fill internal capability gaps and own the end-to-end third-party lifecycle management (TLM) associated with these new vendors• Enact comprehensive compliance / risk processes & controls when launching new capabilities• Lead the annual tech resourcing & budgeting process for the Digital Advertising team and actively manage tech funding to ensure proper utilization

Education

• Florida International University

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Computer Science

  2014 — 2018

• Georgia Institute of Technology

  Master of Science - MS, Computer Science

  2023 — 2025

• Miami Dade College

  Associate of Arts - AA, Graphic Design

  2010 — 2012