Matthew Hessing

About Matthew Hessing

I\'m an engineering leader who builds the organizations behind consumer products — the teams, systems, and technical strategies that let products scale durably.At Zillow, I lead initiatives spanning platform modernization and authenticated consumer systems that power personalized experiences for millions of buyers and renters. My scope includes cross-organizational technical strategy, modernizing core platform infrastructure now handling billions of monthly requests, and building the leadership capacity required to sustain long-term growth.Previously, I served as VP of Engineering at AppOnboard and Director of Engineering at Bankrate / Red Ventures, where I led multi-disciplinary product organizations across web, mobile, and backend systems. I\'ve built and restructured teams, improved release velocity and quality, and developed senior engineers and managers into high-performing leaders.Earlier in my career, I founded a consultancy delivering consumer applications for global brands and municipalities — shaping my approach to ownership, accountability, and pragmatic execution.I\'m particularly energized by designing resilient organizations, coaching managers, and building AI-native systems that amplify what great teams can do.Based in Los Angeles, I remain connected to builders and operators who care about scaling teams and products thoughtfully.

Experience

1. Senior Software Engineering Manager

   Zillow

   Apr 2022 — Present · US

   I drive cross-organizational technical strategy across Zillow\'s authenticated shopper experience, spanning multiple VP organizations and serving millions of daily active buyers and renters. I directly manage a backend engineering team and influence architecture, delivery standards, and technical vision across 60+ engineers. I partner with senior leadership to define multi-year technical roadmaps, staffing strategy, and success metrics.Platform Modernization & ArchitectureLed a 3-year modernization away from a legacy mobile monolith toward microservice architecture and shared graph APIs, spanning 20+ teams, 60+ engineers, and multiple billions of monthly API calls. Own architectural decisions across services, balancing scalability, performance, and developer productivity. Drive cloud cost visibility and governance (AWS), using spend signals to sequence service ownership transfers, deprecations, and platform upgrades.Cross-Organizational Program LeadershipLed a cross-org feature program spanning two VP organizations, engaging 10+ product, design, and engineering leaders and 25+ individual contributors. Drove end-to-end internal dogfooding and UX quality gates to surface UI/UX gaps, retired technical debt, and enabled a simultaneous multi-platform launch. Established organization-wide architectural reviews (300+ engineers), driving sustained participation and ownership from peer engineering leaders.AI & InnovationLed multiple Hackweek initiatives exploring generative-AI-enabled consumer and internal tooling. Shipped end-to-end prototypes integrating LLMs, retrieval systems, and Zillow data and services, including a first-place, 25-person cross-functional effort.

Education

• University of Southern California

  MS, Computer Science

• University of Southern California

  BS, Computer Engineering and Computer Science

Skills

• Mobile Applications
• Android
• Mobile Devices
• Software Development
• Software Engineering
• Iphone
• Java
• Software Design
• User Interface Design
• C++
• User Experience
• Web Development
• Ios Development
• Integration
• Objective-C
• Agile Methodologies
• Programming
• Testing
• Management
• Software Project Management
• Project Management
• User Interface
• Interaction Design
• Mobile Games
• Algorithms
• Leadership
• Scrum
• Mobile Technology
• Strategy
• Software Development Life Cycle (Sdlc)
• Vendor Management
• Product Management
• Start-Ups