Christopher Ward
About Christopher Ward
Christopher Ward is a Product and Engineering Leader for Magic: The Gathering Arena at Wizards of the Coast, where he has worked since 2022. He has a strong background in building distributed systems and leading multidisciplinary teams, with previous experience at Amazon and Teradata.
Current Role at Wizards of the Coast
Christopher Ward serves as the Product and Engineering Leader for Magic: The Gathering Arena at Wizards of the Coast. He has held this position since 2022, where he is responsible for overseeing the development and engineering efforts related to the game. His role involves leading teams to enhance game features and infrastructure, contributing to an improved player experience.
Previous Experience at Amazon
Prior to his current role, Christopher Ward worked at Amazon in various engineering leadership positions. He served as Head of Engineering for the Alexa Connect Kit from 2017 to 2019 and as Engineering Leader for Amazon Go & Just Walk Out Technology from 2019 to 2021. His tenure at Amazon included roles as Software Development Manager for Consumer Electronics Tech and Software Development Engineer for Amazon Wireless, spanning a total of approximately seven years.
Background in Software Engineering
Christopher Ward has a robust background in software engineering, with significant experience in building distributed systems for large-scale applications. He worked at Teradata as a Software Engineer on the Parallel Upgrade Tool from 2005 to 2012. His expertise includes leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver complex software projects, which has been a consistent theme throughout his career.
Educational Qualifications
Christopher Ward obtained a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied from 2002 to 2006. He later pursued a Master of Science (M.S.) degree at San Diego State University from 2008 to 2012. His educational background has provided him with a solid foundation in engineering principles and practices.
Contributions to Magic: The Gathering Arena
In his role at Wizards of the Coast, Christopher Ward has led the development of new game features and infrastructure for Magic: The Gathering Arena. His contributions focus on enhancing the player experience, demonstrating his commitment to improving the game's functionality and user engagement.