Tony Issakov

"A seasoned leader focused on bridging technology and strategy to build great products and high performing teams."

About Me

Overview

I'm a seasoned Software Development Manager with 10 years of experience at Amazon, working across diverse teams including Prime Video, Alexa, Health wearables, Prime Gaming, and Retail accessibility. My leadership career builds on a previous 10+ years of being a software engineer, working across Australian government, international mining industry, and private consulting opportunities. I'm excited to keep growing into bigger leadership roles to maximize impact on product development, tech strategy, and growth of engineer talent.

Leadership Philosophy

My approach to leadership is supportive, honest, and mission-focused. I've grown and promoted numerous engineers throughout my career by creating environments where technical excellence thrives. I believe in transparent communication about challenges, which enables teams to address problems directly and effectively. My decision-making is guided by three core principles: customer obsession, steady progress toward our north star, and delivering incremental value.

Key Expertise & Cross-Team Collaboration

I specialize in web services architecture and implementation, with particular strength in coordinating complex initiatives across diverse teams. I excel at establishing clear communication patterns, creating detailed plans and strategy documents, and identifying critical paths that enable parallel development through well-defined contracts.

Some of my teams significant contributions include helping Prime Video launch globally, establishing a pattern later used throughout Amazon to launch digital products in markets without existing retail presence, being included in an Alexa device discovery patent for zero touch device onboarding, and rebuilding the activity and sleep calculation and presentation capabilities to launch the Amazon Halo fitness band.

Engineering Development

My passion lies in unlocking the potential of engineers by identifying self-limiting patterns and influencing mental models to expand their capabilities. Similar to my experience as a parent of teenagers, I've learned that effective leadership evolves from initial close guidance toward nurturing independence and growth. This approach has consistently resulted in high-performing teams capable of tackling increasingly complex challenges.

Beyond Work

When I'm not building engineering teams, I'm a loving husband and busy father of two. In recent years, I've developed a passion for 3D printing, which beautifully combines my interests in creativity, design, and technology. This hobby has evolved into fun father-son bonding time as I help my boy with prop building projects. Health and fitness have always been important to me, and I now enjoy regular gym sessions with my daughter.

I'm always open to connecting with like-minded technology leaders. Feel free to reach out via LinkedIn to discuss engineering leadership, team development, or complex technical challenges.