Staff Software Engineer  ·  Founder

Anthony Rizk

iOS & mobile product builder with 20+ years shipping at scale
ex-Meta ex-Google Austin, TX

About

Mobile engineer with 20+ years of experience, focused primarily on iOS. I've built products used by millions — from helping lead Messenger's LightSpeed rewrite at Facebook to shipping a plant-care app loved by gardeners everywhere. I've founded and grown companies, managed large teams, held staff-level IC roles at big tech, and everything in between.

Experience

ClassDojo
May 2023 – Present
Staff Software Engineer, iOS · Remote
  • Lead iOS engineer owning mobile architecture and engineering across teacher, parent and student-facing products
  • Drove major feature development and releases across the ClassDojo app
  • Worked closely with product, design, and cross-functional teams to define and ship high-quality mobile experiences
Swift · SwiftUI · Claude
Greg — Plant Identifier & Care (greg.app)
Aug 2021 – Feb 2023
Lead Software Engineer, iOS · Remote
  • Led iOS engineering across many App Store releases; hands-on development on all major features
  • Mentored engineers and worked closely with everyone across the company
Swift · SwiftUI · Combine · UIKit · Core ML · Vision · StoreKit
Facebook
Oct 2020 – Jul 2021
Staff Software Engineer, Mobile — Messenger · Remote
  • Tech Lead for Messenger Search (iOS) and Instagram Direct Search (Android) clients
  • Mentored junior engineers; worked with cross-functional teams on engineering and product planning
Objective-C · Java · C/C++ · SQL · GraphQL · Hack · Buck
Google
Sep 2019 – Sep 2020
Senior Software Engineer, Android — Google Mobile Services (GMS) · Austin, TX
  • Supported teams across Google developing Android APIs for GMS
  • Developed and maintained GMS build/test infrastructure and data analysis pipelines; fixed GMS core bugs
Android · Java · Flume · Blaze
Facebook
Aug 2017 – Sep 2019
Staff Software Engineer, iOS — Messenger · Menlo Park, CA
  • Tech Lead on Messenger iOS — led feature and infra work for the Messenger LightSpeed iOS launch (complete rewrite of Facebook Messenger)
  • Lead iOS engineer on Youth/Messenger Teens — defined, built and deployed many public-facing features
Objective-C · C/C++ · GraphQL · Hack · Buck
Cape (acquired by Motorola Solutions)
Oct 2016 – Aug 2017
Mobile Tech Lead, iOS & Android · Redwood City, CA
  • Owned development of "Cape Operator" drone control app — real-time video streaming via WebRTC, UAV flight control, DJI SDK
  • Mobile architect and lead developer for consumer-facing "Cape Spectator" app on iOS and Android
  • Holds 2 patents related to operation of remote unmanned aerial vehicles
Swift · Objective-C · Java · WebRTC · DJI SDK
Tableau
Jun 2014 – Sep 2015 & Mar – Oct 2016
Lead Software Engineer / Development Manager — Vizable (0→1) · Palo Alto, CA
  • Defined overall architecture across all app layers: column-oriented database, data import pipeline, commands infrastructure, UI and animation framework
  • Grew team (dev, UX, QA, PM) from 3 to 17 people through internal and external hires
  • Lead developer through v1 launch; managed 11 developers over several post-launch releases
Swift · Objective-C · C++
VMware
Jan 2012 – Jun 2014
Architect & Lead Developer / Development Manager, Mobile · Palo Alto, CA
  • Built several public and internal Android and iOS apps
  • Established and ran mobile app development teams; owned business engagement, roadmaps, and architecture
  • Mobile architect and technical lead for AirWatch MDM rollout and other implementation projects
Earlier Career
Zeebu Mobile (asset sale)
Jul 2009 – Dec 2011
Founder & CTO · Ottawa, Canada
  • Lead developer and designer for over a dozen award-winning kids' apps with several million downloads across BlackBerry, Android, iPhone, iPad, and BlackBerry PlayBook
  • Handled fundraising, hiring, design, sales, marketing, and finance
Rove Mobile (acquired by SolarWinds)
Feb 2001 – Nov 2008
Founder & Lead Developer → VP Operations · Ottawa, Canada
  • Lead developer for Mobile Admin and Mobile SSH — flagship IT management products for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and J2ME
  • Grew the company to 40+ employees over 7 years while remaining profitable
  • As VP Operations: responsible for most of the company outside of sales and marketing
bitHeads
2007 & 2008–2009
Mobile Software Developer · Ottawa, Canada
  • Led various client mobile projects with a focus on BlackBerry — networking, UI, and hardware integration
TrueContext
Sep 2006 – Sep 2007
BlackBerry Team Lead & Project Manager · Ottawa, Canada
  • Led BlackBerry development team and owned project delivery

Skills

iOS Swift SwiftUI Objective-C UIKit Combine Core ML StoreKit Android Java C/C++ WebRTC GraphQL BlackBerry Mobile Architecture Team Leadership Founding & Startups

Publications

Beginning BlackBerry Development
2009 & 2011
Apress
All-time best-selling BlackBerry development book · 4/5 stars on Amazon

Education

University of Waterloo
2000
Honours Bachelor of Mathematics (Mathematical Sciences)