“The truth is, competition is all around you, and Skillz is highly committed to bolstering that experience. Everyone who works at Skillz really wants to be here,” he says. “We’re unified in the same goal, which motivates employees to execute at the highest possible level.”

Skillz is excited to welcome Robert Jerez back to the team as a Senior Graphic Designer. A “boomerang” employee, Robert first joined Skillz in 2016 and has now rejoined our rapidly growing team.  

Moving to Southern California with his family toward the end of 2016, Robert honed his skills as a senior designer at Ozobot. When he came back to the Bay Area, he got in contact with our Principal Designer, Matt Grunwald, who encouraged him to re-apply to Skillz.

“When I switched gears to Ozobot, the focus was and has always been empowering the end-user. Whereas they tackled that mission directly via education in S.T.E.A.M., Skillz fuels players in personal growth via competition and a better view of their community through good sportsmanship,” says Robert.

Robert told us he missed the thrill of disrupting the video games industry with an alternative form of competition, as well as being able to re-define what the “professional” player looks like. We can name several League of Legends pros and their highly rigorous training sessions, but do we think about the mother, a college student, or person next to you on the train as an opponent in a high-stakes competition? 

“The truth is, competition is all around you, and Skillz is highly committed to bolstering that experience. Everyone who works at Skillz really wants to be here,” he says. “We’re unified in the same goal, which motivates employees to execute at the highest possible level.”

Robert Jerez & Matt Grunwald

Robert is most looking forward to collaborating with our user acquisition team to feature Skillz players and share their stories with the world in a visually compelling way. He notes that we have the unique opportunity to highlight what we offer as a form of entertainment and bring to light what it means to be a champion. 

“Our platform is designed around the players and celebrates their accomplishments. I’m excited to be here again because gaming to me has always been more than the moving pixels on a screen,” Robert says. “It’s a form of highly interactive entertainment and in my new role, I’m lucky enough to narrate it.”