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Helping great products find their people.
Hello, I'm Marisa Smailes, a strategic product manager with 18 years of experience building products at the intersection of engagement, community, and growth. I believe that the strongest products are built with communities, not just for them. Because when users feel like they belong they are a product’s most durable competitive advantage.
I specialize in the full product lifecycle: from zero-to-one. I'm just as comfortable at the concept phase, offering competitive / market analysis and building personas, as through long-tail live operations.
The best monetization systems are the ones players choose to engage with, not ones designed to extract and I have deep expertise in designing free-to-play economies that keep players retained. I've also spent a good part of my career focused internally, building tools and processes that let small teams punch far above their weight. I prefer to be embedded with development teams collaborating on the roadmap and one of my favorite parts of the PM role is keeping teams fueled with data and insights that get them excited to tackle the next problem space.
EXPERIENCE
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Jan 2024 - Apr 2026
Associate Director of Product
@ POLYARC
(Indie Game Studio w/ 40-50 employees making VR, console, and PC games)
Sep 2021 - Sep 2022
Director of Product Performance
@ SUPERSOCIAL (Acquired by SUPER LEAGUE; NASDAQ:SLE)
(Startup w/ 20-30 employees making branded IP collaborations & branded Roblox experiences )
Jan 2018 - Sep 2020
Senior Product Manager
@ BIG FISH GAMES
(Casual Game Studio w/ 400-500 employees making PC & mobile games)
Jan 2014 - Dec 2014
Sr. Technical Producer
@ BIG FISH GAMES
(Casual Game Studio w/ 400-500 employees making PC & mobile games)
Jan 2010 - Dec 2012
Associate Producer
@ BIG FISH GAMES
(Casual Game Studio w/ 400-500 employees making PC & mobile games)
Sep 2022 - Dec 2023
Principal Product Manager
@ POLYARC
(Indie Game Studio w/ 40-50 employees making VR, console, and PC games)
Oct 2020 - Sep 2021
Senior Product Manager
@ NETFLIX GAMES - BOSS FIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
(Mid-size studio w/ 100-150 employees making Midcore & Casual mobile games)
Jan 2015 - Dec 2017
Lead Producer
@ BIG FISH GAMES
(Casual Game Studio w/ 400-500 employees making PC & mobile games)
Jan 2013 - Dec 2013
Games Producer
@ BIG FISH GAMES
(Casual Game Studio w/ 400-500 employees making PC & mobile games)
Nov 2008 - Dec 2009
Game Moderator & Customer Support
@ BIG FISH GAMES
(Casual Game Studio w/ 400-500 employees making PC & mobile games)
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SKILLS
Product & Strategy
Live ops; roadmap development; free-to-play
economy design, monetization and battle pass systems; LTV and price elasticity
modeling; A/B testing; Go-to-market strategy; Community management; Customer Relationship Management (CRM) including notification, push, email, and re-engagement strategy.
Research & Analytics
Qualitative research including playtesting, interviews, and survey design; dynamic user personas; competitive analysis
and market landscape mapping; KPI benchmarking and OKRs.
Leadership
Portfolio management; cross-functional
team leadership; stakeholder communication; contractor management; mentorship; business development and strategy including pitch support, deck building and platform partner liaison.
Tools that i frequently use:
PRODUCT
Notion, Confluence, Excel, Google Suite, Tableau, Looker, Hex, GameAnalytics
COMMUNITY
Discord, Reddit, CRM (Braze, Brevo, Omnisend)
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
JIRA, Trello, Clickup
UX
Miro, Figma
RECOMMENDATIONS
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Amy Pantea
Associate Director of Marketing - Polyarc
"I had the pleasure of working with Marisa at Polyarc and continue to be impressed by her product intuition and curiosity. When she digs into a question or opportunity, she comes back with an encyclopedia-level understanding of the product space and the player, grounded in thoughtful research.
Marisa has a rare level of empathy for players, and it consistently makes the products she works on better. She brings that same empathy to the team as well, creating space for ideas to be shared and debated openly.
She cares deeply about the products she works on, and that shows in the care and conviction she brings to major product decisions. Working alongside her has been a real value add to both the studio and the games we create."
Danny Bulla
Design Director & Co-Founder - Polyarc
"Marisa joined Polyarc at a time where our team had little Product Management expertise. Upon joining, her impact was immediately noticeable. Not only in how we should think about planning and developing a live game but also in how to drill into player profiles, behavior patterns, and community engagement.
As a Game Design Director and Co-Founder, I valued both the cultural impact Marisa had at Polyarc as well as the collaboration with the Game Design team. Every conversation was a bright light and we were able to accomplish a lot in a small amount of time. Marisa excelled at towing the line between both the product perspective and the developer perspective. A rare trait that we valued highly at Polyarc."
Aimee Paganini
Game Producer - The Pokemon Company International
"I had the pleasure of working directly with Marisa at both Boss Fight Entertainment and Big Fish Games. She is undoubtedly one of the most inventive, creative, and player-focused PMs I've ever worked with. Marisa balances her role with data-driven conviction and strategic vision. It was energizing to work with her - I felt equally empowered and supported. I would welcome the chance to work with Marisa again; she is a product-powerhouse and would make an excellent addition to any team."
Alisa Fortin
Sr. Product Manager - Google AI Studio & Gemini Developer API
"When thinking about Marisa's product style, three main qualities come to mind: extreme focus on users, deep understanding of industry trends, and a knack for setting up and scaling processes.
Marisa always has a clear goal and success metrics in mind and when executing on a product vision, she breaks down the deliverables to consistently ship value to the users while realistically managing stakeholder expectations. When leading, she keeps her hand on the pulse of the whole organization to make sure that her team clearly contributes to the business goals.
Finally, Marisa is definitely my go to person, when I want to learn something new or have an in-depth conversation about any technology subject. Over the years we've known each other, I always look forward to learning what great things she will accomplish next."
CONTACT
© Marisa Smailes / All Rights Reserved