Windows Phone developer lead leaves for Amazon's Kindle team

Brandon Watson, known to many Windows Phone developers as head of the WP Developer Experience, is leaving Microsoft for Amazon.

It's not just any job at Amazon, either. Watson is going to be the Director of the Kindle Cross Platform team. There he will be working on the product development roadmap for Kindle apps across all first- and third-party platforms worldwide, including the Windows Phone app and the Windows 8 app.

Watson confirmed his departure via e-mail, telling me  "it was a hard decision, but the opportunity placed in front of me that was too big to pass up."

So far, no replacement for Watson has been appointed. I've asked Microsoft for comment on the company's plans here and have not received word back.

Update: A corporate spokesperson had nothing to share about replacement plans for Watson. He did, however, pass along this statement:

“We can confirm February 6th is Brandon Watson’s last day at Microsoft. Brandon did a great job helping us build a vibrant developer community and we wish him well with his next adventure.”

(I first heard about Watson's departure from WPDev Podcast's Ryan Lowdermilk on Twitter.)

Watson is one of a number of recent departures from the Windows Phone organization.

By the way, Watson isn't the only former Softie working on the Kindle team. Former Windows Corporate Vice President of Strategy Mike Nash is there, too, among others.