Job Description
Development Directors play a critical role at EA and are responsible for the successful delivery of a game, on time and within budget. Prior to production, DDs carry out a detailed analysis of the product design and identify project milestones in partnership with key technical and creative managers (Game Designer, Art Director and Lead Programmer). The Development Director owns the project schedule, capacity plans and equipment needed to ship the game on time and within budget.
Once development is underway, the DD monitors the team’s progress against the plan, calling out risks to ship dates and providing mitigation and contingency plans. They must be able to work with producers to prioritize features, manage risks, and plan for contingencies. The DD is also responsible for motivating and engaging the team, as well as being a career manager for their direct reports.
The successful candidate for the Senior Development Director of Pogo will have acquired in-depth knowledge of game operations by having worked on game aggregation services as well as on the delivery of AAA game franchises, specifically mobile ones. This role requires highly developed relationship building skills and the ability to build credibility and influence within the Pogo organization and with Pogo’s central partners within the label and EA. This role will be responsible for the overall on-time delivery, stability, and budget for all of Pogo’s releases, both on Pogo.com and on upcoming mobile initiatives. This role will also be responsible for defining group-wide processes and efficiencies. The ideal candidate will lead managing the organization to the defined P&L and own the studio’s resource plan.
Pogo’s team spans three locations in three countries, so this position requires some international travel.
Core Responsibilities Include
Leadership
Implements the studio roadmap and owns execution plan in partnership with the Pogo GM and Head of Product
Drives product plan reviews and execution
Audits all functional groups within Pogo to ensure on-time releases
Manages Studio against P&L including OC, OpEx, and COGS
Maintains direct correspondence with EA Mobile leadership on all product milestones
Operations
Defines and owns studio resource plan
Drives delivery against key milestones as well as robust risk mitigation plans
Owns alignment of studio requirements with external and central team partners; provides resolution between studio teams and partner organizations where necessary
Owns process improvement for studio, driving transparent, predictable and value-add processes for quality product delivery
Drives efficiencies and new ways of thinking with a goal of increasing profitability
Project Management
Manages a team of Development Managers who are responsible for delivering project schedules, managing individual task estimates, determining resource requirements, determining task dependencies and driving projects to completion
Oversees the process of change requests, ensuring the impact to date changes and product milestones are accurately defined and communicated throughout the organization
Develops, maintains and publishes studio KPI’s that track project quality, delivery, and financial status and risks
Business Management
Owns alignment of studio requirements in partnership with external or central team partners; provides resolution between studio teams and partner organizations where necessary
Partners with the finance team to execute the division budget planning process, working closely with the Pogo GM, Head of Product and finance partners
Manages and owns OPEX for Pogo studio
Manages centralized corporate service groups, such as Facilities, IT, Customer Support, Localization, and Porting; with the purpose of identifying efficiencies and managing external groups to a budget
Staff Management
Provides inspiring leadership by proactively meeting and communicating with team members across Product, Engineering, and Publishing to individually monitor and prevent potential problems or concerns
Rewards and recognizes performance, provides coaching and mentoring to support career growth within EA
Monitors workload and recognizes extra effort with praise and discretionary rewards
Participates in development of retention programs, working with team members to develop and pursue a career action plan and identify potential growth opportunities
Manages budget for team member training opportunities
Job Qualifications
10+ years experience in game development, with 2+ years mobile experience
7+ years experience as a Development Director
3+ years live operations experience
Successful track record in leading the project delivery of AAA game franchises, whether mobile, social or console with significant online play components
Significant project and risk management experience
Proven experience in providing complex project solutions across multiple disciplines and domains
Experience in the development and delivery of games-as-a-service considered a strong plus
Strong understanding of the key components of building and delivering software as a service a plus
REQUIRED CAPABILITIES
Strong leadership skills: ability to challenge and influence a variety of stakeholders
Self-starter who is able to identify and solve problem
Excellent change management skills, i.e., comfortable with ambiguity and constant change, yet able to set priorities and execute on commitments
Flexible and agile: ability to adapt quickly and be effective in new situations a highly dynamic environment
Ability to prepare/present high impact business cases/analyses/recommendations to exec team
Able to effectively and quickly build relationships and establish trust, respect, competence and confidence
Possess passion, energy, enthusiasm to drive results; highly action oriented
Ability to travel internationally is required
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Wednesday, September 23, 2015
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