Job Description
Why PlayStation?
Join the award-winning team that created God of War
The Production Team at Santa Monica Studio excels at creative problem solving and communication. We thrive on being at the intersection of people and productivity as the glue that holds the studio together. Whether by being leaders of the craft of project management or partners who will clear the path ahead, the production team is here in service to the studio, to move development forward and achieve quality.
We are looking for an experienced planner and data analyst to join our team as a Senior Project Manager. A Senior Project Manager is relied upon to lead long-term scheduling and scope evaluation efforts to ensure the project is managed on time, to quality and within budget. Responsibilities include partnering with the Lead Producer and Sr Producers to own the creation, maintenance and execution of an overall project plan to determine resource, budget and schedule needs.
Responsibilities
Own the creation and maintenance of an overall project schedule throughout all phases of production:
• Craft and maintain a comprehensive project plan, schedule, scope and resource forecast for all disciplines along complex production pipelines
• Track milestone completion status and velocity
• Collaborate with Lead Producer and Sr Producers to balance resources and ensure correct prioritization
• Manage project and resource planning, monitor overall scope and track progress on scheduling issues
Lead overall scheduling, scoping and dependency tracking efforts of the production team through rigorous project planning, analytic thinking and information gathering:
• Gather scheduling data from Sr Producers as they break down large complex initiatives, features and challenges into manageable portions and actionable steps
• Assimilate diverse information and assess the impact on each phase of production and on the project as a whole
• Identify risks in planning and actively collaborate with the Lead Producer and other stakeholders to mitigate
• Ensure a common understanding and agreement on overall project scope and impact of any changes on the schedule
Partner with a wide range of team members to oversee various product development needs:
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with internal development team, primarily partnering with the Lead Producer, Senior Producers and Game Directors
• Oversee relationships with external vendors from a strategic planning and budgetary perspective, partnering with Producers and Leads to ensure appropriate strategy and partnerships are in place
• Monitor and adjust capacity plans to address personnel risk and highlight budgetary impacts
Craft and execute upon a vision for project management best practices for the production team
• Evaluate and assess current processes, pipelines and tools for efficacy and efficiency in serving project and creative goals
• Collaborate with Producers and Tools Engineers to craft and strengthen road mapping, scheduling and tracking methods
• Institute change management processes to communicate, track and measure impact of changes
• Establish and maintain project health measures in collaboration with Lead Producer
Skills
Project Management Craftsmanship
• Experience with traditional Waterfall production management techniques along with Agile techniques, including SCRUM or Kanban. PMP or equivalent certification a plus. Certified Scrum Master qualifications also a plus.
• Expertise with Microsoft Excel (creation and maintenance of advanced spreadsheets), JIRA, Confluence and other project tracking and bug database software
• Excellent organizational & prioritization skills, attention to detail, process knowledge and ability to multi-task
Communication & Collaboration
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively across product development and management teams
• Experience working with high performing creative teams and demonstrated ability to partner effectively in a high pressure, collaborative environment
• Proven conflict management skills with a strength in mediation leading to resolution of risk and roadblocks
Education & Experience
• Minimum 7 years of games industry experience in an internal development environment in a production role
• Experience on multiple large scale, 150+ person AAA games through all phases of production from concept to release as a Project Manager or Producer
• Mastery of a variety of project management techniques in an internal development environment coupled with deep experience building and maintaining schedules
• Familiarity with various internal game production pipelines, software and requirements
• Undergraduate college degree or equivalent skill set
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Equal Opportunity Statement:
Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.
We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond.
Jobcode: Reference SBJ-dyx633-3-145-130-31-42 in your application.