Game Development Manager

Job Description

Date opened: 13/05/2020

We're Criterion, and we love making games!

For more than fifteen years we've entertained millions of players around the world with our award-winning games. Our talented people have expressed their passion for world-class game feel, AAA audiovisual quality and technical innovation in the Burnout & Need for Speed series and more recently in Battlefield 1, Star Wars X-Wing VR, Starfighter Assault and Arcade for Star Wars Battlefront II and Firestorm for Battlefield V.

We believe that healthy, engaged teams make great games, so we place enormous value on collaboration, fresh ideas, and unique perspectives. We'd love to hear yours!

Crunch doesn't help make a better game. We don't do it. For the past three years we are very proud to have been recognised by gamesindustry.biz as one of the best places to work in the UK. Let's talk about how you could be a part of it.

What a Development Manager does at Criterion:
Our Development Managers coach and inspire our cross functional development, and our single purpose service teams to be co-ordinated, focussed, well supported and autonomously aware of a project's boundaries.

As a Development Manager at Criterion you will be expected to bring software and game development experience, curiosity and a flexibility to find the right solution for the teams to excel. You will be able to demonstrate an understanding of a Triple A game development software process and have experienced all the intricate related activities that a successful game is dependent on.

A Criterion Development Manager shows a passion for communication, presenting an openness and generosity that will help inspire their teams. The ability to reflect a calm patience in a highly charged and stressful development is essential alongside a 'toolbox' of project management processes, frameworks and techniques so that the right tool for the job is always available.

Role Accountabilities
• Coach, motivate and inspire the team
• Support a team during planning and delivery
• Assist the team in their reporting
• Aid in team and project communication
• Understand and communicate the relationships between the team, their goals and the wider project
• Champion the best fitting delivery methodology for the team
• Represent team issues effectively
• Hold the Sprint Dailies
• Facilitate the Sprint, Milestone and Release Stop Start Continues
• Coach the goal process in Sprint Planning sessions
• Use asynchronous collaboration processes to ensure alignment across teams
• Organise the collation of data using Google Sheets and excel seamlessly
• Create dashboards in JIRA to support data informed decision making
• Construct and monitor workflows in JIRA to support the work the teams are doing
• Use Confluence to maintain a record of meeting actions and decisions
• Update Presentations with information relevant to the team's performance and goals using existing data points
• Construct STRUCTURE dashboards to assist in work tracking
• Update Confluence plug ins as required
• Obfuscate and obsolete JIRA records as appropriate

Required Skills and Experience
• Recent and proven project management experience within a creative game development environment
• Demonstrable track record in game software delivery projects
• Excellent understanding of a creative lifecycle
• A deep understanding of various project management methodologies
• Experience of working in an Agile framework
• Knowledge of publisher finalling processes
• Practical knowledge of Shotgun, JIRA, Confluence & G Drive essential
• Ability to inspire, influence and communicate effectively at all levels
• An understanding of ''As A Service'' games engine desired
• Prior EA development experience a real bonus

What's in it for you? Glad you asked!

Naturally, we offer great benefits packages, but more importantly, because we love working with outstanding creators, we maintain a culture that appreciates creative freedom and autonomy.
• Competitive Salary
• Great compensation package, annual bonus scheme and stock plans.
• Benefits including private medical insurance, dental care, pension scheme and life insurance.
• Extras like employee discounts, Rail season ticket loan, free games.
• 25 days holiday (including 3 days company shutdown days between Christmas & New Year)
• Two annual staff parties (Summer and Christmas)
• Casual dress code

We're based in the lovely town of Guildford – 35 minutes from central London.
Our office has an onsite café and gym and is a short walk from the train station and town centre.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-dyz7pr-3-145-50-83-42 in your application.