Operations Director

Job Description

At Electronic Arts, players come first. We are looking for the most talented game developers in the world to join us on our mission to bring the best games in the world to market. Our group is focused on casual games built by studios around the world with a portfolio of blockbuster titles like Plants vs. Zombies, The Sims Mobile, and The Simpsons: Tapped Out.

We are looking for an experienced development director or operations leader to head up Pogo studio operations in Seattle, Washington. Come join us running one of the most successful live platforms in the world.

Role

As a member of the studio's senior leadership, you will manage the operations and execution for a multi-team live service team in building and shipping platform features and content. In this is a key leadership role, you will report directly to the Studio General Manager and have a high level of interaction with team members, partners, and studio leadership. You are the chief operations manager and the project management expert for the studio. The Operations Director focuses on operational outcomes, development execution, and making things work (or work better).

Key Responsibilities

Leadership
• Provide strong leadership to the studio, inspire and motivate teams through personal example, enthusiasm, and dedication
• Collaborate with other key studio leaders to support our vision, mission, and strategy; develop plans to achieve those goals
• Promote a development culture of healthy accountability, maximizing potential and pride in accomplishments
• Strengthen the Development Director discipline through hiring and mentoring
• Directly manage development directors and associate producers as needed
Operations
• Oversee the studio product roadmap, accounting for live operations, platform feature planning, and game development
• Develop KPIs to track development delivery and quality
• Manage operational risk
• Develop standardized operating procedures and communication plans
• Coordinate with supporting organizations such as Finance, Central Technology, Core QA, Recruiting, HR, IT, and Facilities as the primary contact
• Provide management oversight to remote development locations as needed
• Assign and track development and operational issues to completion
• Manage the studio's communication structure, including long-range planning calendars, recurring meetings, and distribution lists
• Balance priorities across multiple disciplines and teams

Project Management
• Validate planning and execution processes for each of the studio's development teams, including scope, efficiency, dependencies, and risk
• Drive project planning and execution through scrum masters, hold teams accountable for meeting sprint commitments and quality targets
• Identify best practices and set clear standards for development processes, including implementation of agile methods
• Improve processes across the studio
• Report studio development status at regular intervals, promptly escalate urgent issues

Financial Management & Business Development
• Manage studio budget, responsible for all costs on the studio P&L
• Set budget policies and guidance, approve studio expenditures
• Partner with the finance manager to create forecasts and maintain long-term financial plans
• Manage plans for:
• staffing, including outsourcing, hiring, and central services
• hardware and software replacements and upgrades
• office space and seating
• training, travel, and events
• Manage external development efforts
• Partner with legal to negotiate outsourcing and external development deal sheets and contracts

Qualifications
• 9+ years of development experience in the software industry
• 6+ years in leadership roles with direct reports
• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience
• Mastery of project management (including Agile methodologies) and related tools
• Ability to travel internationally (25%)
• Expertise using Excel to track, model, and analyze data to support business strategy
• Experience presenting high-impact plans and recommendations to senior leadership
• Sound decision-making based on both data analysis and judgment
• Strong negotiation, change management, and conflict resolution skills
• A high degree of initiative and takes opportunities to make improvements
• Ownership mentality: responsible, invested in outcomes
• Integrity

Bonuses
• Game development experience (especially full cycle on shipped titles)
• Experience in mobile app development or managing live services
• Previous Development Director experience at EA or in similar roles in other companies
• Project management certifications, especially a PMP
• Experience managing distributed development and remote team members

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Jobcode: Reference SBJ-gmym2g-3-145-12-242-42 in your application.