Director of Product – San Francisco
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT
Studio seeks a Director of Product.
What part will you play?
The ideal candidate for this role has worked directly with internal teams as a product owner and product vision holder; inspiring talented groups of PMs, Engineers, Designers, Writers and Producers to create quality, performant mobile games that engage our legions of fans for years to come.
They have worked extensively in the free-to-play space from the concept stage to live operations and has held a position with forecasting and P&L management responsibilities. Formal PM and/or Business training is preferable but not required.
A passion for creating quality mobile games that deliver on our fan’s expectations – a must!
• In conjunction with EDoP – Be a product leader! Engage and inspire your development team as a first-class product leader; creating innovative and new to market features that players love playing – while driving strong business results.
• Train, develop and be a strong support layer for direct reports, such as other Product Managers in the studio.
• Be an advocate and voice for your title – as DOP you’ll be expected to present the vision, business plan, design, metrics and executional strategy at the highest levels of Company and to the IP/Franchise owners where appropriate.
• In conjunction with Executive Producer – Responsible for delivering and operating profitable gaming service business through hands on collaboration with an internal development team and Centralized Mobile publishing to deliver a high performance mobile title.
• Own all KPI’s for a game – including setting realistic KPI targets then working closely with Producers, Designers, Engineers and other Product managers to design tune, balance and ultimately roadmap the game to achieve those targets.
• Provide detailed analysis of player behavior and recommendations to development team in order to increase key Metrics.
• Ultimate responsibility for the game P&L, in coordination with Finance and the title’s Executive Producer, including re-forecasting and Monthly Business Review – this would include full accountability for the profitability and forecasting accuracy of the title.
• Oversee the design, balance and tuning of the game economy, monetization strategy and merchandizing of the game.
• Working with EP; act as a liaison between the game team and Mobile Publishing, including UA/Analytics, Product Marketing, and Central PM.
• Use knowledge of fandom, marketplace and own experience to idealize and execute on innovative growth strategies that help grow your game.
• Use available Franchise research to determine a strong understanding of our potential player profile. Collaborate with the Executive Producer to ensure that the game delivers on expected motivations of fans and is to a level of quality that delights and engages those fans.
• Working with Data Scientists and Data Engineering; design an easy to query data schema that provides fast insights back to development team.
• Ensure a multi-variant testing strategy for soft launch and post launch is in place, provide management with detailed numbers feedback and reporting in alignment with established studio practices.
What do we require from you?
• Undergraduate degree required.
• Graduate degree preferred.
• Formal Business & Economics Training preferred.
• 7+ years Product Management experience in video game industry with increasing responsibility.
• At least 3 years experience in mobile games.
• At least 5 years in free to play games.
• Must have demonstrated success (top grossing) in the mobile, freemium market.
• Ideal – have worked on a major entertainment franchise.
• High level of familiarity with Data extraction and, co-horted behavioral analysis required.
• High level of familiarity with higher order mathematics and statistical analysis required.
• Ability to think scientifically and dispassionately about hypotheses related to the performance of the product, formulate plans and tests, resolve experiments, and improve metrics.
• Deep understanding of mobile games and mobile game market.
• Strong understanding of what “good” looks like in all areas of game development from performance through to creative direction.
• Strong knowledge of freemium monetization strategies.
• Skilled in running live service operations.
• Consumer-oriented.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills – Ability to present complex information at the highest levels within the organization effectively.
• Excellent Excel modeling skills, including P&L management.
• Very comfortable managing KPIs through analytics for live, long term engagement games.
• Skilled in MS Powerpoint, Word and Excel – Unity a.
• Experience with Hansoft, Jira or another production management tool preferable.
• Occasional travel required.
