This opportunity is for a full-time position in Bend, Oregon. Mutant Arm Studios employees are all working from home due to COVID-19. This WFH policy extends to anyone that Mutant Arm Studios hires between now and till it’s safe to return. All new-hire onboarding is being done remotely, and any equipment that you might need for projects at Mutant Arm Studios will be shipped directly to you. Once safe to do so, we'll help assist in your relocation.

Mutant Arm Studios is an up-and-coming independent developer, based along the beautiful Cascade mountain range, in Bend, Oregon. We are a fun-sized group of highly skilled developers, led by an Industry proven AAA Design team, working with one of the industry’s most prominent publishing partners.

At Mutant Arm Studios, one of the core pillars of our company is to hire team members who are game developers FIRST, and specialists second. Our goal is to build and maintain a focused group of game-makers, who are looking to approach game development in a creative and holistic way, and truly connect with players. We have done it all before, and our mission now is simple: “Let’s make some seriously cool games, with some seriously cool people".

THIS IS NOT AN ENTRY OR MID-LEVEL POSITION.

The Senior Development Manager reports to the Executive Producer and is responsible for the development and execution of the overall production plan for the game.

The Senior Development Manager will work closely with the Executive Producer on strategic concerns, business requirements, development culture, and the publisher relationship, while working closely with the Senior Producer and respective leaders on the development team for tactical execution of the overall production plan and implementation of the development culture.

The Senior Development Manager’s primary responsibility will be working hand in hand with the Design, Art, Audio, and Programming teams, as a representative of the Production team, to define a comprehensive production plan that delivers:
The creative vision for the game (as established by the Design and Creative Directors) in a predictable manner and at the expected level of quality.
An achievable scope considering the team’s strengths, limitations, and quality of life.
A plan to mitigate dependencies and risks along the critical path through each milestone over the life cycle of the game.
Clear, concise, measurable, and achievable production goals at both the milestone and sub- team sprint levels over the life cycle of the game’s development and into live production.
Predictable and complete milestone deliveries that fulfill the team and publisher expectations while meeting the contractual and business obligations.
The best practices to build and execute these production plans in cooperation with team leadership across all disciplines considering the team’s strengths, limitations, and quality of life.

The Senior Development Manager will also work closely with the Executive Producer to develop a healthy, transparent, day-to-day working relationship with the publisher communicating the current product vision and trajectory, reacting appropriately to feedback from both internal and external sources, and developing, implementing, and executing a release cadence that meets the needs of the game and the business requirements while keeping in mind the strengths, limitations, and quality of life of the team.

Expectations for the Senior Development Manager:

Direct game production and coordinate work between the Programming, Design, Art, and Audio disciplines.
Develop and maintain the overall game production plan; coordinating with internal and external teams to deliver on project milestones.
Lead the production team in driving overall project planning, task tracking, and problem solving to deliver results. Work with individual discipline leads to establish priorities and do resource allocation.
Maintain a high-level view across all aspects of the team ensuring the game is delivered in a consistent and efficient manner to the expected level of quality.
Facilitate communications between all disciplines to ensure everyone is working toward similar goals while quickly identifying and addressing any roadblocks.
Establish and maintain tools and processes for game production. Customize production pipelines to adapt to local processes, focusing on transparency, accountability, and ease of use for the team. Create, organize, and maintain the game’s document filing systems.
Participate in hiring and recruiting.
Manage and troubleshoot day to day development issues.
Assist in overseeing and coordination of any outsourcing efforts.
Build, maintain and evolve a creative culture and development environment, motivating developers, serving as champion of the team’s overall confidence/morale, lead with positive attitude and foster a culture of success through collaboration.
Partner effectively with team leadership in planning, budgeting, and business model design.
Coach and guide the production team towards both project and career goals.

Requirements:

Excellent leadership, production skills, emotional intelligence, oral and written communication skills.
Ability to multitask and prioritize.
Ability to motivate teams and inspire developers.
Ability to work collaboratively with other game team leads to resolve conflict and solve problems.
Strong understanding of all aspects of game development and their respective pipelines. Experience with Unreal pipelines a plus.
Relentless self-motivation and initiative – be able to make something from nothing, driven to create structure and order from the chaos.
Proven ability to build, develop and inspire development teams.
Ability to be flexible and adapt to rapidly changing situations.
Unrelenting passion for playing and making games.
Minimum of 10 years of AAA game development experience; shipped multiple AAA titles in a production leadership role. Production leadership in live game environment a plus.
Implementation experience on one or more AAA titles prior to moving into production role a plus.
Bachelor's degree, or equivalent work experience.

Mutant Arm Studios is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, age, sexual orientation, marital status, protected veteran status, medical condition or disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.