Development Director (Contract)

Kabam; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 55,000 - 69,000; Full time

Job summary

Kabam is seeking a Development Director in Vancouver to oversee a new project from planning through launch. You’ll safeguard schedule, budget, and cross-team collaboration, guiding a multi-disciplinary team of artists, designers, software engineers, and QA.

The contract is expected to last at least 4 months with a potential extension. Reporting to the Executive Producer, you’ll partner with stakeholders to keep milestones on track while balancing priorities and resources.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in related field or PM certification.
• 7+ years of project management experience in entertainment and/or software development.
• Mobile game development experience.
• Working knowledge of JIRA and resource management tools.
• Deep understanding of games as a service model.
• Knowledge of PM tools beyond JIRA.
• Excellent communication across all levels of the org.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Senior Production to maintain momentum for a live game during the contract term.
• Provide day-to-day guidance on process and priorities; flag improvements to permanent team.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to maintain schedules and resource plans.
• Identify dependencies and priorities between tasks with project teams.
• Monitor progress within budget and manage changes affecting schedule, budget and resources.
• Ensure staff have access to training resources and best practices.
• Foster an environment where daily work ties to company goals.
• Balance priorities and drive creative solutions to achieve results.
• Set task goals from project goals and manage a team to deliver them.
• Track and manage scope, capacity, and risks for assigned scope.

Skills

Project management

Agile methodologies

Stakeholder management

Communication

Budgeting & forecasting

Education

Bachelor’s degree in related field

Tools

JIRA

MS Project

Job description

At Kabam, we’re constantly raising the bar of excellence in free-to-play gaming. We hire for passion and diversity so that we can triumph in our collective skill. Our teams are made up of a fusion of personalities and interests bound together by a collaborative nature, fun-loving culture, and a drive to do what it takes to make great games. And this is where you come in…

We are looking for a contract Development Director to support a new project through to launch, keeping the project schedule and helps move the development team from one project phase to the next while ensuring collaboration and communication both on the immediate team and with other partner teams within the studio. A Development Director manages a variety of disciplines including artists, designers, software engineers, QA and other production staff. Reporting to the Executive Producer, you will partner with team members to ensure that they are managing the project on time, to quality, and within budget. This contract is expected to last at minimum 4 months, with possibility of extension.

Throughout this contract, you can expect to:

• Partners with Senior Production team members to maintain planning and execution momentum for a live game during the contract term.
• Provides day-to-day guidance to project team members on process and priorities; flags improvement opportunities to the permanent team rather than driving studio-wide initiatives.
• Collaborates with project stakeholders to maintain schedules and resource plans against existing project goals.
• Identifies dependencies and priorities between tasks in partnership with the project teams.
• Monitors project progress within assigned budgets and managing any changes that impact the overall project schedule, budget and resources along with proper communication.
• Confirms the team has access to needed training resources and best practices; but does not own long-term development planning
• Supports an environment where staff understand how their daily work contributes to the company’s goals in motion.
• Solves problems, balancing priorities, and finding creative solutions to achieve results.
• Assigns task goals from defined project goals; achieve project deliverables through managing a team at a project-level.
• Tracks and manages scope in alignment with capacity, identifying and mitigating risks for assigned scope as needed.
• Partners with team leads to manage and balance scope, ensuring timeline and quality targets are met.

To be successful in this role, your background includes:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field or certification in project management, with a focus on Agile methodologies.
• 7+ years of project management experience in entertainment and/or software development industry.
• Mobile game development experience.
• Working knowledge of JIRA and resource management tools (tracking, modeling, allocation).
• Deep understanding of games as a service business model.
• Knowledge of JIRA and other PM tools.
• Effective communication skills with the proven ability to work with stakeholders across all levels of organization.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and constant change, yet able to set priorities and execute commitments.

$40 - $50 an hour

The typical hiring range listed above is specific to candidates located in Vancouver. Compensation will be determined based on your knowledge, skills and competencies.

About Kabam

Kabam is a world leader in developing entertaining, immersive, and highly social multiplayer games, bringing high-quality graphics, next-generation technology, and revolutionary gameplay to players around the world.

Kabam’s games, Marvel Contest of Champions, Shop Titans, and more have generated hundreds of millions of downloads and have received multiple awards including Apple’s Editor’s Choice and Google Play’s Best Game of the Year.

Founded in 2006, Kabam has studios and offices in Vancouver & Montreal in Canada, and Los Angeles & San Francisco in the United States. Kabam is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Netmarble Games.

Kabam is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and equitable workplace, and inclusive environment for all existing and potential employees. Employment decisions are based on candidate qualifications and business need, not race, color, ancestry, place of origin, age, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, political belief, religion, creed, marital or family status, medical condition, genetic information, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, prior criminal conviction or any other protected class in accordance with federal, state or provincial and local laws and ordinances. Accommodations will be provided as requested by candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.