Development Director - EA SPORTS UFC

Electronic Arts Ltd; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 122,000 - 171,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Vacation 3 weeks

Sick time 10 days

EI/QPIP top-up

Health/dental/vision

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Retirement plan

Bonus eligibility

Job summary

Electronic Arts in Vancouver is seeking a Development Director for EA SPORTS UFC to lead cross-functional development efforts, shaping how development happens and ensuring on-time, high-quality player experiences. You will own the project schedule, coordinate Production, Design, Engineering, and QA, drive resource planning and risk management, and foster a collaborative, high-performing team culture.

EA emphasizes innovation and emerging technologies.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of project management experience with production lifecycles and planning.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Game Development, Business, 3D Arts, or related field preferred.
• Experience applying project management methodologies (Waterfall and Agile).
• Strong communication and stakeholder management across all levels.
• Experience building complex systems with cross-discipline teams.

Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain an overall project plan with resource capacity and risk management.
• Drive defined processes and identify opportunities for improvements.
• Identify risks and develop mitigation/contingency plans.
• Lead change management initiatives within the team.
• Build and develop teams and participate in hiring to meet project needs.
• Implement operational changes to motivate teams.
• Model conflict resolution and maintain positive team dynamics.
• Communicate progress and status to leadership.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across the organization to drive change.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Cross-disciplinary team leadership

Communication

PM methodologies

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Job description

Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. Part of a community that connects across the globe. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. A team where everyone makes play happen.

Development Director - EA SPORTS™ UFC

The EA SPORTS UFC franchise offers the electrifying spectacle and entertainment of MMA for over 20 million players across the globe. It delivers fluid and responsive mixed martial arts through inventive gameplay technology.

Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, the EA SPORTS UFC team is on a mission to become the world's greatest fighting game. If you're passionate about building immersive digital entertainment, this is the role of a lifetime.

As a DD1 on UFC, you will be responsible for leading the planning and execution of complex cross-functional development efforts across multiple teams and disciplines. You will partner closely with Production, Design, Engineering, Quality Verification, and other stakeholders to deliver high-quality player experiences on time and within budget. You will drive project planning, operational excellence, resource planning, and delivery predictability while fostering a collaborative, high-performing team culture. You’ll help shape how development happens, not just what gets delivered, through continuous improvement of processes, planning, and execution. You will be the keeper of the project schedule and play an important role in successfully moving the Development team from one project phase to the next, with a focus on quality, collaboration, and communication. We embrace emerging technologies, including AI, as tools to help our teams work smarter, improve quality, and unlock new ways of solving complex development challenges. We are looking for leaders who are curious, adaptable, and excited to help shape how these technologies are adopted across the team.

Your Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain an overall project plan by creating and maintaining resource capacity planning for the project, proactively mitigating production risks, and effectively managing internal and external dependencies.
• Drive effective processes within the team, ensuring workflows are well defined and understood by the whole team. Seek out and define opportunities for process improvements and innovation.
• Participate in risk identification, mitigation, and contingency planning against project priorities.
• Drive and execute change management initiatives within the team.
• Build and evolve effective teams; identify resourcing needs, participate in the hiring process to ensure candidates meet project requirements, and provide challenges and development opportunities to ensure that all employees reach their potential.
• Suggest and implement operational changes to enable effective and motivated teams.
• Model and exhibit conflict resolution behaviours following established best practices.
• Effectively communicate team’s progress and status upward
• Identify and lead collaborative efforts across the organization, working with key stakeholders to affect change.

Your Qualifications

• 5+ years of Project Management Experience with production lifecycles, processes and project planning in a dynamic and collaborative team environment.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Game Development, Business, 3D Arts, or a related field is preferred.
• Experience executing on project management methodologies, such as Waterfall and Agile.
• Experience in communicating and stakeholder management across all levels and organizations.
• Experience building complex systems with cross-discipline teams

Pay Transparency - North America

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The ranges listed below are what EA in good faith expects to pay applicants for this role in these locations at the time of this posting. If you reside in a different location, a recruiter will advise on the applicable range and benefits. Pay offered will be determined based on a number of relevant business and candidate factors (e.g. education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, or business needs). Pay is just one part of the overall compensation at EA. For Canada, we offer a package of benefits including vacation (3 weeks per year to start), 10 days per year of sick time, paid top-up to EI/QPIP benefits up to 100% of base salary when you welcome a new child (12 weeks for maternity, and 4 weeks for parental/adoption leave), extended health/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, disability insurance, retirement plan to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and other incentive programs.

• vacation (3 weeks per year to start)
• 10 days per year of sick time
• paid top-up to EI/QPIP benefits up to 100% of base salary when you welcome a new child (12 weeks for maternity, and 4 weeks for parental/adoption leave)
• extended health/dental/vision coverage
• life insurance
• disability insurance
• retirement plan to regular full-time employees
• Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and other incentive programs.

*British Columbia (depending on location e.g. Vancouver vs. Victoria) *$122,300 - $170,700 CAD

About Electronic Arts

We’re proud to have an extensive portfolio of games and experiences, locations around the world, and opportunities across EA. We value adaptability, resilience, creativity, and curiosity. From leadership that brings out your potential, to creating space for learning and experimenting, we empower you to do great work and pursue opportunities for growth.

We adopt a holistic approach to our benefits programs, emphasizing physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support a balanced life. Our packages are tailored to meet local needs and may include healthcare coverage, mental well-being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, complimentary games, and more. We nurture environments where our teams can always bring their best to what they do.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.