Associate Production Director, World - Unannounced Game | Irvine, CA

2K; Irvine (CA); Hybrid; USD 124,000 - 231,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading gaming company seeks an Associate Production Director to manage and mentor a team while driving development goals. This hybrid role demands a seasoned professional in AAA game production with exemplary leadership skills, ensuring high-quality output throughout the project timelines.

Benefits

Medical, dental, vision coverage

401(k) with Company match

Paid holidays and vacation

Tuition reimbursement

Paid sick time

Qualifications

• 10+ years of AAA game development experience.
• Must have shipped at least one AAA game.
• Experience with project management methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Manage and mentor a team of World Producers.
• Partner with product teams to build and execute strategic roadmaps.
• Facilitate team ceremonies applying agile methodologies.

Skills

Production leadership

Team management

Agile methodologies

Cross-discipline collaboration

Problem-solving

Tools

JIRA

Confluence

Job description

Team Name:

Unannounced Project

Job Title:

Associate Production Director, World - Unannounced Game | Irvine, CA

Requisition ID:

R024856

Job Description:

We Want You

At Blizzard, we craft genre-defining games and legendary worlds for all to share. Through unparalleled creativity and storytelling, we create immersive universes and iconic characters that are beloved across platforms, borders, backgrounds, and generations - only made possible by building a work environment that cultivates the artistry of game development and unleashes the aspirations of our people.

As an Associate Production Director on the World team, you will leverage your production craft mastery and experience, manage and mentor a team of World Producers, and drive an organization of cross-functional discipline teams to ensure achievable goals are outlined and realized throughout the phases of development.

When particularly hard problems arise, you will draw upon your diverse experience and the collective creativity of the groups you support to remove blockers and produce a Blizzard-worthy AAA game.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Irvine, CA.

Responsibilities Include:

• Partner closely with the World Team’s Chief Product Owner to build and execute the strategic roadmap for the World Team.
• Hire and manage a team of World Producers and provide mentorship/support to ensure project goals, objectives, milestones, and results are achieved.
• Partner with the World Team’s Product Owners to set achievable, strategic goals each Quarter and Sprint.
• Partner with supported teams to build and refine a Product Backlog that aligns with the project’s larger strategic Release Goals.
• Provide direct Production support for cross-disciplined product teams, empowering them to deliver against Annual, Quarterly, and Sprint Goals.
• Drive the definition and engagement of a list of key collaborators for each product team, ensuring their feedback empowers an iterative loop of continuous improvement.

• Facilitate team ceremonies applying agile methodologies, such as, but not limited to, standups, sprint/milestone planning and reviews, playtests, and vision-setting.
• Create alignment between partners and facilitate the flow of information to achieve a shared understanding of the goals and results within the project.
• Proactively identify gaps, blockers and bottlenecks that may prevent the team from achieving their goals in a timely manner.
• Exemplify reliability, accountability, and professionalism in all work-related interactions.

Minimum Requirements

Experience

• 10+ years of AAA game development experience in a Production role.
• Must have shipped at least one AAA game in a Production leadership role, leading all aspects of a significant portion of the development team.
• Experience supporting product teams to deliver in-game world content at AAA scale and quality.
• Ability to work with cross-discipline Directors, Leads, and Producers to align priorities and build predictability in scheduling.
• Experience working with different project management methodologies (i.e. Sprint, Agile, Kanban) at AAA scale.

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong product approach, passionate about delivering an extraordinary experience to our players.
• Adept at building and growing a team of Producers to bring structure, strategy, reliability, and calm to AAA game development scope.
• Ability to work under stress and help your team members to navigate various challenges and achieve positive results.
• Strong prioritization skills, both for your own work and for the team.
• Persistent self-motivation, self-organization, optimism, and initiative.
• Calm and deliberate within a highly dynamic, fast-paced environment
• Up to date with the razor’s edge of industry trends including new game genres, new game development methodologies, and emergent technology.
• Experience using JIRA and Confluence.

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty , World of Warcraft , Overwatch , Diablo , Candy Crush and Bubble Witch . Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovate worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to [e-mail]. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/ .

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $124,400.00 - $230,300.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.