Business Development Manager (BDM) | San Francisco- All Services

Socket.dev; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

OTE with commission

Group pension scheme

Dynamic and entrepreneurial culture

Video games focused environment

Work with video games pioneers

Job summary

Side is seeking an experienced Business Development Manager to drive growth across its full portfolio of game development and production services in North America.

You will win new clients, expand partnerships, and represent Side’s multi-disciplinary offerings—from game dev, art and audio production, QA, localization, to player support—across the NA market. The role emphasizes strategic account planning and cross-team collaboration to deliver integrated solutions.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in business development in games or entertainment.
• Proven ability to manage client relationships and close deals.
• Strong understanding of game development and production workflows.

Responsibilities

• Drive revenue growth by acquiring new clients and expanding existing partnerships.
• Develop strategic account plans for multi-service engagements across NA.
• Identify opportunities across services and coordinate with delivery teams.
• Maintain CRM records and forecast revenue with leadership.
• Collaborate with internal teams to develop integrated proposals and scoping.

Skills

5+ years of experience in business dev

Proven client relationship management

Strong English communication

CRM tools proficiency

Self-driven, organized

Tools

CRM tools

MS Office

Google Workspace

Job description

We are looking for an experienced Business Development Manager to drive growth across Side's full portfolio of video game development and production services in North America.

This is a broad commercial role responsible for winning new clients and growing existing partnerships across:

• Game Development / Codev
• Art Production
• Audio Production
• Quality Assurance (QA)
• Localization
• Localization Quality Assurance (LQA)
• Player Support

While experience in a particular service area may be preferred depending on the role, this is not a single-service sales position. The successful candidate will be expected to understand, represent, and sell Side's complete service offering to game developers, publishers, and other interactive entertainment companies within their assigned North American market.

Sales and Account Growth

Drive sustainable revenue growth through a balanced focus on new client acquisition and expansion of existing customer partnerships.

Identify, develop, and close new business opportunities within assigned accounts and markets.

Own and grow a portfolio of existing client relationships, developing a strong understanding of their business, production roadmaps, and evolving needs.

Identify opportunities to broaden Side's relationships within existing accounts through cross-selling, new service lines, and engagement with additional teams, studios, and decision-makers.

Develop and execute strategic account plans that support long-term, multi-service partnerships and sustainable growth.

Market Development

Identify new opportunities by tracking industry activity, production trends, emerging technologies, and changing client needs across the games market.

Build Side's presence within the assigned North American territory through targeted prospecting, relationship development, industry networking, and market intelligence.

Position Side as a strategic partner capable of supporting clients across multiple stages of the game development lifecycle.

Client Discovery and Solution Development

Lead client discovery conversations to understand business objectives, production needs, timelines, and commercial requirements.

Work with Side's service-line and delivery teams to develop appropriate solutions, proposals, pricing, and scopes of work.

Take a consultative approach to identifying where Side can provide additional value across both new and existing client relationships.

Internal Collaboration

Collaborate closely with Side's delivery teams, service-line experts, and commercial colleagues to develop integrated solutions that meet client needs.

Act as the commercial point of contact for assigned accounts, bringing in the appropriate internal specialists as opportunities develop.

Share client feedback, market intelligence, and emerging opportunities with relevant internal teams.

Pipeline and Performance Management

Own individual revenue and business development targets across assigned accounts and markets.

Build and maintain a healthy pipeline of qualified opportunities, manage forecasting, and maintain accurate CRM records.

Regularly review account strategy, pipeline development, and commercial performance with leadership.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in business development, sales, or operations within the games or entertainment industry
• Proven track record of managing client relationships and closing deals in creative or technical service environments
• Strong understanding of video game development and production workflows, with familiarity across disciplines such as game development, art, audio, QA, localization, LQA, and Player Support.
• Ability to identify and develop opportunities across multiple service lines and position Side as an integrated, full-service partner.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English
• Proficiency with CRM tools and MS Office or Google Workspace
• Self-driven, organised, and comfortable managing complex sales cycles and client relationships end to end.
• Passion for video games and player experience

Preferred but not essential

• Experience within Quality Assurance, game testing, certification, compliance, or related production services is preferred but not essential.
• Existing network of contacts among producers, development leads, operations managers, or game developers in the Bay Area and the rest of North America.
• Experience working in or selling to AAA, AA, or mobile game studios
• Exposure to selling or delivering services across multiple disciplines (e.g. art, game audio, QA, localization, game development or co-development support)

Benefits

• Competitive basic salary
• Working with people creating cutting edge interactive entertainment
• Excellent OTE with percentage based commission package
• Group pension scheme and death in service benefit
• Dynamic and entrepreneurial culture
• Video games focused environment
• The opportunity to work with video games pioneers creating cutting edge interactive entertainment

Who we are

Side (formerly PTW) is a global video game development and services provider, offering technical and creative solutions to many of the largest developers and studios around the world.

Founded in Japan in 1994, Side has grown to become a global force in the video games industry, with over 40 studios in 15 countries worldwide and offices across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia.

Our industry-leading services include codev, art production, localization, audio production, quality assurance, localization QA, player support, community management, and datasets. For more information, visit www.side.inc