# Senior Development Director **Company**: Electronic Arts **Location**: Manchester **Work arrangement**: hybrid **Experience**: senior **Job type**: full-time **Category**: Engineering **Industry**: Technology **Ticker**: EA **Wikidata**: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q173941 **Apply**: https://jobs.ea.com/en_US/careers/JobDetail/Senior-Development-Director/213602 **Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_ad68c070-20a ## 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. Playdemic is a BAFTA Award-winning developer and publisher of mobile games, focused on creating fun and engaging, free-to-play game services for iOS and Android, including the global smash hit, Golf Clash. We are seeking a Senior Development Director to lead delivery across all Playdemic projects. This role is accountable for the end-to-end execution of our live service, ensuring we deliver high-quality, predictable, and commercially successful outcomes. ## Responsibilities: ### Delivery & Operational Excellence - Own end-to-end delivery of all features, live ops content, and new product initiatives. - Establish and evolve a predictable, scalable operating model for live service development. - Drive roadmap execution, ensuring alignment to product strategy, commercial goals, and player value. - Define and enforce clear production standards, processes, and workflows across all disciplines. - Ensure consistent delivery against quality, timeline, and budget commitments. ### Planning, Forecasting & Capacity - Lead long-range planning, capacity modelling, and resource allocation across the game team. - Translate product strategy into achievable plans, balancing ambition with execution realities. - Partner with discipline leaders to ensure skill coverage, team structure, and scalability. - Identify risks, dependencies, and bottlenecks early, driving proactive mitigation strategies. - Continuously optimise team efficiency through data-driven planning and KPI frameworks. ### Cross-Functional Leadership & Alignment - Drive alignment across Product, Design, Engineering, Art, QA, and Analytics. - Act as a central point of integration, ensuring teams are working toward shared outcomes. - Communicate clearly with studio leadership and EA partners on progress, risks, and opportunities. - Lead cross-team collaboration to solve complex problems and unlock delivery at scale. - Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and transparency. ### External Development & Partnerships - Drive continuous improvement in how we leverage global and distributed development. - Oversee external development and partner integration, ensuring seamless collaboration. - Define and manage partner scopes, SLAs, and delivery expectations. - Own outsourcing budgets and vendor performance, ensuring value and quality. - Build strong relationships with external teams, creating a 'one team' operating model. ### Financial Literacy - Partner with Finance and Operations to manage forecasting, budget tracking, and cost optimisation. - Ensure delivery plans align with financial targets and commercial objectives. - Drive operational efficiency, identifying opportunities to maximise ROI. ### Process, Tools & Continuous Improvement - Define and evolve best-in-class production processes for a live service environment. - Champion continuous improvement, identifying inefficiencies and scaling what works. - Ensure teams understand both the 'what' and the 'why' behind processes. - Leverage tools (e.g. Jira, dashboards, analytics) to create a single source of truth. - Lead major transformation initiatives, including AI/ML-enabled workflows where applicable. ### Team Leadership & Culture - Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing production organisation. - Build a culture of ownership, empowerment, and accountability. - Support career growth, succession planning, and leadership development within the team. - Create an environment where teams feel motivated, supported, and challenged. - Model inclusive leadership and foster strong collaboration across disciplines and cultures. ### Strategic Leadership & Studio Impact - Partner with studio leadership to shape long-term strategy, operating models, and growth plans. - Contribute to studio-wide planning, including org design, capability building, and investment decisions. - Use data, insights, and experience to drive strategic improvements in efficiency, quality, and scale. - Act as a thought partner to the Head of Operations and GM, with increasing scope over time. ## Requirements: ### Experience - 10+ years in production, program management, or operations within game development or similar environments. - Proven track record leading large, cross-functional teams delivering complex products. - Strong experience in live service development and continuous content delivery. - Demonstrated success in operational planning, capacity forecasting, and execution at scale. - Experience working with external partners or distributed development teams. ### Skills & Capabilities - Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills. - Strong strategic thinking, with the ability to connect vision to execution. - Deep understanding of development workflows, pipelines, and team dynamics. - Highly analytical, with experience using data and KPIs to inform decisions. - Strong problem-solving and risk management capabilities. - Financial acumen, including budget management and forecasting. ### Leadership Expectations - Builds alignment across diverse teams and drives outcomes. - Creates clarity in ambiguity and leads teams through complex challenges. - Fosters a culture of continuous improvement and learning. - Develops talent and creates future leaders within the organisation. - Operates with a studio-first mindset, thinking beyond immediate team boundaries. ### Nice to Have - Experience in mobile free-to-play games. - Background in product management or analytics-driven development. - Experience contributing to studio or franchise-level strategy. - Familiarity with AI/ML applications in content or production pipelines. ## Skills ### Required - Leadership - Communication - Stakeholder Management - Strategic Thinking - Development Workflows - Team Dynamics - Data Analysis - Problem-Solving - Risk Management - Financial Acumen