Operations Director

Are you on a mission to build a studio that can create games that bond players together into deeply invested communities? Do you enjoy supporting immensely talented creators by establishing the operations and infrastructure necessary to bring their vision to life? Are you excited to get your hands dirty, build a new studio from the ground up, and find the most effective ways to collaborate together – remotely and in-person – across our studio and the central PlayStation organization?

As the Operations Director on teamLFG, you will support the studio’s operations functions and integration into the larger PlayStation organization. You will build our internal operations capabilities and own coordination with central groups such as HR, IT, Legal, and more. You will also work as part of the studio leadership team to ensure we build a healthy, open, and supportive team culture.

We look for candidates who value joining a mission-focused team with a diverse set of backgrounds, experiences, interests, and viewpoints.

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic and operations planning process for the studio with the Studio Head, General Manager, and the project leadership team

• Act as the primary point of contact and main point of escalation between the studio and central PlayStation functions (HR, IT, legal, infosec, etc) to manage priorities and ensure deliverables are met

• In conjunction with the Studio Head, own and prioritize the backlog of studio leadership work – strategic initiatives, tasks, and action items

• Manage and improve the rhythm of the business (ROB) in coordination with the overall PlayStation ROB calendar (e.g., financial submissions, staff and budget planning)

• Drive execution of strategic initiatives and special projects as a member of studio leadership team

• Oversee studio IT functions and ensure alignment with PlayStation information security requirements and best practices

• Partner with the HR team and internal studio managers on all people and talent processes including talent evaluation and compensation

• Maintain complete understanding of studio needs, including day-to-day operations needs, usage of existing systems/services/spaces, ongoing projects and IT operations activities

• Create accurate forecasts and manage Studio Operational budgets

• Create regular communications tailored to the studio, stakeholders, and both internal and external partners

• Build, mentor, and direct the Operations team for the studio. Collaborate with them to define near term goals. Support them in achieving career objectives

• Foster a culture of trust, feedback, and continuous learning, in partnership with Craft and Management leaders

• Monitor and refine organizational structures and rituals to align with product development and team needs

• Cultivate an inspiring and rewarding studio culture to build one of the best places in the industry to make games

• Set standards for quality people management and then model those standards

• Collaborate with other studio leaders to ensure alignment with studio best practices

Required Skills

• Demonstrated Operational, Management, and Leadership experience with team sizes of 75+ people

• Proven project management skills, including building and maintaining work backlogs, tracking, scheduling, and driving projects to completion

• Experience navigating and managing contracts, review of contracts, and external business relationships

• Experience making technical decisions on studio infrastructure working with internal engineering teams and information technology teams

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to deliver executive presentations and communicate studio wide

• Demonstrated experience in rapidly learning new methods and processes and adapting them to critical business needs

• Strong facilitation and conflict resolution skills, with the ability to drive high-value meetings, navigate challenging discussions, and establish clear action items and accountability

• Proven ability to understand, simplify, and solve problems in a fast-paced and constantly evolving environment

• Experience in effectively managing personnel issues and developing a high-performance team

• Experience with agile/scrum development processes

• Experience leading teams in a hybrid work environment

• Experience working in the video game industry

Nice-To-Have Skills

• Proficiency with project management tools such as Jira, TFS, Asana, or similar

• Experience leading international development teams and managing external partners or vendors

• Experience as a video game producer, development manager, or project manager