Director, External Development

3 Months ago • 10 Years + • Game Production

Job Summary

Job Description

The Director, External Development at Epic Games will lead external development efforts across first-party games. This involves managing a team focused on building co-development capacity with multiple vendors to deliver high-quality content and development work. Responsibilities include partnering with Fortnite leadership to define external development needs, sourcing new co-dev partners, providing strategic oversight, defining and tracking KPIs, managing budgets, improving workflows, negotiating contracts with vendors, and ensuring smooth development and delivery processes across multiple teams. The ideal candidate possesses extensive experience managing AAA game development with external vendors, demonstrating a deep understanding of development best practices and a strong ability to lead and influence across all levels.
Must have:
  • 10+ years experience in external development/outsourcing for AAA games
  • Exceptional knowledge of process improvement and change management
  • Deep understanding of game development process and integration of external developers
  • Strong partnership building skills at all levels; excellent leadership
  • Deep knowledge of industry-standard development pipelines
  • Outstanding leadership, project management, communication skills
Perks:
  • 100% premium coverage for medical, dental, vision
  • Long-term disability, life insurance, 401k match
  • Robust mental well-being program
  • Unlimited PTO and sick time
  • Paid sabbatical after 7 years

Job Details

WHAT MAKES US EPIC?

At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating.

Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development.

PRODUCTION

What We Do

Whether it’s driving a vision from start to finish or collaborating with teams to inspire and deliver projects of Epic quality, Epic’s production teams take pride in consistently delivering world-class products and experiences.

What You'll Do

Epic Games is searching for a Director to lead our external development efforts across our first-party games. In this role, you’ll manage a team focused on building co-dev capacity to ensure that high-quality content, art, and development work is being delivered by multiple external vendors across multiple projects. We will look to this leader to ensure the successful delivery of multiple high-quality projects, on time and within budget, across multiple platforms. The ideal candidate has partnered with several external vendors to ship multiple AAA titles.

In this role, you will

  • Partner with Fortnite leadership to understand, determine, and deliver on external development needs across all Epic first-party games. Actively source for new co-dev partners to build additional capacity as needed across content creation and art
  • Provide strategic and tactical oversight for external development, as well as define, track, and report on production metrics and KPIs. Monitor overall development risks and roadblocks for major initiatives across the first-party development team
  • Lead budget forecasting, cost analysis, and budget management for all development and co-development vendor spend.This role will be responsible for identifying opportunities to streamline costs and increase efficiency
  • Manage communications, both internal and external, by providing performance feedback to external vendors, while helping maintain strong relationships between external teams and internal stakeholders
  • Identify opportunities and drive process adoption to improve workflows as it relates to external development
  • Collaborate with Epic’s internal Finance, Legal, and Procurement teams to understand industry standard rates for services and negotiate contract terms with external vendors
  • Ensure smooth development and delivery processes across multiple external and partner teams from prototype and through launch. Draw on your vast experience managing AAA games and your deep understanding of development best practices to provide vision for successful co-dev process at Epic

What we're looking for

  • 10+ years experience with external development/outsourcing and external content and development management required, preferably for AAA games
  • Exceptional knowledge/experience of driving process improvement and change management
  • Demonstrated understanding of game development process and how multiple external developers can be integrated into a fast-paced and quality-focused project
  • Experience in a software development organization and familiar with SDLC best practices
  • Ability to build strong partnerships at every level; an excellent understanding of leading both directly and through influence. The kind of person that people want to work for and work with
  • Deep knowledge of industry-standard development pipelines
  • Outstanding leadership, project management, communication and facilitation skills and adept at operating within ambiguous situations and high pressure scenarios

EPIC JOB + EPIC BENEFITS = EPIC LIFE

Our intent is to cover all things that are medically necessary and improve the quality of life. We pay 100% of the premiums for both you and your dependents. Our coverage includes Medical, Dental, a Vision HRA, Long Term Disability, Life Insurance & a 401k with competitive match. We also offer a robust mental well-being program through Modern Health, which provides free therapy and coaching for employees & dependents. Throughout the year we celebrate our employees with events and company-wide paid breaks. We offer unlimited PTO and sick time and recognize individuals for 7 years of employment with a paid sabbatical.

ABOUT US

Epic Games spans across 25 countries with 46 studios and 4,500+ employees globally. For over 25 years, we've been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world-class talent.

Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic!

Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy .

Note to Recruitment Agencies: Epic does not accept any unsolicited resumes or approaches from any unauthorized third party (including recruitment or placement agencies) (i.e., a third party with whom we do not have a negotiated and validly executed agreement). We will not pay any fees to any unauthorized third party. Further details on these matters can be found .

Similar Jobs

Warner Bros Games - Senior Render Tech Programmer

Warner Bros Games

Knutsford, England, United Kingdom (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
Ubisoft - Technical Animation Director

Ubisoft

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Playrix - Senior C++ Software Engineer (Build System)

Playrix

Armenia (Remote)
5 Months ago
Meta4 Interactive - Technical Artist

Meta4 Interactive

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Remote)
8 Months ago
Light Speed Studios - Senior Sound Designer

Light Speed Studios

(On-Site)
4 Months ago
Blizzard Entertainment - Senior Software Engineer, Shop - Hearthstone

Blizzard Entertainment

Irvine, California, United States (Hybrid)
6 Months ago
Blizzard Entertainment - Design Director, Hearthstone | Irvine, CA

Blizzard Entertainment

Irvine, California, United States (Hybrid)
4 Months ago
Klang Games - Senior Producer (f/m/d)

Klang Games

Madrid, Community Of Madrid, Spain (Hybrid)
5 Months ago
Paradox Interactive - Senior Product Manager | Riyadh Studio

Paradox Interactive

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain (On-Site)
10 Months ago
Moonbug Entertainment - Gaming Producer

Moonbug Entertainment

England, United Kingdom (On-Site)
3 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Similar Skill Jobs

Epic Games - Creator Success Manager

Epic Games

(On-Site)
2 Months ago
Epic Games - Senior Tax Analyst (International)

Epic Games

London, England, United Kingdom (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Umanaia - Responsable technique / Technical Lead

Umanaia

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (On-Site)
9 Months ago
CD PROJEKT RED - Intern in Cinematic Animation team

CD PROJEKT RED

Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Bitwise Alchemy - Senior Engine Programmer

Bitwise Alchemy

Texas, United States (Remote)
9 Months ago
CD PROJEKT RED - Senior Gameplay Animator

CD PROJEKT RED

Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland (Hybrid)
3 Months ago
Gamebreaking Studios - Senior Software Development Engineer (Unreal Gameplay)

Gamebreaking Studios

Colombia (Remote)
6 Months ago
Playrix - Lead Location Designer

Playrix

Georgia (Remote)
5 Months ago
Epic Games - Category Manager

Epic Games

Cary, North Carolina, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Epic Games - Senior Gameplay Designer

Epic Games

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (On-Site)
2 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Jobs in Cary, North Carolina, United States

ByteDance - CPU Application Platform Engineer Graduate (Server Platform)- 2025 Start (PhD)

ByteDance

San Jose, California, United States (On-Site)
5 Months ago
Paypal - MTS 1, Software Engineer

Paypal

Scottsdale, Arizona, United States (Hybrid)
6 Months ago
WebFX - Jr. Web Developer

WebFX

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States (On-Site)
6 Months ago
ION - Senior Business Consultant - Allegro​

ION

Houston, Texas, United States (On-Site)
6 Months ago
The Walt Disney Company - KABC Temporary Digital News Producer, Spanish Language

The Walt Disney Company

Glendale, California, United States (On-Site)
4 Months ago
NVIDIA - Offensive Hardware Security Researcher

NVIDIA

Santa Clara, California, United States (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Mattel  Inc  - Facilities Maintenance Technician

Mattel Inc

East Aurora, New York, United States (On-Site)
3 Months ago
The Walt Disney Company - Part Time Graphic Designer

The Walt Disney Company

Chicago, Illinois, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Unity - Staff Product Manager, B2B Marketplace

Unity

New York, New York, United States (On-Site)
6 Months ago
Trek - Seasonal Sales Associate - Part Time

Trek

Baltimore, Maryland, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Game Production Jobs

Electronic Arts - Technical Director - Dynamic Experiences

Electronic Arts

Redwood City, California, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Activision - External Development Supervisor

Activision

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Stardock - Senior Producer

Stardock

Plymouth, Michigan, United States (On-Site)
8 Months ago
Virtuos - Game Producer/ 游戏项目经理

Virtuos

China (On-Site)
6 Months ago
Magic Media - C++ Game Developer

Magic Media

Vojvodina, Serbia (Remote)
1 Month ago
Riot Games - Senior Manager, Game Production - League of Legends

Riot Games

Singapore (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Tencent - Producer

Tencent

Los Angeles, California, United States (Hybrid)
4 Months ago
Fool's Theory - Junior Producer

Fool's Theory

Poland (Remote)
1 Month ago
Ourpalm - R&D PM

Ourpalm

Beijing, Beijing, China (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Guerrilla - Lead Producer

Guerrilla

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands (On-Site)
3 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

About The Company

Founded in 1991, Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company and provider of 3D engine technology. Epic operates Fortnite, one of the world’s largest games with over 350 million accounts and 2.5 billion friend connections. Epic also develops Unreal Engine, which powers the world’s leading games and is adopted across industries such as film and television, architecture, automotive, manufacturing, and simulation. Through Unreal Engine, Epic Games Store, and Epic Online Services, Epic provides an end-to-end digital ecosystem for developers and creators to build, distribute, and operate games and other content. Epic has over 40 offices worldwide with headquarters in Cary, North Carolina.

Shanghai, Shanghai, China (On-Site)

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (On-Site)

Cary, North Carolina, United States (On-Site)

London, England, United Kingdom (On-Site)

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (On-Site)

Porto Alegre, State Of Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil (On-Site)

Porto Alegre, State Of Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil (On-Site)

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (On-Site)

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (On-Site)

View All Jobs

Get notified when new jobs are added by Epic Games

Level Up Your Career in Game Development!

Transform Your Passion into Profession with Our Comprehensive Courses for Aspiring Game Developers.

Job Common Plug