Senior Project Manager - Technology & Research

The Technology and Research realm provides strategic technical direction, project management, and production assistance. We are seeking a Senior Project Manager with proven experience in project management and coordination, capable of working with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. The ideal candidate will possess strong interpersonal and critical-thinking skills, with a background in project delivery, administration, and operational support within complex environments.

Must Have

• Manage project scope and capacity throughout life cycles, ensuring quality and alignment with studio goals
• Partner with project leadership for development, release, and support processes
• Facilitate communication and build strong relationships with stakeholders and artist teams
• Generate and present project status reports with ongoing risk management
• Conduct project post-mortems and manage development backlogs
• Champion best practices and continuous improvement
• Support R&D Tax rebate documentation and submissions
• Extensive experience managing complex projects in film, gaming, or software development
• Exceptional communication and influencing skills
• Professional, adaptable, and empathetic approach to conflict resolution
• Ability to quickly grasp technical concepts and document project details effectively
• Adaptability to embrace and navigate change in a production environment

Good to Have

• Knowledge of coding or 3D artwork
• VFX, film, or gaming production experience
• Relevant degree or certifications (Prince2, PMP)
• Experience with JIRA, PSA tools, and Microsoft Suite

Perks & Benefits

• Diverse and inclusive environment
• Welcoming, respected, supported, and appreciated crew
• High-quality work environment
• Open minds encouraged
• Discrimination-free recruitment process

Our Technology and Research realm provides strategic technical direction for the departments within it, as well as project management and production assistance.

We’re looking for someone who brings proven experience in project management and coordination, with a strong ability to work across technical and non-technical stakeholders. This role suits an individual with well-developed interpersonal and critical-thinking skills, and a background that includes project delivery, administration, and operational support in a complex environment.

What you’ll do

• With a focus towards the research areas of T&R, you’ll manage the scope and capacity of the various teams throughout project life cycles, ensure the quality of deliverables whilst maintaining alignment with our studio goals
• Partner with the project leadership team to manage the entire development, release, and support processes of your projects
• Facilitate communication and build strong relationships with stakeholders and artist teams
• Regularly generate and present project status reports for key stakeholders with ongoing risk management
• Conduct project post-mortems for both internal and external review along with regular management of development backlogs
• Champion best practices and continuous improvement across the business
• Support R&D Tax rebate documentation and submissions

What you’ll bring

• Extensive experience managing complex projects in film, gaming, or software development
• Exceptional communication and influencing skills to align diverse teams around common goals
• Professional, adaptable, and empathetic approach to conflict resolution.
• Ability to quickly grasp technical concepts and document project details effectively
• Adaptability to embrace and navigate change within an ever-moving production environment

You might also have

• Knowledge of coding or 3D artwork, plus VFX, film, or gaming production experience
• Relevant degree or certifications (Prince2, PMP)
• Experience with JIRA, PSA tools, and Microsoft Suite

At Wētā FX we celebrate our diversity and believe in creating an environment where all our crew feel welcomed, respected, supported and appreciated. We define ourselves by the quality of our work, and we’re striving to build a workplace experience that’s second to none. Here at Wētā FX we value open minds and encourage our crew to be themselves.

We aim to provide a discrimination-free experience, beginning from the moment you apply for a role with us. If there is anything we can do to make the recruitment process easier, please let us know at recruitment@wetafx.co.nz.