Development Director at Maxis Studios in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | 3-5 Years Experience

Description & Requirements

We are a global team of creators, storytellers, technologists, experience originators, innovators and so much more. We believe amazing games and experiences start with teams as diverse as the players and communities we serve. At Electronic Arts, the only limit is your imagination.

Role: Project Manager (Japanese bilingual preferred)

Location: Melbourne, AU

Welcome to, home to tinkerers, craftspeople, & storytellers. Our drive is to inspire everyone to make a better world through creative play. As the developer of The Sims, we create games and experiences for millions of people around the world and are always looking for new ways to inspire our players. Maxis is a place where you can do what you love and help others grow while doing it; a place where your unique voice can be heard and seen. We put creativity and inclusivity at the core of our work and don't settle for seeing the world only as it is, but strive to build a world as it could be.

As a Project Manager with Maxis, you will partner with producers, craft directors and peers to ensure the project is delivered to spec, on time, to quality, and within budget. You will be reporting to the Senior Director.

Role Expectations

Work with internal and external development teams to guide game requirements and specifications
Develop roadmaps, schedules and project management schedules
Define and measure KPIs for project status updates and gate meetings
Raise project risks to production team and project leadership
Provide regular status reporting and capacity plan updates
Run sprint and milestone planning meetings, bug triage meetings, etc
Lead the full software development cycle through from pre-production through to ship, transitioning into live services including release planning and patching
Ensure a high-quality product is developed for our players and community
Establish engagement processes: Ensure all workflows are clearly defined, processes are documented, and onboard staff on expectations of their roles
Collaborate with development team partners to ensure that project interests and values are represented and maintained through the course of development.
Coordinate and participate in playtest sessions with development team members
Travel within Asia (approximately once a month, and ability to stay for 1-2 weeks if needed for project)
Hybrid or on-site work model based in Melbourne

You have

Fully fluent in Japanese, both written and verbal
3-5+ years Project Management or Project Lead experience. Detailed work in spreadsheets, burndown charts, and JIRA/JaaS and other project management tools.
1+ years of People Manager experience.
Excellent knowledge of production life cycle, processes, and project planning.
Experience in a Scrum / Agile and waterfall software development environment.
Some technical and engineering experience allowing you to work with engineers
Shipped at least 1 AAA titles in large (100+ person) game teams on PC/Mac/Console/Mobile platforms, ideally on multiple platforms.
Shipped at least 1 Live Service game and have experience with incident management, change management and release planning

Bonus:

Experience living or working in Japan
Experience working with simulation games
Experience working with outsourcing and external partners
Experience with Unity
Bachelor's degree in any number of related fields including Computer Science, Game Development, Business, 3D Arts.

Visit us at: https://www.ea.com/ea-studios/maxis

About The Company

Maxis, creators of the ever-expanding Sims world, is an EA studio where a diverse collection of creatives make games that inspire players across the globe. We have offices in Redwood City, CA, Austin, TX, and Kitchener, ON, as well as team members based across the US and Europe.

Maxis is a place for people who see building games as a unique opportunity to change hearts and minds by giving players the chance to create their own unique experiences. Members of our team are working toward a better world not only through our games, but through employee resource groups and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council.

We support each other so we can be authentic. We foster connectedness so we can collaborate. We respect boundaries to build an environment that’s safe, creative, and ideal for tinkering. We’re on the lookout for diverse, innovative thinkers who want to make a positive impact on the world.