The Operations Director of this Research & Development (R&D) project is responsible for ensuring the members of the cross discipline teams can effectively move products and features through the development cycle and out to players. This includes: turning the product vision into an operational framework, developing and executing the operational strategy of the product, driving the “how” of the work that happens on its various teams. You’re obsessed with understanding how the needs of the audience, the direction of the business, the health of the team and the critical elements of its products are translated into action. You work closely with the Executive Producer, the Game Director, and product stakeholders to make sure the approach to work on the business is well-defined, that its talent systems are effectively adhered to, and that resources are allocated appropriately.
As a Operations Director on the R&D team you will help organize and deliver one of Riot’s new game projects to production and beyond. You will work closely across all disciplines to ensure the project team is highly adaptable, efficient, and effective. The Operations Director is a member of the Product Leadership team and reports directly to the Executive Producer of the project.
Responsibilities
- Accountable for developing and executing the operational strategy of the product
- Develop the work systems used throughout the business unit, including how teams are structured, whether and how they report status back to the business unit, and how multi-team work is coordinated
- Ensuring all teams in the business unit make and meet commitments
- Develop accountability rituals wherein teams review their commitments/delivery and hold each other accountable for them, celebrate successes, and learn from failures
- Develop systems to ensure problems with delivery are regularly and quickly diagnosed and addressed
- Ensure stakeholders and customers are always up-to-date on what’s going on in terms of what commitments have been made and how the delivery is going
- Understand the capabilities of the business unit and how those match to its strategies in order to plan for current work and future needs
- Inform the other members of the leadership team in choosing how to grow and allocate the workforce of the business unit
- Work with department heads around Riot to represent your business unit’s staff, service, and tooling needs
- Manage the department and discipline leads that don’t report to the Executive Producer, supporting them in their management of the broad span of Rioters on the business unit
- Partner with the Talent organization to ensure that Riot’s talent processes are implemented effectively on the business unit (e.g., performance management, compensation, and promotion systems are consistent and applied based on Talent and Department standards)
- Ensure that conflicts within and between teams are resolved effectively
- Ensure psychological safety, healthy feedback culture and conflict management within and between teams
- If applicable, ensure that co-development relationships are managed and effective
Required Qualifications
- 10+ years of production experience in a dynamic professional environment such as games, tech, entertainment/media, etc.
- 7+ years of game development leadership experience with at least 5+ years in a senior leadership role shipping games (Director of Production, Head of Production, Operations Director, etc.)
- 3+ years of senior leadership experience shipping large-scale AAA games on multiple platforms with a live service component
- 2+ years of senior leadership experience on multiple game titles
- 2+ years of senior leadership experience managing, at scale, and international live product. This includes managing international development partners (internal and external.)
- 3+ years of senior leadership experience growing leaders, designing scalable organizations, and building healthy, diverse, and inclusive teams
- 2+ years of direct ownership of product budget and product hiring strategies
- 2+ years managing a co-development or outsourcing relationship
- Experience with various development methodologies and their applications (e.g. Agile software development, Six Sigma, etc.)
- Deep knowledge of games, relevant gaming audiences, and the gaming industry
- Experience leading and functioning in ambiguous, collaborative environments with team members of several levels and disciplines
- Experience maintaining excellent relationships with stakeholders
- Demonstrated ability in product management and using prioritization schemes
- Experience translating product vision into operating strategy an organization design
Desired Qualifications
- 9+ years of experience in game development
For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about the experiences of players, this could be the role for you!
Our Perks:
Riot has a focus on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy, in addition to other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information.