Playdemic is a BAFTA Award-winning developer and publisher of mobile games, focused on creating fun and engaging, free-to-play game services for iOS and Android, including the global smash hit, Golf Clash.

We are seeking a Senior Development Director to lead delivery across all Playdemic projects. This role is accountable for the end-to-end execution of our live service, ensuring we deliver high-quality, predictable, and commercially successful outcomes.

Responsibilities:

Delivery & Operational Excellence

• Own end-to-end delivery of all features, live ops content, and new product initiatives.
• Establish and evolve a predictable, scalable operating model for live service development.
• Drive roadmap execution, ensuring alignment to product strategy, commercial goals, and player value.
• Define and enforce clear production standards, processes, and workflows across all disciplines.
• Ensure consistent delivery against quality, timeline, and budget commitments.

Planning, Forecasting & Capacity

• Lead long-range planning, capacity modelling, and resource allocation across the game team.
• Translate product strategy into achievable plans, balancing ambition with execution realities.
• Partner with discipline leaders to ensure skill coverage, team structure, and scalability.
• Identify risks, dependencies, and bottlenecks early, driving proactive mitigation strategies.
• Continuously optimise team efficiency through data-driven planning and KPI frameworks.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Alignment

• Drive alignment across Product, Design, Engineering, Art, QA, and Analytics.
• Act as a central point of integration, ensuring teams are working toward shared outcomes.
• Communicate clearly with studio leadership and EA partners on progress, risks, and opportunities.
• Lead cross-team collaboration to solve complex problems and unlock delivery at scale.
• Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and transparency.

External Development & Partnerships

• Drive continuous improvement in how we leverage global and distributed development.
• Oversee external development and partner integration, ensuring seamless collaboration.
• Define and manage partner scopes, SLAs, and delivery expectations.
• Own outsourcing budgets and vendor performance, ensuring value and quality.
• Build strong relationships with external teams, creating a 'one team' operating model.

Financial Literacy

• Partner with Finance and Operations to manage forecasting, budget tracking, and cost optimisation.
• Ensure delivery plans align with financial targets and commercial objectives.
• Drive operational efficiency, identifying opportunities to maximise ROI.

Process, Tools & Continuous Improvement

• Define and evolve best-in-class production processes for a live service environment.
• Champion continuous improvement, identifying inefficiencies and scaling what works.
• Ensure teams understand both the 'what' and the 'why' behind processes.
• Leverage tools (e.g. Jira, dashboards, analytics) to create a single source of truth.
• Lead major transformation initiatives, including AI/ML-enabled workflows where applicable.

Team Leadership & Culture

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing production organisation.
• Build a culture of ownership, empowerment, and accountability.
• Support career growth, succession planning, and leadership development within the team.
• Create an environment where teams feel motivated, supported, and challenged.
• Model inclusive leadership and foster strong collaboration across disciplines and cultures.

Strategic Leadership & Studio Impact

• Partner with studio leadership to shape long-term strategy, operating models, and growth plans.
• Contribute to studio-wide planning, including org design, capability building, and investment decisions.
• Use data, insights, and experience to drive strategic improvements in efficiency, quality, and scale.
• Act as a thought partner to the Head of Operations and GM, with increasing scope over time.

Requirements:

Experience

• 10+ years in production, program management, or operations within game development or similar environments.
• Proven track record leading large, cross-functional teams delivering complex products.
• Strong experience in live service development and continuous content delivery.
• Demonstrated success in operational planning, capacity forecasting, and execution at scale.
• Experience working with external partners or distributed development teams.

Skills & Capabilities

• Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong strategic thinking, with the ability to connect vision to execution.
• Deep understanding of development workflows, pipelines, and team dynamics.
• Highly analytical, with experience using data and KPIs to inform decisions.
• Strong problem-solving and risk management capabilities.
• Financial acumen, including budget management and forecasting.

Leadership Expectations

• Builds alignment across diverse teams and drives outcomes.
• Creates clarity in ambiguity and leads teams through complex challenges.
• Fosters a culture of continuous improvement and learning.
• Develops talent and creates future leaders within the organisation.
• Operates with a studio-first mindset, thinking beyond immediate team boundaries.

Nice to Have

• Experience in mobile free-to-play games.
• Background in product management or analytics-driven development.
• Experience contributing to studio or franchise-level strategy.
• Familiarity with AI/ML applications in content or production pipelines.

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