Studio General Manager - Sledgehammer Games

Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Melbourne, Australia, Toronto, Canada and Guildford, UK – Sledgehammer Games is the videogame development team behind Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare and Call of Duty®: WWII. Since our founding in 2009, our greatest passion has been making AAA games. The strength of our team makes us not only excellent at what we do, but also how we do it. We truly believe in supporting our passionate employees to be the best they can be. Here at Sledgehammer Games, everyone is a game maker.

We are constantly evolving and innovating – which are some of the most rewarding aspects of game development. With our outstanding audio, design, engineering and art teams, we’ve been able to achieve some of the highest-quality game execution of any studio in the industry. We love making games, and we work hard to make sure that each new game we make is even better than the last. Creativity is key, and we’re looking for dedicated game developers for our exciting next project.

Sledgehammer Games is wholly owned by Activision. To learn more about our studio, please visit us at www.sledgehammergames.com or search for Sledgehammer Games on your favorite social media platform. Want to hear what it’s like at the studio directly from current employees? Check out our #LifeatSHG developer profiles: https://youtu.be/12DUBszg-w4

Your Mission

We are currently looking to add a dedicated Studio General Manager with a proven track record for developing and launching owned IP titles. As the Foster City Studio General Manager, you will oversee internal development of a major game mode of our upcoming AAA title.

You will manage a team of creative and development personnel across multiple disciplines, act as the project relationship manager with all internal studio parties, use your experience on the front lines to improve production and organization processes, hire and mentor key talent, and act as the point person of accountability and ownership for all project needs to the Studio Executives.

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Provide management and leadership to development team while tracking mode development across all disciplines.
• Help build and maintain the project schedule, looking to optimize throughout development and providing analysis to senior leadership

• Lead the creation of project’s schedule, budget, production pathways, and overall plan; continue to provide leadership through the full product life-cycle
• Provide creative direction and leadership to help drive the game mode to quality
• Act as primary point of contact with Studio Executives and peer leaders within studio
• Ensure the game pillar maintains creative and technical objectives
• Be an internal advocate for the product

• Lead, coach and develop staff to ensure growth and expand the talent base
• Set clear goals for the team and hold employees accountable for deliverables; continually recognize and reward employees for strong performance
• Create a culture that provides continuous feedback, support and empowerment
• Establish model behavior that supports Sledgehammer Games’ standards of professionalism, integrity, and ethics

• Help attract, hire, lead, and performance-manage all levels of direct and extended team developers

Player Profile

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelors degree required
• 15+ years of porv experience in the gaming industry
• High business/financial competence
• Business owner/operator orientation

• Shipped 10+ AAA titles
• Consistent track record of leading teams with different, sometimes opposing priorities, and ability to lead the team to strategic and tactical decisions
• Expertise in leading complex/matrixed relationships and negotiating changes to commitments/requirements
• Ability to frame concepts within the context of overall company/franchise/product strategy, to find opportunities for alignment and to influence peers to align
• In-depth knowledge of portfolio, businesses, functions and all relevant partners to successfully drive decisions and recommendation regarding projects

• Strong analytical skills regarding technical and project management issues
• Ability to interact and communicate with senior executives and navigate matrixed organizations to ensure successful project delivery and acceptance
• Demonstrated excellence in communications at all levels (verbal and written)
• Ability to work with others across the organization to achieve goals via influence rather than direct authority
• Strong ability to provide clear creative direction, timely and helpful feedback to improve creative processes to keep work on quality, budget and schedule

• Strongly results oriented

Principal Working Relationships

Studio Heads, Director of Operations, Director of Technology, Peer Executive Producers and Sr DDs, Key Studio Creative Directors.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovate worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

Activision is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

#textio