Technical Director - Sledgehammer

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Located in the San Francisco Bay Area Melbourne, Australia, Toronto, Canada and Guildford, UK– we’re 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 hard-working employees to be the best they can be. We'd like to speak with you!

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

We are looking for a dedicated Technical Director to help build immersive experiences for our Single player/Campaign team. We're looking for top talent with strong experience in narrative design on AAA titles.

Your Mission

As a Technical Director, you will play a major role at a premier game development studio on a AAA title. You will work with artists, engineers, and designers in leading engineering efforts for our upcoming projects. You have attention to detail and a broad interest in leading efforts across diverse areas of development. In addition to our studio, you will closely work with multiple teams within the Activision studio network.

This role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Help to build an engineering team in partnership with SHG studio leadership and the recruitment team
• Lead by example and set standard for the engineering team in the pursuit of excellence
• Balance hands-on implementation with the need to lead and direct the technical team
• Provide technical insight regarding design and feature sets
• Work with designers and other engineers to prototype, develop, and refine features
• Act as a motivational force for your team as well as the wider studio
• Establish highly effective communication with other studios around the world
• Agree on future mandates with SHG studio leadership for the team, based on overall studio needs against the 5-year plan.
• Rally the team and create visible, wide-spread support for direction.
• Communicate progress and resolution of issues with the ability to set guidelines for peers and support teams.
• Represent the team’s work at publisher greenlight meetings when required.
• Build effective working relationships with key technical, creative and production stakeholders across SHG, helping to ensure consistency of output from the studio.
• Over time, become a key technical leader at the studio with a highly visible presence at team all-hands and other studio events, visiting other Sledgehammer locations when required.
• Promote the studio’s ‘One Sledgehammer’ philosophy, to help ensure members of the team feel truly part of the wider studio. Proactively raise any issues regarding team cohesion with studio Leadership.

Player Profile

Minimum Requirements:

• 10+ years of programming experience
• 5+ years of experience leading high-performing engineering teams
• Proficiency in and knowledge of C/C++, data structures, performance, and multi-threaded programming techniques
• Knowledge of common data structures and algorithmic solutions
• Thorough knowledge of software design practices including modular architecture, event-driven architecture, software design patterns and object-oriented design
• Ability to quickly understand and work with internal and externally developed code
• Demonstrated ability to write clean, readable, portable, reliable, and optimized code.
• Experience mentoring engineers from junior to senior level
• An appreciation and basic understanding for the other disciplines, particularly game design.
• An egoless attitude that welcomes feedback and criticism, and enjoys working in a collaborative, iterative, and agile process.
• An analytical approach and the ability to break down complex problems into consumable and relevant pieces for others.
• Experience taking major AAA console and PC games from concept to completion.

Extra Points:

• Experience designing, launching, monitoring, and evolving a live service title.
• Exceptional verbal, written, and interpersonal communications skills.
• Experience working on projects involving multiple internal and external partners, and with established franchises where close collaboration with publishing owners is required.
• A strong passion for video games and the online experience

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.

Sledgehammer Games is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified individuals 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.

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