Electronic Arts

Development Director (Project Manager)

Firemonkeys, Electronic Arts' leading mobile games studio, located in Melbourne, Australia, is home to the preeminent Sims experience on mobile, The Sims FreePlay. We are always looking for creative craftspeople to collaborate with. Your skills and curiosity will help expand The Sims FreePlay world that empowers our passionate players to create Sims experiences that are unique to them. If you want to work with a team that values your voice and growth, where you can inspire our corner of the globally recognized Sims universe, as well as experiencing everything cosmopolitan Melbourne has to offer, read on!

The Development Director will report to the Director of Operations. 

Development Directors (DDs) steer the team to success by building and maintaining project plans and schedules aligned with Firemonkeys Studio's strategic product roadmaps and live service game releases.

Team & People Leadership

• Identify resourcing needs and offer coaching opportunities to help team members reach their potential. 
• Cultivate relationships to aid in project success.
• Facilitate regular communication with project teams and coordinate dependencies with external partners.
• Celebrate successes and ensure all team members feel engaged and invested in their work.

Project Management & Execution

• Collaborate with Product Owners, Production, and Quality Verification (QV) teams and other Studio partners to manage delivery.
• Craft a viable Project Plan and Schedule to meet product roadmap goals, determining task dependencies, balancing scope and quality, and aligning partners to achieve defined outcomes.
• Refine established scrum ceremonies and development workflows to fit the needs of the team.
• Facilitate understanding of studio strategic goals and prioritise established tasks.
• Promote development best practices and contribute to the DD team's knowledge base within the Studio.
• Collect project metrics to create strategies for performance improvements and fulfil status reporting requirements.

Qualifications:

• 5+ years of project management or team leadership experience.
• University degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Experience implementing and adapting project management methodologies, including Agile / Scrum, to meet the needs of the project and team.
• Proficiency working in a hybrid environment, communicating across all seniority levels, both remotely and in-person.
• Success working in a collaborative team environment, building relationships based on respect, competence and confidence.
• Experience in talent development and career management is desirable.
• Experience working on live service games is desirable.

What’s in it for you? 

We want EA to be the ultimate destination to make great content and experiences. Everything we’re doing here is about creating a culture, environment, and company where you can do the best work of your career – so there’s that. There’s also:

• A health allowance, to go towards the cost of private health insurance for you and your family
• Life and salary continuance insurance
• An employee assistance program, including coaching and therapy sessions to support your wellbeing
• An inclusive parental leave policy that supports all parents and carers
• 17.5% annual leave loading – yes, we’ll pay you extra to take a break!
• Bonus end of year leave days – time off between Christmas and New Years, no annual leave necessary
• Volunteer leave and charitable donation matching
• A fitness reimbursement program – $$ to go towards your fitness expenses (memberships and at home equipment)
• A flexible work reimbursement program - $$ to go towards your working from home and/or commuting expenses
• Free EA games, of course!
• Opportunities to unwind after a busy week with drinks and nibbles
• A structured hybrid work model (4 days per week in office)
• Quarterly team events (e.g. escape room, lawn bowls, paint and sip)
• 2 Development Days (project and personal) every 6 weeks, including a Game Jam x end of year party week in December 
• Unique Firemonkeys and Sims merch

We also offer bonuses and exciting EA stock options, as well as access to our employee stock purchase program. 

Wondering if you’ll meet all of our requirements? We know those dot points can’t capture all that you might bring to our team, so consider the above a starting point. If you’re interested, please reach out! 

Creating amazing games starts with building a team that is as diverse as the communities we serve. We wholeheartedly celebrate that diversity, and are committed to fostering a workplace that is equitable and inclusive, where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. For more on our commitment and progress - check out our 2024 Impact Report.