Game Developer Japan Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Hybrid Work Model

#LI-hybrid

Job Summary:

(Bilingual Japanese Skills Required)

Producers coordinate the production and release of their game projects and product lines as required, ensuring the Product Development department is delivering on schedule, on budget, and at target quality.

Producers bring several years of experience coordinating internal and external teams, including but not limited to Localization, Marketing, QA, game development, 1st party, consumer research and more, to the benefit of their assigned projects. They are an expert in their field, contribute to goals and initiatives for the department as a whole, with a heavy focus on Localization.

They are able to independently lead their project on the day-to-day level, directing related teams to deliver on targets in concert and building consensus. They also understand and execute on strategic direction set by the department leadership.

The ideal candidate will have a combination of excellent production experience, people leadership, familiarity with Japanese business practices and language, and a strong history of delivering best in class Localization in coordination with globally distributed teams.

Scope

Producers will directly manage their assigned titles from conceptualization through post-release support, coordinating between various teams in the U.S. and Europe and the developers in Japan. Duties include company-wide budgeting, scheduling, and business-roadmap vision, as well as the tactical details of localization production, consumer research and more. They must be capable of providing, directing, collecting, and digesting evaluation feedback, as well as leading and teaching the publishing process. They have a breadth of knowledge regarding game production and are ready to advise on a broad range of production topics. They will also be called on to attend off-site trade shows to help demonstrate products being worked on and to promote their managed projects through interviews and stage shows as required.

Producers are departmental communication hubs. They are an authority on their assigned projects and proactively engage with Marketing, QA, and Executive Management to resolve issues affecting production. They will transparently work with external parties, including developers, vendors and international colleagues, to obtain information, report status, establish goals, and identify constraints. When issues arise that need executive consideration, Producers are responsible for ensuring matters are communicated clearly and accurately upwards.

Producers are owners of their projects while representing the Japanese development team in internal SOA discussions and representing SOA during discussions with the development teams. Producers also become the face of SOA when communicating with Japanese colleagues and should have a strong history of building productive, professional relationships with people from other cultures.

Duties and Responsibilities:

In consultation with their manager, Producers will perform the following duties:

• Function as a hub for assets and information to resolve issues that block production progress.
• Create, direct, and implement departmental and corporate initiatives and vision.
• Negotiate internally and externally on behalf of managed lines and the company on the topics of schedules, budgets, and resourcing.
• Obtain and digest information about the project required to determine scope and work needed.
• Draft resource and project plans, review production proposals, and drive the publishing process for their projects.
• Review tasks, guide, and direct members of project teams as needed and required.
• Obtain resources on behalf of production lines based on need and requirement.
• Engage on all aspects of their project as required, including communications, documentation, game text, and bug reports.
• Provide proactive guidance and engage with marketing on external activities related to the product within the lines.
• Oversee all aspects of voice recording preparation and provide creative support during recording.
• Maintain accurate scheduling and game information to be shared with internal and external parties as required.
• Generate post-mortem information about their products post-launch.
• Provide, gather, and synthesize product evaluation feedback as required.
• Negotiation with external partners and vendors as needed.
• Attend trade shows for demonstrating products and promote the game through interviews.
• Other responsibilities are performed as assigned or needed. 
• Working in-office is an essential function of this position. This requirement of face-to-face interaction is in place to ensure effective supervision, collaboration, and teamwork.  In-office attendance is required for the following reasons:
  • For effective supervision of employees and our work product, which includes ensuring all employees have necessary oversight of their work and access to supervisory assistance, which includes meetings to review work product, deadlines, and status.
  • To foster communication and collaboration among team members, which includes the following: allowing for spontaneous brainstorming sessions and exchanges of ideas, quick access to team members to enable collaborative problem-solving, and stronger cohesion among co-workers and within teams.
  • To enhance the sharing of information necessary to effective job performance and product creation. 
  • To enhance understanding of our stakeholders’ work and business needs, facilitate a more seamless and organic workflow, and ultimately increase efficiency and successful outcomes.

Qualifications and Skills:

• 4+ years of production and localization experience.
• The ability to work across regions and outside their time zone.
• Exceptional organizational and communication skills, comfortable with multi-tasking and highly skilled at time- and task management.
• A love for video games, and a breadth of experience playing them.
• An international, cross-cultural mindset
• Proven ability to manage game production projects and teams.
• Experience managing a franchise and/or working with external licensees and/or partners.
• Speaking and writing in Business-level English and Japanese are required
• Non-localization production experience, such as generating design feedback, game design, art design, voice studio time, user testing, or other production experience a huge plus.

Localization Specialization:

• Must have expert-level understanding of localization practices, nomenclature, and timelines.
• Must have a demonstrated history of localization successes.
• Extensive J2E and/or E2FIGS localization experience.
• Must have extensive experience working in multiple languages and be experienced with working in cross-cultural environments.
• Familiarity with PowerPoint, Excel.

Bonus Skills:

• Time living/working in Japan and familiarity with Japanese business culture and pop culture being very big advantages.