Principal Technical Director

Requisition Number: 160711

Position Title: Principal Technical Director

External Description:

As the Technical Director for the Mobile team on Apex Legend, you will report to the Executive Producer of the newly formed Mobile Group. Ideal candidate will demonstrate a mix of strong technical, solid understanding of business models, and experience creating, leading, and running live mobile games.

As Respawn Mobile Technical Director (TD) for Apex Legends, you will be responsible for working with our external publishing/development partner to bring Apex Legends to market on mobile devices. You will be involved in setting the technical roadmap with the partner and auditing subsequent milestone deliverables not only for quality, but also assessing the technical gaps, and identifying and mitigating risks with the partner.

What skills is Respawn looking for in a Technical Director?

Respawn looks for extensive experience with all game technology systems and pipelines. The TD must be a great team player, with great technical leadership skills as well as unflagging energy and focus. The TD must also have excellent oral and written communication skills.  They will have a degree in Computer Science (or equivalent) and have a minimum of 8+ years of game programming experience. Most TDs have been a Lead or mentored a small engineering team. They have strong C++ programming skills, plus solid experience in low-level programming and debugging and in integrating complex systems.  They also have experience in using automated testing, unit testing, and Configuration Management processes.

 

Responsibilities

• The successful candidate must have excellent relationship building and collaborative skills and be able to act responsibly and diplomatically in any situation while representing Respawn and EA interests
• Ensure key EA technology integrated into the game, i.e. EA’s identity system
• Set technical roadmap and milestone deliverables based on EA’s Game Development Framework 
• Audit technical quality of all major project milestones, identifying technical gaps and risks
• Responsible for ensuring external partner is identifying and managing technical gaps and risk
• Technical point of contact for EA Central Teams, such as EA Digital Platform (EADP), WWCE (Worldwide Customer Experience) and Publishing; working with them to ensure any technology requirements to support the external partner, are delivered when needed
• Risk analysis and mitigation with EA central technology suppliers
• Validation of business model for the launch; auditing and optimization of the live service post launch
• Drive the team to successful launch and ongoing support of the live service, including but not limited to, System Test / Load Test for online systems, and Live Service Tools to support operational insights for a smooth live service
• Ability to travel to EA offices in China from time to time

Skills and Experience

• B.Sc. in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent training and professional experience 
• At least 8+ years industry experience, having shipped at least one mobile title with live service
• 4+ years of technical leadership experience
• Experience working with / within a large team (>120 people) aplus 
• Knowledge of UE4 a plus
• Ability to speak Mandarin a plus
• Strong math skills
• Proficiency with C/C++; experience of scripting languages such as Python, Lua and C#
• Demonstrated knowledge of good software engineering practices
• Strong domain experience in Online (client-server, cloud scaling, etc.) and knowledge/experience in all other areas of game development, i.e. AI, Cameras, Controls, Rendering, Audio, etc.
• Understanding of memory management, multiple processor use, and runtime optimization
• Constantly innovating on how to improve product quality as well as group productivity
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Analytical and proactive problem-solving skills
• Excellent proactive decision-making capabilities
• Ability to quickly learn and apply new concepts, principles, and solutions
• Collaborative problem solving between multiple teams

If this position sounds like a fit for you, we look forward to seeing your resume!

City:

State:

Community / Marketing Title: Principal Technical Director

Company Profile:

We are a global team of creators, storytellers, technologists, experience originators, innovators and so much more. We believe amazing games and experiences start with teams as diverse as the players and communities we serve. At Electronic Arts, the only limit is your imagination.

EEOText:

About Electronic Arts

Everything we do is designed to inspire the world to play. Through our cutting-edge games, innovative services, and powerful technologies, we bring worlds with infinite possibilities to millions of players and fans around the globe.

We’re looking for collaborative and inclusive people with diverse perspectives who will enrich our culture and challenge us. We take a holistic approach with our benefits program, focusing on physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support our people through every chapter of life. We provide comprehensive benefit packages and support for a balanced life with paid time off and new parent leave, plus free games and so much more. Our goal is to provide a safe and respectful workplace that empowers you to thrive in both work and life.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.

Days Open: 84

Can this position be remote?:

EEO Employer Verbiage:

About Electronic Arts

Everything we do is designed to inspire the world to play. Through our cutting-edge games, innovative services, and powerful technologies, we bring worlds with infinite possibilities to millions of players and fans around the globe.

We’re looking for collaborative and inclusive people with diverse perspectives who will enrich our culture and challenge us. We take a holistic approach with our benefits program, focusing on physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support our people through every chapter of life. We provide comprehensive benefit packages and support for a balanced life with paid time off and new parent leave, plus free games and so much more. Our goal is to provide a safe and respectful workplace that empowers you to thrive in both work and life.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.