Development Manager - Audio

The Role

Creative Assembly is looking for an experienced Development Manager to join our talented Audio team on our Total War franchise. This role will be based at our headquarters in Horsham, in the heart of West Sussex.

The successful candidate will have a passion for Audio and will assist with the day-to-day, and week-to- week process of managing a cross discipline game team. Reporting to the Development Director, the Development Manager will be able to provide support to keep the project moving forward, and the team positive, informed, and focused whilst keeping momentum. The role will also require working with the project leads to generate the project schedule, identify dependencies, solve problems, and prioritise work.

Flexible working at Creative Assembly includes hybrid, fully remote within country of employment for eligible roles, and in-studio. We recognise that there is no one-size-fits-all approach and empower our teams to define the working patterns which work best for them, which may mean different things for different teams and roles and at different times.

This role can be offered as in-studio or Hybrid with a minimum of 2 days per week in our Horsham studio. This role cannot offer fully remote working. Further details can be discussed during the recruitment process.

What you'll be doing

As a Development Manager, you will drive the project delivery for the team, facilitating the planning and estimation process across the team. 

On a day-to-day basis, you will:

• Facilitate daily interdisciplinary project-based stand-ups and assisting the team with any blockers
• Assist audio leads with backlog review and sprint planning
• In collaboration with the project and audio leadership teams gather, implement and update relevant information for scoping and deadlines
• Create weekly audio reports that track the project towards audio complete and keep project stakeholders informed of audio status, risks and challenges
• Maintain a readable JIRA backlog, ensure JIRA is kept up to date, relevant project milestones are set and tasks are adequately assigned to those
• Help with cross team communication flow and ensure relevant information such as key project dates, goals, KPIs and processes are passed on to the audio team
• Plan, and execute the short-, and long-term schedules and reporting, to ensure efficient, reliable, and accurate delivery
• Track and manage these schedules, adjust them for upcoming releases, deadlines, milestones, accounting, cross-project dependencies, resourcing, and priority changes
• Help to manage and motivate the development team, ensuring that milestones are adhered to, communicating progress and providing a detailed analysis on team performance, risks and areas for improvement
• Liaise with the other Audio Development Managers and the audio leadership team to plan out resource allocation across all projects and audio disciplines
• Liaise with the project and company leadership in defining the deliverables, goals and KPIs to provide visibility, and status updates
• Facilitate the management of outsourcing
• Facilitate audio post-mortems at the end of a project and arrange regular retrospectives throughout a project at specific milestones. 

Additional

• Liaise with our Outsource and Administrative Manager for dependencies with contractors and deliverables
• Define and continuously improve the development process using the best methodology possible to predict, and deliver on time, and on quality
• Assist with the localisation dialogue pipeline. 

What we are looking for

• Exceptional organisational skills. Driven and self-motivated
• Strong planning and project management skills. An instinct for coordinating and focussing on separate moving parts at one time
• Experience delivering projects in an agile development environment while working to strict timelines
• Excellent problem-solving skills. You will be aware of potential and current issues and formulate pragmatic plans to solve them
• A team thinker - able to work within a team and to actively work to make the team perform cohesively
• Excellent knowledge and experience using MS Office applications especially Excel and Jira.

Optional Extras

• Good understanding of agile and waterfall methodology
• Full production cycle experience
• Knowledge of the Total War franchise.

About Creative Assembly

It’s an exciting time to be a part of our craft-led studio as we push boundaries, creating deep and detailed experiences that last. 

Our teams are diverse from across the world, from trainees to industry veterans who constantly challenge us and make sure we are striving for the best within our games and our studio life. We are united through our shared values of Quality, Focus, Teamwork, Respect and Trust and we win awards for our culture and our people-centric approach, having won a Best Place to Work Award for six consecutive years. We invest in our people, the studio, and our projects. We are a company that’s secure and safe – you don’t need to worry about job security at CA.

We’ll give you the creative freedom, tools, support, and development to achieve your potential. 

We have studio locations across Horsham, UK in Newcastle, UK and Sofia, Bulgaria. These include several bespoke state-of-the-art audio suites and a dedicated motion capture facility.

We offer many benefits to support you and your family including:

• Flexible working: hybrid, fully remote within country of employment for eligible roles, and in-studio working
• Work from Anywhere for a temporary period each year (restrictions apply such as VISAs)
• Enhanced holiday allowance, maternity and paternity breaks, flexibility with our core hours, and no-notice holidays
• Bespoke relocation package for you and your dependents, with support throughout the process from our dedicated Relocation Specialists
• Private medical and dental insurance, life insurance, permanent health insurance, critical illness cover and free health care screening
• Generous holiday allowance plus full studio closure over the Christmas and New Year period, and all UK Bank holidays
• Annual discretionary studio bonus
• Join our award-winning education and social responsibility programme; the Legacy Project, as an industry ambassador to mentor and educate others
• Defined career development pathways and personalised training support including SEGA Dev Day, internal masterclasses, prestigious creative workshops, on-site training with renowned specialists and global conference attendance
• Opportunity to join our Diversity and Inclusion Network – an employee-led group
• Season ticket travel loans and cycle to work scheme with free bike servicing and discounted car valet service on site
• Free games and merchandise plus access to our extensive games library
• Free breakfast in the studio every day - toast, bagels, pancakes, cereals, yoghurts, fresh fruit, smoothies, juices, milkshakes and more in our fully stocked kitchen
• Wellbeing support with an employee assistance programme and onsite confidential sessions
• In-studio heavily subsidised massage therapy
• Discounts for home technology, travel insurance, corporate gym membership, cinema tickets, holidays, trips out and Ikea vouchers, and many local businesses including estate agents
• Studio parties for you and your family; such as our Summer Festival, Christmas Party plus a separate Children’s Christmas Party. We also have Cinema days and wrap parties for game releases
• Studio community activities such as life drawing, creative writing, Pilates, Walking Challenges, Couch to 5k, basketball, game and movie evenings, board game club, 5-a-side football, CA Choir, Sword fighting (yes, sword fighting) and loads more.

Our studio sites have disabled access. We are an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief.  

Note to Recruitment Agencies: SEGA Europe Limited and our studios do not accept unsolicited candidate introductions from unauthorised third parties. For the avoidance of doubt, SEGA Europe is not liable for any fees, compensation or any other costs associated with the introduction of a candidate or recruitment services unless and until an agreement has been duly executed. Further details can be found here.