Sr. Director, Head of Game Science & Insight

Who We Are:

Founded in 2005, 2K Games is a global video game company, publishing titles developed by some of the most influential game development studios in the world. Our studios responsible for developing 2K’s portfolio of world-class games across multiple platforms, include Visual Concepts, Firaxis, Hangar 13, CatDaddy, Cloud Chamber, and HB Studios. Our portfolio of titles is expanding due to our global strategic plan, building and acquiring exciting studios whose content continues to inspire all of us! 2K publishes titles in today’s most popular gaming genres, including sports, shooters, action, role-playing, strategy, casual, and family entertainment.

Our team of engineers, marketers, artists, writers, data scientists, producers, thinkers and doers, are the professional publishing stewards of our growing library of critically-acclaimed franchises such as NBA 2K, Battleborn, BioShock, Borderlands, The Darkness, Mafia, Sid Meier’s Civilization, WWE 2K, and XCOM.

At 2K, we pride ourselves on creating an inclusive work environment, which means encouraging our teams to Come as You Are and do your best work! We are dedicated to diversity and inclusion, and want our community of candidates to reflect this commitment. We encourage all qualified applicants to explore our global positions. 2K is headquartered in Novato, California and is a wholly owned label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

What We Need:

The Sr. Director and Head of Game Science & Insights is a member of the Production & Live Services team, responsible for leading analytics efforts that inform game design and live service strategy, execution and optimization across multiple key AAA franchises, including NBA 2K, WWE 2K, PGA 2K and multiple other unannounced 2K Sports franchises.

In this role, you will develop a team of data scientists and analysts located in the US and Dublin, Ireland in using sophisticated data sets to understand and influence player engagement, retention and monetization. The scope of this role is significant and critical to 2K’s success, leading all aspects of all recurring analytical operations, ad-hoc insights and experimentation functions across the 2K Sports portfolio.

Job Responsibilities:

• Team Management
• Developing staffing plans with a clear title & leveling framework across the team
• Drafting JDs and driving team recruitment & interview standards
• Developing a system for monitoring/maintaining/boosting morale and minimizing isolation/lack of individual connection across multiple time zones
• Recurring team meetings and 1:1s with direct & skip level reports to communicate top-down information and navigate challenges as a group
• Detailing specific guidelines and expectations for how each role/individual can make the best possible case for promotion
• Assessing readiness for existing team members and crafting promotion roadmaps as appropriate
• Mentoring people managers on professional development principles & execution
• Strategic Planning & Prioritization
• Aligning team capacity and business needs in order to develop/adjust FY OKRs
• Evaluating, accepting and triaging incoming partner requests for work
• Prioritizing team bandwidth and leading partner expectations, particularly as needs and vitality levels across various partners/results ebb and flow
• Understanding bandwidth and bottlenecks/problems at any given time
• Establishing clear expectations for the time/effort required to deliver different types of analyses and data requests
• Ensuring team members are progressing projects at quality and in a timely manner
• Overseeing the development of risk registers & contingency playbooks, particularly surrounding game releases
• Willingness to jump in and provide direct support when team members get stuck and/or all-hands-on-deck data-related emergencies arise
• Cross-Functional Partnerships
• Establishing strong partner relationships through honest, precise and consistent communications & feedback
• Consistently ensuring all relevant partner needs are known and being met to the best of GSI’s abilities
• Identifying upstream and/or downstream partner bottlenecks and engaging appropriate cross-functional partners/teams to efficiently and effectively solve
• Informing and guiding the development/licensing of key tools used by GSI and/or impacting GSI work
• Communicating team plans, actions and outcomes to collaborator partners and across all levels of 2K and T2 leadership

Who We Think Will Be a Great Fit:

The ideal candidate is, first and foremost, passionate about optimizing great user experiences via data-driven insights, conceptualization and experimentation. They are a highly autonomous leader who is consistently focused on sustainably increasing productivity/efficiency. They always go above and beyond for the business, our partners, our people. They care deeply about their team and display a strong sense of ownership in the professional development of each team member.

The right candidate has the team seeking the ‘WHY’ and ‘So What’ insights needed to move the needle. They anticipate oncoming issues and help devise resourceful solutions. They are a strong, articulate leader who people are excited to partner with and follow. They are polished and ready to engage with all levels of the organization.

Finally, you should have a proven understanding of live service games today and their evolution across the industry. This doesn’t necessarily mean they have worked in the industry directly but does require an understanding of what live services look like across different genres and experiences today, including those listed above.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Statistics or Business or 10+ years of directly relevant industry work experience; Advanced degree a plus
• Highly proficient with SQL and Tableau
• Highly organized, upbeat, flexible, collaborative, and proactive; a leader who can positively and efficiently impact both strategic and tactical operational initiatives
• Strong understanding of user segmentation, targeting and A/B testing
• Experience identifying, communicating, managing, and mitigating risks
• Ability to manage ambiguity while solving ambitious problems
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Able to work collaboratively across numerous internal and external teams
• Proven track record to contribute as a member of a leadership team in a driven, fast-paced, creative environment

Location: Novato, CA; NYC, NY; Dublin, IR; London, UK; Flexible

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