Role Overview
As a Project Manager, you are the engine room of our studio’s operations. You will serve as the central point of contact across creative, design, animation, and marketing departments. Your mission is to translate a client’s high-level concept into a granular, executable production plan. You must balance the artistic vision of our leads with the cold realities of timelines and budgets, ensuring that we deliver world-class assets without compromising our team’s health or the studio's profitability.
Key Responsibilities
1. Strategic Production Planning
- Lifecycle Management: Own the full project lifecycle from initial bidding and resource forecasting to final delivery and post-mortem analysis.
- Schedule Optimization: Develop and maintain complex production schedules, using industry-standard tools to track progress and adjust for "bottlenecks" before they impact deadlines.
- Resource Leveling: Analyze team capacity and expertise to ensure tasks are assigned to the right artists at the right time, preventing burnout and maximizing output quality.
2. Stakeholder & Client Management
- Communication Hub: Act as the primary interface between the client and the production floor. You must manage client expectations regarding scope, revisions, and delivery dates.
- High-Level Reporting: Distill complex production data into clear, concise status reports and presentations for upper management and external stakeholders.
- Risk Mitigation: Proactively identify project risks (technical, financial, or timeline) and develop mitigation strategies to keep the project "in the green."
3. Team Leadership & QA Support
- Workflow Integration: Support Supervisors and Art Directors in the Quality Assurance (QA) process, ensuring that the feedback loop between the client and the artist is tight, clear, and actionable.
- Mentorship & Culture: Motivate the production team by fostering a sense of ownership. Provide coaching on project management best practices and participate in staff performance reviews.
- Process Improvement: Stay current with industry trends (e.g., Unreal Engine pipelines, AI integration in animation) to suggest internal workflow improvements.
Job Requirements
- Experience: At least 3-5 years of project management experience, with a proven track record in a game development or animation studio environment.
- Technical Literacy: Proficiency with project management software (e.g., Jira, ShotGrid/Flow, Monday.com, or Asana). Understanding of the creative pipeline is essential.
- Operational Excellence: Expert-level organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple high-stakes projects simultaneously.
- Financial Acumen: Basic understanding of project budgeting, P&L, and the ability to identify opportunities for margin improvement.
- Soft Skills: Exceptional leadership, conflict resolution, and negotiation skills. You must be able to push back on unrealistic client demands while maintaining a positive relationship.