Associate Technical Manager

Who we are:

PikPok is Aotearoa New Zealand’s oldest and largest video game developer and publisher. We strive to successfully provide rich game experiences, crafted by talented teams who are curious, take ownership, and collaborate well. We are committed to providing a safe and supportive workplace that enables our teams to make games which will be enjoyed worldwide across mobile, desktop, and console.

About the Role:

We’re looking for someone with technical leadership skills who wants to take the next step into people management and discipline leadership. You should work well with people and understand the role that code and technical systems play in a creative, team-focused environment. You’ll spend time working with teams developing games, and with tech leadership and managers across the organisation to support and improve how the tech team at PikPok works and learns. You’ll also be a key mentor for other programmers, providing line management functions and regular one to ones for other staff, supporting their professional development and personal growth. You will need strong experience in game development, having a good understanding of the challenges inherent to the domain, and excellent communication skills, with a focus on sensitivity, listening, and facilitation as means to work through whatever you may encounter.

The Associate Technical Manager’s responsibilities include:

• Supporting divisional management and decision making.
• Managing a small number of programmers, supporting their professional development and growth with regularity and attention.
• Working with the studio leadership team across all disciplines to design, support, and facilitate studio functions and organisational change efforts as appropriate.
• Providing a high level of technical skill and oversight, supporting programmers across teams and technical functions in their delivery of robust and maintainable functionality.
• Mentoring and training technical staff across all levels, working to grow both individual skill sets and the overall capabilities of the studio.
• Creating, testing, and maintaining code, systems, and tools in support of the development of our game projects. Identifying areas of code for reuse or those in need of refactor, and executing on this as appropriate.
• Proactively learning the craft of management through mentoring with Technical Managers & the CTO, as well as other learning opportunities.
• Communicating effectively with any and all staff as required across a variety of media (verbal, chat, email, documentation, and so forth).

What we’re looking for:

• Experience working in game development as a programmer and leader over multiple years and projects.
• Proven and highly developed technical game development skills, including C# & Unity development and debugging, broad knowledge of other programming languages, and a deep understanding of version control.
• Good understanding of software design and architecture, specifically within the context of game development.
• An aptitude for learning new skills and technologies, paired with a desire to expand one’s knowledge base.
• The ability to communicate effectively and with confidence.
• A positive ‘can-do’ attitude, great work ethic and strong sense of initiative.
• Proven workflow, task management and scheduling skills.
• Proven skills in mentoring, and a desire to actively participate in supporting the development of skills and professional practices in others.
• Experience with Agile development practices and their application to game development.
• A developed understanding of (and appreciation for) video games as a creative medium.

PikPok offers a wide range of great benefits, outlined on our careers page

We are an equal opportunities employer committed to diversity and inclusion.

To Apply:

If you'd like to know more about the role, further information can be found here: https://link.pikpok.com/40JzuAO