Senior External Development Manager

31st Union • San Mateo, CA

5d • $103,700 - $153,500

About The Position

31st Union is seeking a senior external development leader to establish and own how the studio works with external partners. The role sets external development strategy with the Head of Operations and studio leadership, then builds and operates the pipelines, tools, workflows, and processes that support partner work. It combines strategic planning with hands-on production ownership and is a first-in-seat role; building an external development team as the studio’s slate grows is part of the position.

The manager determines which disciplines and work are suitable for outsourcing and which partnership models fit, develops internal-versus-external business cases, sources and manages vendors, and owns partnership budgets, forecasts, schedules, and delivery oversight. Working with Production, Art Direction, craft owners, and discipline leads, the manager ensures external work is appropriately resourced and scheduled, partners receive clear briefs and actionable feedback, and deliverables meet agreed creative and contractual standards. The role also establishes reporting and risk-management practices, resolves onboarding and access issues with internal teams, and develops the function and its people over time.

Requirements

• 6 to 8+ years of external development or production experience in the video game industry.
• Track record of running external development across multiple projects or a full franchise, with real budget ownership.
• Experience running RFPs, negotiating statements of work and rates, and owning a budget.
• Strong working knowledge of Jira and ShotGrid/Flow.
• Spreadsheet and data fluency sufficient to build reporting.
• Familiarity with Perforce or equivalent source control and with how assets are integrated into a live engine build.
• Ability to develop internal-versus-external business cases and assess vendor cost, capacity, and delivery expectations.
• Ability to distinguish vendor skill gaps from brief or process gaps and provide appropriate feedback.
• Ability to communicate complex creative feedback clearly and diplomatically, including to non-native English speakers and across communication windows.
• Comfort with building and adapting processes for a function that is still being established.

Nice To Haves

• Experience establishing an external development or outsourcing function from scratch.
• Experience working with global partners across multiple time zones and cultures, including studios in Eastern Europe, South America, or Asia.
• Familiarity with publisher-side production and cross-studio coordination.
• Hands-on background in an outsourced discipline such as art, animation, audio, engineering, or QA.

Responsibilities

• Set and evolve external development strategy with the Head of Operations and studio leadership, including outsourcing suitability, partnership models, and internal-versus-external business cases.
• Design, implement, and maintain external development tools, systems, workflows, and operational policies, including brief templates, outsourcing packs, asset trackers, review protocols, acceptance criteria, onboarding documentation, and reporting standards.
• Lead RFPs, vendor outreach and evaluation, and partner selection; negotiate scope, capacity, cost, and delivery expectations.
• Manage partnership lifecycles with internal stakeholders, including contracts and amendments with Legal and Procurement, invoices, renewals, expirations, offboarding, and onboarding; drive IT and information security escalations to resolution.
• Manage the external development budget and forecasting with Operations; model cost against capacity, assess spend efficiency, review deliverables against contractual criteria before milestone payments, and present cost-efficiency options to leadership.
• Work with Production and discipline leads to identify capacity gaps, sequence external work against internal milestones, balance workloads, and align external schedules with internal plans.
• Partner with Art Direction, craft owners, and discipline leads to establish creative briefs, style guides, benchmark assets, and quality bars before production begins.
• Build and run review cadences, ensure vendor work reaches appropriate internal reviewers on time, provide actionable direction, and establish technical and visual pre-screening to protect Art Directors’ review time.
• Build and manage vendor production schedules, monitor milestone health, and proactively mitigate schedule, budget, and scope risks, escalating issues early with options.
• Own the external development database and reporting standards; report vendor KPIs, capacity, spend, and delivery trends to studio leadership and publisher stakeholders.
• Grow external development into a team as the slate requires, including recommending headcount and structure, developing career paths, and mentoring and calibrating colleagues managing external engagements.

Benefits

• The total compensation package for employees in regular roles may include a bonus and/or equity awards, in addition to medical, financial, and other benefits.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed