Sr. / Community Manager

SEGA OF AMERICA INC•Irvine, CA

5d•$105,000 - $130,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Are you an experienced Sr. / Community Manager with a passion for video and mobile games? Do you have experience launching and supporting AAA and mobile titles? Reporting to the Senior Director of GaaS Marketing, the Sr. / Community Manager will lead and support external product communication, community engagement, and marketing efforts for SEGA Japan Studios’ GaaS (Games-as-a-Service) titles. This role emphasizes close collaboration with SEGA of America's social and community teams, the broader marketing organization, and cross-functional partners across the company. The Sr. / Community Manager will also collaborate closely with Japan Studios to coordinate community activations, leveraging a deep understanding of the Persona and Hatsune Miku IPs, as well as live ops events. This position will contribute to strategic planning for community and social functions and play a key role in both leading and supporting the execution of initiatives alongside direct reports. This person will also be responsible for growing community channels, shaping and amplifying the player voice, and leveraging insights and experience to align player interests with business goals. They will help shape a broader strategic plan for Western markets, incorporating the latest industry trends to build a strong fandom around GaaS titles.

Requirements

5+ (Manager) or 8+ years (Sr. Manager) of experience in community management, social media marketing or fan-focused public relations in a related field or on major consumer brands
Bachelor’s degrees or equivalent experience in communication, marketing, or related field
Must be an avid gamer with a strong understanding of relevant genres, including RPGs, anime-inspired games, and titles centered around Japanese IP. A passion for gaming culture and communities is essential. Experience or interest in the anime or gaming industry/brands is a plus
Must have management experience, including leading teams of 2 or more and overseeing external vendors in community management efforts
In-depth knowledge of current community and content distribution channels, emergent trends and best practices, and the role they play in community and publishing strategy
Exemplary product and brand communications, copywriting, and creative writing skills
Exceptional oral and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate a vision across various audiences. Ability to tell a story via PowerPoint and/or Excel a strong plus
Knowledge of publisher streaming and content creation on streaming and social channels and familiar with back-end analysis of metrics and scheduling
Organized self-starter, with demonstrated ability to plan and self-manage concurrent content pipelines and programs, while working in a team environment
Active engagement in current games industry news with a deep understanding of gamer culture in social media
Independent worker with little or no supervision required and willingness to navigate areas of unfamiliarity
Ability to coordinate execution of plans within budget, set timelines, and to meet deadlines across all duties of the role.
Experience building new processes and applying best practices a strong plus
Ability to leverage quantitative analytic measures, build business cases to support initiatives and focus on KPI / ROI metrics
Proficiency in MS Office and social analytics platforms; graphic design experience is a plus, but not required
Proven ability to manage confidential product, business, and trade information with professionalism and discretion
Japanese language skills and experience working with Japanese or Asian corporations are a plus, but not required
Positive, professional, collaborative, and flexible attitude
Ability to work in-person in Irvine, CA in hybrid model

Nice To Haves

Experience or interest in the anime or gaming industry/brands is a plus
Ability to tell a story via PowerPoint and/or Excel a strong plus
Experience building new processes and applying best practices a strong plus
graphic design experience is a plus, but not required
Japanese language skills and experience working with Japanese or Asian corporations are a plus, but not required

Responsibilities

Help define and develop a distinct brand voice and personality for GaaS titles, including but not limited to Persona5: The Phantom X, HATSUNE MIKU: COLORFUL STAGE!, and upcoming unannounced projects
Collaborate with SEGA of America, SEGA of Japan, IP Holders and Development Teams cross-functional and international teams to develop globally integrated and innovate community campaigns that are aligned with the project’s strategic and financial goals
Create and maintain social content roadmap calendar, clearly outlining promotional efforts and keeping Sr. Director, GaaS Marketing and cross functional teams organized
Serves as a key community contact with direct interface with development and studio groups to supply them with key insights, trends and best practices
Contribute to content strategy and player-facing communications, including active engagement on official social channels, community channels and reactive messaging
Provide engaging written and visual content, working with internal social and creative design teams and creative agencies as necessary
Manage all owned channels for assigned products, including social media (Meta, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube), forums (Reddit, Discord, owned forums) and 1st party community hubs
Build, support and retain new and long-term relationships with content creators
Expert on all social channels and their tools managing relationships with each of the platform account managers
Identify needs, problems, common opinions, and end-user sentiment through official community channels and social media, providing meaningful reporting to management
Analyze and report metrics pertaining to community sentiment and social engagement, as well as KPIs online activities, to drive improvement, optimization, and innovation
Drive views and concurrency on Twitch and YouTube
Provide and create the voice of the game and developer to players, and vice versa, via social channels
Become a product expert and participate in livestreams and video productions as an informational and authoritative brand representative, when required
Track and manage all aspects of social/community budget across your portfolio with rigor and accuracy
Other duties as assigned
Working in-office is an essential function of this position. This requirement of face-to-face interaction is in place to ensure effective supervision, collaboration, and teamwork. In-office attendance is required for the following reasons:
For effective supervision of employees and our work product, which includes ensuring all employees have necessary oversight of their work and access to supervisory assistance, which includes meetings to review work product, deadlines, and status.
To foster communication and collaboration among team members, which includes the following: allowing for spontaneous brainstorming sessions and exchanges of ideas, quick access to team members to enable collaborative problem-solving, and stronger cohesion among co-workers and within teams.
To enhance the sharing of information necessary to effective job performance and product creation.
To enhance understanding of our stakeholders’ work and business needs, facilitate a more seamless and organic workflow, and ultimately increase efficiency and successful outcomes.