Director of Development - Concept Group The Madison Square Garden Company
New York, NY

Job Description

Overview

The Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) is a world leader in live sports and entertainment experiences. The company presents or hosts a broad array of premier events in its diverse collection of iconic venues: New York's Madison Square Garden, Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and Beacon Theatre; the Forum in Inglewood, CA; and The Chicago Theatre. Other MSG properties include legendary sports franchises: the New York Knicks (NBA) and the New York Rangers (NHL); two development league teams - the Westchester Knicks (NBAGL) and the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL); and esports teams through Counter Logic Gaming, a leading North American esports organization, and Knicks Gaming, MSG's NBA 2K League franchise. In addition, the Company features the popular original production - the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes - and through Boston Calling Events, produces New England's preeminent Boston Calling Music Festival. Also under the MSG umbrella is TAO Group, a world-class hospitality group with globally-recognized entertainment dining and nightlife brands: Tao, Marquee, Lavo, Avenue, Beauty & Essex and Vandal. More information is available at www.themadisonsquaregardencompany.com

Role SummaryThe MSG Ventures Interactive group was formed to take on one of the most exciting projects in digital games and interactive multimedia today: inventing a new category of mass participation, location-based game that will debut at the MSG Sphere currently under construction in Las Vegas. We are building an all-star team of AAA, indie, and experimental games veterans to help find solutions to cutting edge technical, artistic, and game design challenges in a collaborative startup-within-a-stable-corporation atmosphere. The Director of Development for the MSG Ventures Concept Group is responsible for establishing the technical direction of all projects undertaken by the Interactive Concept Group, directing the Concept Group's engineering department and its interface with Game Design, Project Management and Art, and collaborating with the non-technical management of MSG Ventures on strategic goal-setting. This is primarily a leadership position, however some coding and regular code review are expected. Specific Functions/Activities Summary

* Establish, in collaboration with other MSG Ventures Interactive leadership, the technical standards and policies for the Concept Group's future roadmap of rapid-iteration test and polished software releases.
* Define the processes and technical design of Concept Group software, assuring that it accomplishes creative and operational goals and takes advantage of unique opportunities offered by the platform(s).
* Detect and manage technical risks and dependencies in Concept Group development plans.
* Manage the Concept Group's engineering department as well as its interaction with relevant third-party vendors.
* Assure, in collaboration with Project Manager and Executive Producer, the timely and on-budget delivery of all Concept Group software.
* Attend and report in daily scrums and bi-weekly sprint planning sessions, reviews, and retrospectives in accordance with Agile best practices.
* Communicate to other MSG and MSG Ventures executives, as well as relevant third parties, the technical direction of Concept Group projects both verbally, in writing, and through demonstrations of concepts-in-progress.

Product Leadership Contributions (40%)

The Concept Group Director of Development shall work with the Executive Producer, MSG/MSG Ventures leadership, and other department leads to assure that Mass Interactive projects (both tests and polished software releases) serve the broad purpose of exploring and establishing new horizons in live interactive entertainment, as well as raising the experiential technology bar through the ingenious use of MSG venues' capabilities.

Director of Development shall also be responsible (in collaboration with Executive Producer, game design team and appropriate MSG Ventures technical leadership) for the identification of - and planning for - any aspects of future work that require significant technical innovation.

Engineering Team Management (25%)

The Director of Development shall manage the Concept Group's engineering team from both a development and personnel perspective. The Director of Development shall assess team members' skills, assign work accordingly, establish frameworks for specialization and improvement of their capabilities and work with the Executive Producer to mentor both new and experienced team members. In addition, the Director of Development shall liaise with third-party vendors and partners (including QA and User Testing groups), to assure complete code and executable deliveries and establish and maintain relationships with all external contractors and outsourcing teams.

MSG Ventures Software is developed within an Agile project management framework, which Director of Development (in collaboration with Project Manager) will establish within the Concept Group to assure timely deliveries of technical design documentation and fully-functional milestone builds to the game design, art, project management and MSG/MSG Ventures executive teams on a dependable, forecastable schedule.

Technical Design and Documentation (20%) The Concept Group Director of Development shall conceive of and document the planned technical approaches to all of MSG Ventures' Mass Interactive Concept Group software. The Concept Group Director of Development shall work with Executive Producer, Engineering leaders, and other MSG Ventures executives to assure that these approaches are compatible with existing technical specifications and solutions as well as maintaining continuity with brand guidelines and the team's creative vision for Concept Group projects.

Hands-On Code Development/Review (15%) The Director of Development's shall also be responsible for hands-on development of both test and polished release software for MSG Ventures Concept Group, as well as for the regular and comprehensive review of other Concept Group engineers' code.

Qualifications

* Computer Science BS, MS or PhD degree preferred or equivalent experience
* 10+ years professional game engineering experience required, with 4-6 as a Lead or Director
* Passion for collaborating with Game Design, Project Management and Art counterparts in a creative, energetic and positive fashion
* Demonstrable expertise in communications and team management as well as game client, server, and infrastructure applications/technology
* Experience as working in an Agile team and familiarity with Agile methodology required
* Expertise in C#, C++ and the Unity game engine required, with additional Unreal Engine and iOS/Android development experience highly preferred
* Experience with common games industry production software (MS Office, JIRA, Trello) required.
* Experience with AR/VR/MR games and applications a plus
* Secondary skills in another key game development discipline (Game Design, Product Management, Art, Audio) a significant plus
* Code samples will be required as part of the application process
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EducationCandidates who have completed 60 credits of college-level coursework (representing 2 years), or have shown similar self-development through certifications, trade school coursework, etc. are preferred. Educational requirements may differ from job to job based on the role. EEO StatementAt MSG we value diversity and are looking for extraordinary employees of all backgrounds! MSG is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, sexual and reproductive health choices, national origin, citizenship, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. In addition to federal law requirements, MSG complies with all applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in all locations.