Staff Technical Project Manager

Future Technology Group

PlayStation’s Future Technology Group is at the cutting edge of innovation, striving to create immersive and unforgettable gaming experiences, transforming the experience of play through bold innovation and technical creativity. As we push the boundaries of gaming and technology, we are seeking an experienced Program Manager to support our team of machine learning researchers and developers. Our team is working in the forefront of Imitation Learning and Reinforcement Learning techniques for game playing agents and we need a Program Manager to support our researchers as they develop new technologies as well as oversee and manage the successful delivery of a complex program of interrelated projects.

Role Description

As a Program Manager, your primary responsibilities will be around planning, monitoring, governance, coordination, communication, and overseeing the successful delivery of the program's outputs / products. While an understanding of machine learning concepts and applications is beneficial, your key role will be to support the team's growth and success in a collaborative, research-driven environment. You may also take on additional roles as a technical project manager, working with internal development teams and external stakeholders to define and deliver independent R&D projects.

Responsibilities:

• As a Program Manager, manage the overall work program of interrelated projects:

  • Support the Program Owner with their responsibilities via daily management of the Program throughout its life cycle.

  • Establish internal procedures within the program and reviewing them regularly for improvement.

  • Plan the overall program, including timelines, and monitoring the progress against high level milestones to ensure adherence to the plan; updating the high-level plan as needed. Maintain the main program documentation.

  • Coordinate the projects and their interdependencies, promoting collaboration and transparency and coordinate resources across projects.

  • Identifying and anticipating program risks and issues, developing mitigation strategies, and facilitating issue resolution and escalation.

  • Managing stakeholders’ communication by identify key stakeholders, assessing their interests, and developing strategies for effective engagement.

  • Working with stakeholders to define measurable benefits, ensure outputs / deliverables will properly realize those benefits, and track progress.

  • Adhere to governance structures, report to the governance board, and seek necessary approvals.

• As a Technical Project Manager, define and deliver independent projects:

  • Define project objectives and develop project plans.

  • Monitor & control projects and manage issues & risks.

  • Manage stakeholders and report progress.

  • Tailor processes to projects and contribute to process improvement.

• Operate in a global environment: Navigate the challenges of working with diverse, global teams spread across different time zones, demonstrating flexibility and a willingness to work outside normal hours when required.

Required:

• Twelve years of experience working as a Project Manager or Program Manager in a related field (e.g. video games, machine learning, research & development). 

• Project Management qualifications, e.g., PMP, PMI-ACP, APM, PRINCE2, CSM.

• Experience with Agile practices, e.g. Scrum, and commonly used project management tools, e.g. Atlassian suite.

• Ability to manage complex programs of work: high risk, high importance, high visibility, multi-organization, multi-site.

• Ability to communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders in formal and informal contexts, including presentation skills, and skilled in facilitating, influencing, and negotiating.

• Ability to work proactively on your own.

• Fluent in English.

Desired:

• Program Management qualifications.

• Experience with applied research projects. 

• Understanding of technologies used in building games and game platforms.  

• Able to quickly acquire high level understanding of new technologies.

• Previous experience working with teams across multiple regions.

• Japanese language qualification.