UXR Manager

Job Title: UXR Manager

Department: Studio Operations

Location: Creative Assembly, Horsham

Working Model: Hybrid 

Why Us: 

SEGA employees are passionate about entertaining the world with creative, innovative experiences while being part of a vibrant gaming community. We are a global company with the resources to match, coupled with a place where everyone knows each other on a first-name basis, working together to create innovative experiences, one community at a time. Our world-class development Studios span the UK, France and Bulgaria. Known for quality and creativity above all else, our studios include, Amplitude Studios, Creative Assembly, HARDlight, Sports Interactive and Two Point Studios. In your role as UXR Manager, you will engage with studio and publishing leaders across our organisation to provide key insights, track UX progress during development and reveal what our users need from our products by conducting targeted usability studies and working with cross-functional teams. You will lead a highly skilled and advanced UX research team that builds strong partnerships across the organization and helps shape the future of SEGA’s games. We believe that delivering the best games relies on having the best people, so we are constantly investing in our people through our benefits package, flexible working, and our community-focused, people-centric culture. Our industry-leading compensation and benefits include competitive salary and bonus schemes, private medical insurance, private dental insurance, health screening, electric car scheme, home technology scheme, and much more!  

Why You: You are an experienced UX Research Manager who has a passion for directly overseeing and leading a team of researchers, evaluating gaming experiences alongside product development and utilising world-class research. You have considerable experience inspiring change, delivering oral and written presentations, evaluating qualitative and quantitative data, and helping project teams better understand what would make a user’s experience more intuitive, accessible, and seamless. 

Responsibilities include:

• Take part in and conduct usability testing to discover problems with UI and systems interactions, gauge user sentiment, and review the presentation and interaction of game systems by employing various methods like prototype testing, concept art surveys, etc.
• Coach, mentor, and develop the UXR team, providing career development planning and opportunities.
• Provide direction and leadership to team members and peers by developing strategies, collaborating, articulating ideas and viewpoints.
• Help in supporting internal development studios to build and maintain a successful relationship with SOE Product Development.
• Work closely with each internal Pillar development studio and define UXR support required on a title-by-title, studio-by-studio basis. Plan and manage the UXR roadmap.
• Align with game development teams to define actionable next steps from UXR research.
• Provide creative and executional UX guidance to help improve product quality and innovation.
• Partner across organizational and Global teams with a variety of disciplines (analysts, designers, product owners, market researchers, producers, etc.) to generate feedback which deeply impacts the trajectory of their product work.
• Effectively communicate UXR results to multiple levels of the organization in creative ways that drive impact.
• Create evolving UXR approaches to inform the development of new experiences.
• Work with Studio Ops Business Partner to establish and manage the UXR Business Plan: providing quotes, tracking project budgets, ensuring team efficiency and optimising utilisation rates.
• Documenting SEGA’s Best Practices and processes for UI/UX.
• Any other research-related or team management tasks according to business needs.
• Travel to our other Development Studios and UK Publishing office as required.

Required Knowledge, Skills & Experience:

• Significant experience within a User Research role, ideally within the video game industry.
• Experience in managing and leading high-performing teams.
• You have an advanced degree (or equivalent) in experimental psychology (experimental, social, cognitive), human-computer interaction, human factors, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience.
• Relevant training and/or certifications as a UX Researcher.
• Familiarity with inferential statistics (regressions, correlations, factor analyses).
• Great relationship-building, collaboration, communication and problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to work on multiple titles at any given time.
• Great account management and project management skills.
• Knowledge of franchise development and long-term planning.
• High attention to detail.
• Experience working with Designers and Programmers to improve the usability of products and other features.
• Effective communication skills (verbal and written) across all levels and organizations.
• Ability to work in a dynamic and collaborative team environment.
• Highly collaborative, team-minded person who consistently drives toward better outcomes for the business and the team.
• Ability to quickly and effectively share UX research results.
• Ability to perform all research-related tasks including research, planning, evaluating, and iteration.
• Ability to formulate specific, answerable, and practical questions.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with stakeholders and act as a strategic partner in product decisions.

Interview Process:

• 30-minute screening call – Recruiter (SEGA Europe)
• 1-hour interview – Director of Production (SEGA Europe) & SVP, Studio Operations (SEGA Europe)
• 30-minute interview – Chief Operating Officer (Creative Assembly)

Our Commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging:

 At SEGA, we celebrate diversity and believe in a diverse, inclusive, and equitable world in which everyone feels valued and respected regardless of what they look like or where they come from. Whether you’re a prospective employee or a full-time member of staff, we want you to feel involved and supported in all aspects of our work and to have amazing opportunities during your time with us regardless of your background.  We welcome people regardless of age, race, ethnicity, disability, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, neurotype, socioeconomic background, and whether you’re pregnant or on family leave. SEGA is a place where staff have a voice which is integral to our success as a business. Our inclusive, passionate people are empowered to educate, inform, and build awareness through our inclusion and well-being staff-led values groups which include DEN (Disability Employee Network), RISE ​(Reinforcing Inclusion through Solidarity and​ Equality), Women at SEGA, PRIDE, SEGA Minds (group supporting mental health), Momiji (group that celebrates our Japanese heritage, language, and culture) and VIBE (our social and engagement committee). If you require any reasonable adjustments in order to apply or to participate in the recruitment process, please contact us at talentacquisition@sega.co.uk.