Development Director (Technical Project Manager) - Creative Innovation

Description & Requirements
Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. Part of a community that connects across the globe. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. A team where everyone makes play happen.
The Creative Innovation team within Central Technologies is the driving force behind EA's cutting-edge research, 3rd-party partnerships, and content creation technologies. From AI-powered tools for character animation to groundbreaking world-building systems, this team researches, innovates, and integrates transformative technologies into creative workflows. By joining Creative Innovation, you'll work at the intersection of creativity, technology, and design solutions that redefine immersive gaming experiences. If you're looking for a team that combines the agility of a startup with the impact of a global AAA, then we're looking for you.
We are looking for a Development Director to lead the delivery of complex, highly technical programs across one of our subteams. This role is Hybrid and located in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Reporting to the Product Development Director in Tools & Technology (TnT), you\'ll also collaborate with operational and project management individuals across Creative Innovation (CI) to ensure consistency and smooth daily execution.
The Challenge Ahead
The Development Director (DD) is responsible for driving the delivery of complex, highly technical projects from creation to completion. You will bring deep technical project management expertise and lead cross-functional teams through the full lifecycle of sophisticated data and AI-driven programs. In this role, you will spearhead a portfolio of cutting-edge capabilities. These capabilities include DataLake infrastructure, Data Provenance frameworks, and emerging AI capabilities. They will fundamentally shape how our organization builds, manages, and leverages data and intelligence at scale.
Day to Day, You Will…

• Lead end-to-end delivery of large-scale technical projects. These projects include DataLake architecture, Data Provenance systems, and AI capability development. Own scope, schedule, budget, and quality from kickoff through release.
• Provide strong career management to direct reports, identifying growth opportunities, setting clear expectations, and actively developing individuals toward their full potential.
• Define and maintain technical project roadmaps, translating complex engineering requirements into clear milestones, dependencies, and delivery plans.
• Drive quarterly and sprint planning processes, ensuring the team adheres to Agile principles while continuously improving planning rigor and execution discipline.
• Own project finances, including budget forecasting, resource allocation, and vendor or cross-team dependency management.
• Identify, assess, and proactively mitigate technical and project risks, removing blockers, resolving ambiguities, and escalating where appropriate.
• Partner with engineering leads, data architects, and AI/ML teams to ensure technical feasibility, sound design decisions, and alignment with organizational strategy.
• Establish and track clear KPIs and delivery metrics, surfacing progress, variances, and risks to senior stakeholders.
• Promote a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement across the teams you oversee.
• Collaborate with Product and Technical leads to define and assign sprint tasks from quarterly goals, leveraging GitLab to maintain visibility and accountability.

You Are / You Have…

• 6+ years of project management experience, with a strong focus on highly technical projects involving data infrastructure, data engineering, or AI/ML systems.
• 3+ years of team leadership experience, including direct people management and career development of technical staff.
• Experience leading complex, multi-workstream projects from start to finish.
• Strong understanding of data ecosystems, including data lakes, data pipelines, data governance, lineage, or provenance concepts.
• Familiarity with AI/ML development lifecycles and the unique delivery challenges of building intelligent systems.
• Proficiency with Agile and hybrid project management methodologies, with experience facilitating sprint planning, retrospectives, and quarterly goal-setting.
• Exceptional stakeholder management, able to translate technical complexity for non-technical audiences and vice versa.
• University degree (Bachelor\'s) in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical field, or equivalent professional experience.

Pay Transparency - North America
Compensation And Benefits
The ranges listed below are what EA in good faith expects to pay applicants for this role in these locations at the time of this posting. If you reside in a different location, a recruiter will advise on the applicable range and benefits. Pay offered will be determined based on a number of relevant business and candidate factors (e.g. education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, or business needs).
PAY RANGES

• British Columbia (depending on location e.g. Vancouver vs. Victoria) \*$122,300 - $170,700 CAD

Pay is just one part of the overall compensation at EA.
For Canada, we offer a package of benefits including vacation (3 weeks per year to start), 10 days per year of sick time, paid top-up to EI/QPIP benefits up to 100% of base salary when you welcome a new child (12 weeks for maternity, and 4 weeks for parental/adoption leave), extended health/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, disability insurance, retirement plan to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.
About Electronic Arts
We’re proud to have an extensive portfolio of games and experiences, locations around the world, and opportunities across EA. We value adaptability, resilience, creativity, and curiosity. From leadership that brings out your potential, to creating space for learning and experimenting, we empower you to do great work and pursue opportunities for growth.
We adopt a holistic approach to our benefits programs, emphasizing physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support a balanced life. Our packages are tailored to meet local needs and may include healthcare coverage, mental well-being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, complimentary games, and more. We nurture environments where our teams can always bring their best to what they do.
Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.

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