Manager, Marketing

Square Enix is a leading publisher of entertainment content, known for iconic franchises such as Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest, NieR, Life is Strange, and Just Cause. Our mission is to create and deliver experiences that resonate deeply with the hearts and minds of our players.

Working within the Americas Marketing Development team, the Marketing Manager plays a crucial role in the development and execution of go-to-market plans for selected titles at an Americas level.

This is a generalist marketing position working within a small tight-knit team.  The ideal candidate will be an all-rounder with a clear understanding of the building blocks of a great marketing campaign; creative, paid media, social, influencer, loc/versioning, partnerships and retail, taking strategic plans from our Global Marketing team and turning them into successful go-to-market executions..

They will thrive in a busy and collaborative work environment and have strong communication skills across functional and geographical boundaries. They will work closely with a variety of internal teams and external partners and be a project management rockstar capable of balancing multiple tasks. 

ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND KPIs

• Lead a team of managers and user researchers in delivering end-to-end execution of research projects across publishing activities, industry and player understanding, and game development, and oversee the internal research lab.
• Partner and build relationships with key stakeholders, gain a deep understanding of business needs and consumer questions, and translate stakeholder briefs and goals into actionable research project plans, defining the best research methodologies to meet objectives.
• Build and manage relationships with multiple internal and external vendors across North America and Europe (coordinating project bids, discovering new vendors for nontraditional methodologies, and recommending a matrix of partners), and partner with Forecasting and other internal Data functions to embed consumer and player perspectives into forecasting and planning processes.
• Lead the planning and execution of all phases of consumer research and user testing, including project scoping and design, method selection, questionnaire/discussion guide development, target sample definition, programming and testing surveys, field and quota management, and quantitative/qualitative analysis.
• Drive the creation of insightful takeaways, analysis, and reports by leveraging expertise in the gaming market/industry, synthesizing information from a variety of sources and methods, and doing deep data mining where required.
• Ensure the delivery of best gaming experiences by championing player-centric decisions through systemic player and user-testing along the game publishing and development cycle. While deeply understanding player experiences and friction points to guide the development of benchmarks, standards, and norms.
• Conduct research that evaluates the effectiveness of strategies and tactics, including launch performance and post-launch assessments, to build durable company-wide knowledge and contribute to the identification of new business opportunities.
• Develop a vision for how to continuously improve how we connect with and understand our audiences around the world, advancing collaboration with Japan Office at a global level to improve efficiency and productivity of research operations, establishing and embedding a globally consistent player segmentation framework, championing quick and iterative research methodologies, and exerting influence over publishing activities through research-driven insights.
• Consistently innovate and implement best-in-class research methodologies, analysis, and tools to efficiently scale quality research across the organization.
• Be the key advocate for gamers around the world. Champion the consumer's voice internally across key game development milestones and campaign beats, and instill a data-driven, consumer-focused culture.
• Performance measures: Stakeholder satisfaction, ad hoc feedback, insight adoption rate, research operations (% of projects meeting deadline), revenue and profit.

Requirements

Essential

• 3-5 years of experience in a generalist videogame marketing role, with a focus on integrated multi-market campaign management across Americas.
• Experience working with major gaming platform holders (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Steam, Epic Games Store).
• Experience managing external creative, media, influencer, or localization agencies.
• Experience briefing and reviewing creative marketing assets, including trailers, social content, and digital advertising materials.
• Great project management skills with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Proficiency in marketing analytics tools and platforms.
• Strong budget management skills, including budget phasing, agency scoping, purchase orders and invoice tracking.
• Excellent communication, intercultural and interpersonal skills. Demonstrable creative thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• Strong understanding of social media platforms, trends, and best practices.
• Experience with Influencer relations and managing Influencer programs.
• Passion for Square Enix IP and video games with a strong understanding of the current gaming and entertainment landscape. Bonus if your dream is to ride a Chocobo.
  

Desirable

• Experience using JIRA
• Japanese language proficiency
• Marketing Degree

Benefits

• 100% Medical, Dental, Vision coverage- with the option to add a spouse/domestic partner and children at 2% of the premium.
• Medical FSA (Flexible Spending Account) and Dependent Care FSA (Flexible Spending Account) to help pay for medical expenses, childcare or adult care expenses with pre-tax dollars.
• Wellness programs- mental health resources, counseling, financial wellbeing, support for future moms, a 24/7 Employee Assistance Program hotline, and much more.
• Generous leave- from the start you can earn up to 25 days of PTO, we observe 13 major holiday and provide job protected leave for life’s unexpected moments.
• 401K auto enrollment and employer-match contribution.
• Be among the first to get copies of every game title, plus receive generous discounts on thousands of games in our library.
• Refer our next new team member and receive a $1000 bonus.

Purpose & Values

Purpose: Creating New Worlds with Boundless Imagination to Enhance People’s Lives.

Values:

• Deliver Unforgettable Experiences
• Embrace Challenges
• Act Swiftly
• Stronger Together
• Continuously Evolve
• Cultivate Integrity

Annual Salary Range: $80,000 - $125,000