Production Lead

Role Description

We're looking for a Production Lead to join the team. In this role, you'll drive the planning, execution, and delivery of game development initiatives across multidisciplinary teams. You will partner closely with creative, design, engineering, art, QA, and leadership stakeholders to ensure projects remain aligned on scope, schedule, quality, and business objectives.

The ideal candidate is a proactive leader who can balance strategic planning with hands-on execution, remove obstacles before they become roadblocks, and foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Lead production efforts across one or more game teams, ensuring milestones are delivered on time and at quality expectations
• Develop and maintain production roadmaps, sprint plans, schedules, and project tracking systems
• Partner with department leads to establish priorities, allocate resources, and manage development risks
• Facilitate Agile development processes, including sprint planning, standups, retrospectives, and milestone reviews
• Monitor project health through reporting, metrics, and team feedback, proactively identifying and resolving risks and dependencies
• Drive cross-functional communication between design, engineering, art, narrative, audio, QA, marketing, and leadership teams
• Create clear visibility into project status, timelines, scope changes, and resource needs for stakeholders
• Help define and improve production processes, workflows, and best practices across the organization
• Mentor and support producers, associate producers, and coordinators, helping elevate production excellence across the studio
• Collaborate with leadership to balance creative ambition with practical execution and delivery goals
• Champion a positive team culture that emphasizes ownership, accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement

Qualifications

• 10+ years of game production experience, including experience leading multidisciplinary development teams
• Experience managing teams through major milestones such as vertical slices, alpha, beta, certification, and launch
• At least one shipped PC AND console title in a production leadership capacity
• Experience supporting external development partners, vendors, or co-development teams
• Strong understanding of game development pipelines across design, engineering, art, animation, audio, and QA
• Demonstrated experience managing Pre-Production milestones schedules, dependencies, resource planning, and risk mitigation
• Experience working within Agile development methodologies
• Exceptional organizational, communication, and stakeholder management skills
• Proven ability to influence outcomes and drive alignment across multiple teams and departments
• Experience with project management tools such as Jira, Confluence, or similar platforms
• Ability to thrive in a remote-first environment and manage competing priorities in a fast-paced studio

Nice to Have

• Experience leading production on horror, action-adventure, or narrative-driven games
• Familiarity with Unreal Engine development pipelines
• Background scaling production processes for growing teams and multiple concurrent projects
• Familiarity with the Poppy Playtime universe and audience
• Passion for creating memorable player experiences and fostering high-performing teams

Salary

• San Francisco, CA; New York City, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Seattle, WA; Boston, MA; & DC Metropolitan Areas: $162,000 - $208,000 USD annually
• Austin, TX; Denver, CO; Nashville, TN; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; & Miami, FL Metropolitan Areas: $141,000 - $181,000 USD annually
• All Other U.S. Locations: $120,000 - $154,000 USD annually

Benefits

• Profit sharing
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) matching
• FSA/HSA
• Paid time off
• Sick time
• Holidays
• Parental leave