As Benjamin Franklin once said, nothing is certain but death and taxes. But considering that the video game industry is still on comparatively sound footing in the world market, you can probably rest assured that Microsoft will make another Xbox... and Sony a PlayStation 4.
And if, knowing that, you ran across a Sony job posting asking for a gentleman to lead their "Next Generation engineering efforts," you might stop and take a second look.
GameCyte certainly did -- and after the jump, you're welcome to do all the looking you like at what might be the beginning of PlayStation 4 software development in the USA.
Sony PlayStation®: Senior Manager Software Engineering, Next Generation
Foster City, CaliforniaThe Sr. Manager will organize and lead our Next Generation engineering efforts. With a technical background and proven game development experience, the Sr. Manager is uniquely qualified to understand the big picture of game development. The Sr. Manager would gather metrics, challenge and set standards and guidelines, understand data and work flow, think strategically, and define and direct the development process for the next generation of game tools and technologies.
Responsibilities:
- Manage SCEA 1st party's next generation PlayStation tools & technology team.
- Provide strategic planning and direction.
- Organize multiple architects' input on overall technical design; influence and approve overall architecture.
- Accountable for overall code quality; ensure code is cross platform and reusable and testable; ensure code is reviewed. Accountable for overall performance; define metrics and sets targets.
- Oversee all internal and external project dependencies, risks and critical paths; ensure contingency plan is in place; recommend solutions and approve plan and timelines; understand overall impact on all stakeholders.
- Identify career opportunities; grow staff capability; establish the staff profile, performance & training standards, staff planning, succession planning, and compatibility; work with Human Resources regarding Career Growth/Succession Planning.
- Drive engineer recruiting; work with HR/Recruiting to hire top talent.
Requirements:
- Expert in C++
- Experience in object-oriented design and implementation.
- The ideal candidate has shipped at least 3 video game titles and has a minimum of 8 years of technical experience in the video game or related industry.
- Published games should reflect hands-on experience on PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PSP, DS and/or Xbox360 development.
- Avid gamer with a passion for creating top-quality games.
- Experience with commercial rendering/game engine.
- Experience with assembler (MIPS, VU Code), scripting languages (Perl, Python, Lua) and interpreted languages (C#, Java).
- Fluency with graphics tools such as Maya, MotionBuilder and Photoshop.
- Demonstrated knowledge of good software engineering practices.
- Project management skills demonstrated by the ability to define tasks in a well organized manner, based on proper resource and time management.
- Understanding of memory management, multiple processor use, and other runtime optimization.
- Must have a thorough understanding of the key aspects of game development including detailed knowledge of pre-production, production and post-production.
- Working knowledge in two or more domains (i.e. AI, Rendering, FE, Tools, Animation) of a game.
- Must be able to understand and (ideally) perform any task performed by lead programmers and programmers.
Education:
- Bachelor degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent training and professional experience.
Must be able to work in a professional office environment. Approximately 20% International Travel.
Building and managing a next-gen team from the ground up and spending one-fifth of their working life abroad -- someone's got some big shoes to fill here. Strangely enough though, the one thing candidates don't need to have is experience with PS3: the posting asks for knowledge of every other current-gen system and even the major handhelds, but no PS3. Is this an oversight, or is Sony saying something here?
If this sounds like your cup of tea, you can submit your resume here.
November 11th, 2008 at 10:18 am
It's Grilled Chicken! Grilllled Chicken!
That being said, just because the PS3 isn't mentioned doesn't necessarily mean that the job won't entail development or use of that platform.