XNA Job Posting: Senior Program Manager

Now that you have all had a chance to try out our XNA Game Studio Express Beta, had some fun with it, submitted useful feedback to us (I hope!), it's time to get serious about XNA. We are still hiring and have a key position on the XNA Program Management team open that we are looking to fill. The location is Microsoft corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

You wonder what program managers do at Microsoft? A million different things. There's a brief but good overview on the Microsoft career website that describes a program manager's duties. This particular position on the XNA team allows you to flex quite a few technical muscles, therefore I also encourage software developers to apply who have an interest in working closer with the customer. If you want to spend less time writing code during the day and more time figuring out what our customers want and need (and explain those requirements to other functional groups involved in making a product, such as the development, quality assurance, marketing and evangelism teams), then program management may be a great career choice for you. You don't have to be a complete extrovert, but it helps if you enjoy talking to people and communicating the results of your conversations. It won't be a good match for you if you prefer the 4 walls of your own office with a minimal amount of disturbance. But it's all worth it: You’d be joining a fun team. We are a diverse group composed of people from the game industry and experts from the Server and Tools Division at Microsoft. We are passionate about the XNA charter and determined to deliver the best-of-breed tools to a wide variety of developer audiences. Contact us if you think you fit the bill!

Job Description:

Are you passionate about defining the future of developer tools? Do you have an intense interest in game development and want to change how games should be developed on both Windows and Xbox? The XNA team is integrating innovative technologies from across Microsoft with the best practices and technologies in game development to produce a platform that allows game developers to focus more on game play and content and less on game engines.
For this V1 effort, we are now looking for a talented Program Manager to help define features and initiatives to ensure that our target customers will be successful when working with the XNA framework and tools. You'll be responsible for identifying and driving the education needs of our target customers with respect to documentation, sample code, starter kits, code snippets, technical whitepapers and other Web-based developer content. You will collaborate with the user education and feature teams to ensure that we deliver APIs and class libraries that simplify the lives of game developers. You will develop deep and lasting partnerships with DCC package vendors and middleware vendors (e.g. Autodesk, Avid, Garage Games, and others) allowing us to evolve the platform over time.
QUALIFICATIONS: The ideal candidate is a self-motivated, creative and customer focused individual with good oral and written communication skills. Being a driver for results is a key requirement. Great interpersonal skills, the ability to help resolve ambiguity and a strong technical background (either in programming or game content creation) are required. Candidates have to have participated in at least one complete game ship cycle. Ability to build consensus with development, quality assurance and management teams is required. A solid understanding of game and/or game middleware development and content creation is required. Experience with .NET and Visual C# is more important than previous experience in program management. We are looking for candidates with a background in the subject matter, for example, a degree in computer science or computer animation (or related disciplines). We would be thrilled if you submitted a sample game that you developed with our recently released XNA Game Studio Express Beta and/or a detailed beta feedback report together with your resume.

Please send your information to: xna@microsoft.com

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer and supports workforce diversity.

THANK YOU
-- Christina Storm
XNA Group Program Manager