This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Managed Services Lead, Community & Player Operations based in Canada.
In this role, you will lead the development and delivery of a new managed services offering designed to help game studios strengthen their player operations and community engagement. You will work directly with studios across different markets, managing playtests, player communications, Discord communities, moderation, and creator programs. Combining hands-on operational expertise with strategic thinking, you will help studios build stronger relationships with their players. You will also collaborate closely with customer success, sales, and product teams to shape and scale the service offering. From supporting individual studio needs to developing repeatable processes and service packages, you will have a significant impact on how the business grows. This is an opportunity to take ownership of a new initiative within a highly experienced, remote-first team with a strong background in the gaming industry.
- Lead end-to-end player operations for multiple game studios, managing playtests through the platform, including test flows, surveys, NDAs, invitation waves, player communications, and post-test follow-ups.
- Develop and schedule effective player communications, monitor engagement and conversion metrics at every stage, and optimize campaigns to improve participation and results.
- Analyze playtest data, player feedback, and community sentiment to deliver actionable insights and clear performance reports to studio teams.
- Coordinate player recruitment initiatives in collaboration with internal teams, leveraging existing player networks and paid acquisition campaigns.
- Establish, restructure, and manage Discord communities, including server architecture, roles, permissions, bots, onboarding processes, and community guidelines.
- Develop moderation policies, escalation procedures, and operational handbooks while recruiting, training, and supporting moderation teams.
- Manage player reports, community conflicts, toxicity, and sensitive situations, providing guidance to developers on effective player engagement and crisis communication.
- Support studios in launching and managing creator programs, including creator outreach, onboarding, and ongoing communications through dedicated tools.
- Build and scale the managed services offering by designing service packages, templates, and playbooks adapted to different studio sizes and needs, from self-service solutions to fully embedded support.
- Monitor engagement performance, time allocation, and delivery outcomes to inform pricing strategies, resource planning, and operational scalability.
- Partner with sales teams on service scoping and proposals, while collaborating with customer success managers to ensure consistent delivery and strong studio relationships.
- Gather feedback from hands-on platform usage and work with the Product team to identify improvements and tools that enable efficient support across multiple studios.
Requirements:
- At least 4 years of professional experience in community management, player operations, or live operations within a game studio or publisher.
- Proven hands-on experience managing playtests or beta programs, including player recruitment, communication strategies, feedback collection, and post-test analysis.
- Demonstrated experience building, managing, and moderating large Discord communities, including developing moderation guidelines and training moderation teams.
- Strong analytical skills and confidence working with data, particularly funnel metrics, conversion rates, and engagement indicators to drive operational improvements.
- Excellent communication and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple studio relationships and projects simultaneously.
- Strong problem-solving abilities and emotional resilience, with the capacity to handle toxic community environments, sensitive player interactions, and challenging conversations with studio leadership.
- Familiarity with FirstLook or comparable playtesting, community management, and player engagement platforms.
- Ability to work independently, take ownership of projects, and balance strategic planning with hands-on execution.
- Experience in consulting or agency environments, particularly supporting multiple game studios simultaneously, would be an advantage.
- Background in player acquisition, including organic community growth and paid acquisition channels, is a plus.
- Previous experience developing creator or influencer programs is desirable.
- An established network within game studio community management teams would be beneficial.
- Flexibility to collaborate with teams and strategic accounts across North America and Europe, with some APAC coverage during overlapping working hours.
Benefits:
- Competitive hourly contract rate, reflecting experience and expertise.
- Part-time contract opportunity of up to 20 hours per week initially.
- Potential pathway to a full-time position as the managed services offering expands.
- Fully remote working environment, with flexibility to work from Europe or North America.
- Opportunity to build and shape a new business offering from the ground up, with direct influence over service design, packaging, pricing, and delivery.
- Direct collaboration with game studios of different sizes, from independent teams to major publishers.
- Close partnership with experienced professionals who have contributed to scaling some of the world's largest gaming communities and platforms.
- Opportunity to work across community management, player operations, playtesting, and creator engagement.
- Strong exposure to product development, customer success, and commercial strategy within the gaming technology industry.
