COO – Chief Operations Officer

As COO you act as the head of the studio, leading the Discipline Directors and Game Team leadership. You are an excellent leader and coach, providing clarity and structure with empathy. You operate from a people-first mindset, knowing that only great teams can make great games. You share Paladin’s core values and have a mission to create an organization where people can truly thrive. You will join the studio’s management team and support our continued growth.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Build a healthy organization with excellent leadership and company culture
• Guide and coach the leaders in the game teams and creative disciplines
• Manage resource and talent allocation between game teams
• Prepare the organization for further growth and success
• Establish operational standards across disciplines and game teams
• Work with fellow executives on defining company-wide objectives, priorities and strategy
• Support the studio transition from Work-For-Hire to Own IP

More specifically, as COO you have two primary areas of responsibility:

Build a Healthy Organization

• General studio management (”head of studio”)
• Create and improve our company processes, organization and reporting structure
• Further build and improve our leadership and company culture
• Take active part in the Management Team
• Supervise the discipline directors
• Define and improve our way of work, specifically focusing on the hybrid workplace

Lead Great Game Teams

• Leading and coaching the game team leadership (Game Directors and Producers)
• Ensure effective allocation of people and resources across game teams
• Serve as escalation point for game teams and stakeholders
• Supervise production scoping and planning
• Manage game production risks
• Remove high level obstacles for the development teams

ROLE-BASED SKILLS

What we are looking for:

• You are empathetic and people-oriented
• You are able to build and lead effective teams
• You work in a structured and organized way
• You have excellent communication and facilitation skills
• You deeply understand the game development process with all its pitfalls
• You resonate with Paladin’s core values and mission

What could help:

• You are goal-oriented
• You are able to switch between different management styles as needed
• You thrive when bearing significant responsibility
• You have experience with a broad array of game projects, platforms, sizes, and formats

Soft skills

• Strong Communicator: You speak the language of multiple disciplines, listen carefully, and are an effective communicator across different channels and settings
• Creativity: You think out-of-the box and are able to come up with innovative solutions
• Accountability: You take responsibility for your actions and of those under your supervision
• Initiative: You self-manage your priorities, take initiative, proactively solve problems, and create opportunities for the company and the people in it

Qualifications

• You are able to work at our basecamp in The Hague at least three times per week
• You read, write and speak excellent English
• You are able to work 40 hours per week

Are you qualified?

We have set this position up with the idea of hiring a senior, but we would much rather read your application than miss out on a great candidate. So please apply if you are interested!

CULTURAL COMPETENCIES

Paladin has five core values that we’re looking for in team members:

• Kaizen: We make positive changes on a regular basis
• Spark: We leave a mark, providing a positive experience for everyone involved
• Wholehearted: We love the work we do, and we commit to our work
• Fellowship: We are in this together
• Autonomy: We make decisions and take responsibility for our actions

WE OFFER

• Being part of a highly motivated and skilled team
• Positive, healthy work environment
• 25 days of vacation and 5 additional national holidays per year
• Coaching, training and other opportunities for personal development
• Competitive salary, a pension plan, bonus scheme, participation plan and other benefits
• Partial remote work and flexible hours
• Relocation support

Salary

At Paladin we have a career framework set up with levels and profiles per role. The salary ranges will differ per open position depending on the placement within the framework.

For this position we are open to discuss salary depending on the person and level of experience.

Our take on the post-Covid work situation

We value our team spirit, a healthy work life balance and company culture. This is why we adopted a hybrid structure that allows us to work from home and in the studio. We are currently coming to the office two days per week. In the future this might change, but we expect to stay hybrid. We are committed to a hybrid studio culture, so we are not offering fully remote jobs.

We will offer support during the relocation process.

ABOUT PALADIN STUDIOS

We create games that make people smile – be it a sweet twinkle, loud laugh, or evil grin.

Paladin is a game developer. Our basecamp is in The Hague. We are a team of 45+ knights and growing. Our mission is to create games with a spark, for players all over the world. We achieve this goal by being a world-class game studio with soul, that brings out the best in people. That means a studio filled to the brim with creativity, professionalism, and good vibes.

Some of our recent games include:

• Nailed It! Baking Bash – Calling all home bakers to join in this chaotic baking competition!
• Cut The Rope Remastered – A remaster of the legendary Cut the Rope puzzle game!
• Good Job! – Climb the corporate ladder one office-themed puzzle at a time
• Stormbound – Tactical CCG combat with beautiful visuals
• My Tamagotchi Forever – The 90s reborn on your smartphone!

HOW TO APPLY

Does this sound good? Awesome! To apply, please fill in the application form.