Engineering Manager - Technical Partner Management

Aspyr Media, Inc.

$100K — $130K *
Consumer Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 3+ years of experience managing and mentoring engineers with a focus on technical and soft skills development.
  • 8+ years of hands-on software engineering experience, especially in code quality and architecture within the gaming industry.
  • Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent experience.
  • Strong C++ programming skills for code audits and technical discussions.
  • Proficiency with modern source control systems (e.g., Perforce, Git) and understanding of build pipelines.
  • Ability to translate technical risks into direct feedback for stakeholders.
  • Experience with video game publishers and managing platform relationships.

Responsibilities

  • Lead and mentor a team of Technical Leads in overseeing external development while maintaining technical standards.
  • Audit third-party codebases and technical roadmaps, teaching best practices to the team.
  • Conduct regular 1:1 meetings to guide team members on partner dynamics and career growth.
  • Collaborate with Production and QA to identify risks and maintain quality communications with partners.
  • Review partner architectural plans to identify risks and technical debt early in projects.
  • Establish technical review processes with external partners including code and architecture reviews.
  • Own the technical partner management function ensuring compliance with Aspyr's quality standards.

Benefits

  • In-person work environment fostering collaboration.
  • Opportunity to lead a team and influence technical processes.
  • Engagement with high-profile projects in the gaming industry.
  • Direct impact on quality assurance and risk management in partner relationships.
Full Job Description
**Please note that all positions posted for Aspyr Media, Inc. are in-person/in-office only; remote positions are not available.**

Responsibilities:

Reporting to the Head of Engineering, the Engineering Manager - Technical Partner Management is responsible for leading the team of Technical Leads, guiding the people and processes that ensure external partners deliver technical excellence. This role is the technical "bridge" between external studios and Aspyr's internal Production and QA teams, with a primary mission to verify artifacts, architecture, and planning, operating under the principle of "Trust but Verify".
Essential Functions:
  • Lead, mentor, and grow a team of Technical Leads, coaching them on how to effectively oversee external development without losing sight of technical rigor
  • Contribute, teach, and model best behavior on how to effectively audit third-party codebases, artifacts, and technical roadmaps
  • Conduct regular internal 1:1s to provide tactical advice on navigating complex partner dynamics and career growth
  • Partner with Production and QA to identify risks early and deliver firm truths to partners when quality isn't met, ensuring the relationship remains intact and collaborative
  • Review partner architectural plans and milestones to proactively identify critical risks and underlying technical debt that could derail a project months down the line.
  • Establish technical review cadences with external partners, including code reviews, architecture reviews, build reviews, risk reviews, and milestone readiness assessments
  • Own the technical partner management function for external engineering partners, ensuring partner work meets Aspyr's standards for architecture, code quality, build stability, platform compliance, and milestone readiness
  • Work closely with the Head of Engineering to align partner technical strategies with Aspyr's internal standards
  • Collaborate with Production to ensure technical milestones are realistic and with QA to ensure that "quality" is a measurable metric
Preferred Qualifications:
  • 3+ years of experience managing, mentoring, and growing engineers, with a proven track record of developing their technical capabilities as well as their soft skills (communication, conflict resolution, and relationship management)
  • 8+ years of hands-on professional experience in software engineering with a strong focus on coding, rigorous code reviews, and software architecture within the games industry
  • Bachelor's degree in computer science, related field, or equivalent hands-on professional experience
  • Strong, professional C++ programming experience to effectively audit codebases and guide technical conversations
  • Source Control Proficiency: Robust experience with modern source control systems (e.g., Perforce, Git) is required, including a deep understanding of branching, merging, and build pipelines
  • Exceptional ability to translate complex technical risks into actionable, direct feedback for partners and internal stakeholders
  • Experience working directly with video game publishers or managing first-party platform relationships
  • Production experience using Scrum, Agile, or other modern project management methodologies
  • Experience in a "Co-Dev" or "External Development" environment
  • Background in shipping high-profile ports, remasters, or multi-platform titles
  • Strong understanding of first-party platform dynamics, guidelines, submission processes (e.g., Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo)


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