Lead Development Director

Lead Development Director - 213551 - Electronic Arts

Skip to content Electronic Arts Open Roles About EA EA Careers EA News Login English - US Chinese English - US Finnish Français Italian Korean Malay Polish Romanian Spanish Swedish

Lead Development Director Home ... Open Roles Role Detail

General Information Locations:

• Los Angeles - Del Rey, California, United States of America
• Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• Redwood City, California, United States of America
• Austin, Texas, United States of America
• Kirkland, Washington, United States of America

Role ID: 213551 Worker Type: Regular Employee Studio/Department: EA Mobile - PopCap Work Model: Hybrid

Description & Requirements Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. Part of a community that connects across the globe. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. A team where everyone makes play happen.

WE WANT YOUR BRAINS… PopCap is looking for brainy, skillful people with a passion for making the worlds best games.

Whats in it for you? A super-fun environment, rewarding work, and great perks.

We are seeking a Lead Development Director to join the Plants vs. Zombies franchise, contributing to the continued development of Plants vs. Zombies 3. In this role, you will work as an operational leader, partnering across disciplines to deliver high-quality features and releases for a globally loved mobile game.

Role Overview The Lead Development Director plays a critical role in successfully moving the development team forward while ensuring a strong focus on efficiency, predictability, collaboration and communication. This is a key leadership role, directly managing the Development Director discipline as well as team-wide processes and solutions for how and when we deliver value to our players and the business. This role will report to the Head of Studio Operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team of Development Directors. The Lead DD sets the standard for operational excellence, motivates and drives the discipline, and sets clear expectations and goals for their team.
• Own and drive all operational aspects of the project, including establishing and optimizing development frameworks and process, reporting, risk management, capacity planning, resource management, organizational design, budget, and gate reviews.
• Partner directly with the Game Director and other discipline leaders to ensure health and excellence across all day to day operations and communications.
• Proactively remove roadblocks, resolve conflicts, push decision making, and drive continuous improvement and efficiency in how the team collaborates and executes across all disciplines.
• Be the point of contact for escalation issues, listen to all sides of a challenge and work with teams for quick and effective resolutions.
• Own and optimize the relationships and coordination with partners, vendors, and central EA teams to ensure the project team is supported in their goals.
• Identify risks and dependencies. Proactively execute mitigation and contingency plans to minimize impact.
• Provide clear and concise reporting inside and outside of the organization to keep everyone informed of progress, risks, and mitigations.
• Drive team and resource planning activities, anticipating skills, gaps and organizational needs.
• Drive standard processes to be used across the project, while challenging the status quo.
• Evaluate and lead change management initiatives where applicable.

Qualifications

Required

• 7+ years of operations, development, or production leadership experience on an internal game development team.
• Proven experience leading 100+ sized distributed organizations.
• 4+ years of experience successfully managing multiple direct reports.
• Experience leading a games development from early production through launch, and managing a successful global live service.
• Expert knowledge of project management methodologies, processes, and tools (Jira, Flow/Shotgrid), and an understanding of how and when to use or adapt each.
• Strong general communications, proactivity, and visible leadership capabilities.
• Able to shift effectively between strategic and tactical work.
• Strong emotional intelligence, resilience, adaptability, and effectiveness in ambiguous, complex, and challenging situations.

Preferred

• Passion for mobile free-to-play games and a strong understanding of the market.
• Experience working with development partners and vendors internationally.

Pay Transparency - North America COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS The ranges listed below are what EA in good faith expects to pay applicants for this role in these locations at the time of this posting. If you reside in a different location, a recruiter will advise on the applicable range and benefits. Pay offered will be determined based on a number of relevant business and candidate factors (e.g. education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, or business needs).

PAY RANGES

• British Columbia (depending on location e.g. Vancouver vs. Victoria): $138,700 - $199,900 CAD
• California (depending on location e.g. Los Angeles vs. San Francisco): $160,600 - $249,300 USD
• Washington (depending on location e.g. Seattle vs. Spokane): $149,200 - $205,500 USD

Pay is just one part of the overall compensation at EA. In the US, we offer a package of benefits including paid time off (3 weeks per year to start), 80 hours per year of sick time, 16 paid company holidays per year, 10 weeks paid time off to bond with baby, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.

For Canada, we offer a package of benefits including vacation (3 weeks per year to start), 10 days per year of sick time, paid top-up to EI/QPIP benefits up to 100% of base salary when you welcome a new child (12 weeks for maternity, and 4 weeks for parental/adoption leave), extended health/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, disability insurance, retirement plan to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.

About Electronic Arts Were proud to have an extensive portfolio of games and experiences, locations around the world, and opportunities across EA. We value adaptability, resilience, creativity, and curiosity. From leadership that brings out your potential, to creating space for learning and experimenting, we empower you to do great work and pursue opportunities for growth.

We adopt a holistic approach to our benefits programs, emphasizing physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support a balanced life. Our packages are tailored to meet local needs and may include healthcare coverage, mental well-being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, complimentary games, and more. We nurture environments where our teams can always bring their best to what they do.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.

Post To External careers site, Internal careers site LinkedIn ID: 17209 Back to Role List Apply Share this role: LinkedIn X WhatsApp Email Facebook

© 2026 Electronic Arts Inc. Copyright © 2026 Candidate Privacy Notice | Notice at Collection (California)