Hutch
A mobile video game developer/publisher
We’re Hutch, a mobile games developer & publisher with studios in central London, Dundee and Canada. Our mission is to build the most diverse and engaged automotive gaming community on mobile. Our games have been played by over 300 million people, with new titles in development.
We believe in putting our people first. Here you can make games without sacrificing quality time with family and friends. We strive to ensure our people are happy and healthy. Our teams are small and empowered, they have the independence to take on creative and technical challenges together, to work collaboratively, to make great games and have fun along the way.
We believe in; Looking after our people, small empowered teams, complete transparency, test, learn repeat, community at the core and the freedom to focus on what truly makes a difference to our players.
We’re driven by our players! Come and Join the mission!
Creative Director
As Creative Director on Top Drives you will work closely with the Game Director to lead a hugely successful title to new heights. You will update and maintain the vision for the title and work with a passionate team of developers to continue delivering a breakout experience for car fans around the world.
You are a keen gamer with a passion for the mobile F2P market but also the ability to pull from your experience of games across all platforms.
You will report to the company Chief Creative Officer.
Responsibilities:
- Lay out a dynamic and live vision for the game by understanding what makes the game tick, who the players are, where it sits in the market and what competitors are doing.
- You will be the fan-bearer of the players and the game experience, making sure that they are never left out of the decision-making process.
- You will work closely with the Game Director on the team to ensure that business strategy and creative strategy are in sync.
- You will have a strong visual appreciation and work closely with the Art Director and/or art team to ensure the visual components of the vision are fully realised.
- Continuously review and provide feedback, formally and informally, to the team and provide both low and high-level guidance as needed.
- Work with Performance Marketing, Consumer Insights, Community and Brand to maximise your understanding of the product and ensure everyone is aligned on the vision and the game’s positioning will maximise its impact.
- Help to drive a culture of learning through iteration across the whole team.
- You enjoy presenting and can own the communication of the game to the team, Hutch stakeholders, the wider business and external partners.
- Lead and develop the team’s Designers.
- Use your experience, market knowledge and communication skills to help designers leverage their strengths and potential, building a team with both breadth and depth, capable of tackling any creative challenge.
- As part of the game vision, you will consider wider IP opportunities such as new platforms, sequels and spin-outs.
Requirements
- An experienced Design Director or Creative Director with multiple shipped mobile F2P games under your belt – you have direct experience of success and failure and can talk about both in depth.
- A passion for cars, motorsports and/or racing games is desirable but, as a minimum, you need to be excited and motivated by the prospect of immersing yourself in the Top Drives universe, developing a deep appreciation for why players care about this content and the opportunities that exist around it.
- You will be able to demonstrate a process for establishing the player motivations and how these can be used to drive different objectives for the title.
- Strong understanding of brand strategy and brand planning best practices, including target audience definition and product positioning.
- Significant experience in dissecting mobile titles and developing hypotheses on why they are succeeding or failing.
- An appreciation of lean methodology and happy switching between high level direction and low level design work when it makes sense for the project.
- You communicate effortlessly, lightly, and respectfully, and you can do this in person, in groups, in writing, and at a whiteboard.
- A relentless curiosity for the mobile games market, its history, trends and consumers.
- Driven by commercial success while being open, humble and collaborative.
Benefits
Life at Hutch
Our HQ is in the heart of Shoreditch in central London. We have additional offices in Dundee and Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. We’re an agile, creative team with people at the core of our values. We reward our employees with;
- Hutch is now a 4-Day Work Week company*
- Flexible working hours
- Remote working 2 days per week
- Excellent salary
- Private health care
- Enhanced Maternity (18 weeks) and Paternity leave (6 weeks)
- Access to mental health initiatives such as private mental health coaching
- Support to learn, develop and progress within Hutch
- Free snacks and drinks
- Social events, game launch parties, Thursday night drinks and much more
*This will mean that Hutch employees will work a maximum of 4 days per week (30 hours/week) Mon-Thurs, with zero reductions in pay (compared to a 5 day working week).
We value diversity and as an equal opportunity employer we encourage applications from all suitable applicants. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.
Please see Hutch Privacy Policy for details on how Hutch uses your personal data.
Come and find out more about Hutch. We make racing games, but it’s not the only thing that drives us – https://www.hutch.io/