As Team Xbox, we are on a mission to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet. We deliver on that vision by putting players at the center, enabling you to play the games you want, with the people you want, anywhere you want. The Gaming Ecosystem Organization supports Xbox through our mission to empower game creators to realize their dreams.  As the Sr. Strategic Partner Manager of Western Game Creator Partnerships, you are responsible for managing multiple partners located in the Americas and EMEA to bring their games to the Xbox ecosystem, including Xbox Game Pass (Console, PC, and Ultimate), and empower them to grow, engage, and monetize their community of players.  You will empower the Game Creators to focus on their games and communities by introducing them to Microsoft products and services for building and operating their games and their business.

In this role, you will identify opportunities and create strategic growth plans for partnerships with the world’s largest Game Creators. For Game Creators to realize their dreams, they need to grow their business.  Manage a broad ecosystem of games across Microsoft gaming platforms by working closely with external partners and internal teams/resources worldwide to make Xbox the preferred platform and services provider for game creators.  This will include historical analysis of the partners business, recent investments, deals and partnerships, and leverage internal and external data and benchmarks to inform the strategy for Creator Partnerships – collectively and individually.  You will partner with Game Creators to deliver the games necessary to achieve Gaming’s growth agenda. This will include building new partnerships to introduce diverse game types, styles, genres, and narratives to increase representation and ensure all Gamers feel seen and included. You will also be responsible for identifying, developing, and executing inorganic growth opportunities to accelerate business success.

Reporting to the Director of Western Creator Partnerships the Sr. Strategic Partnerships Manager (SPM) is accountable for securing games and specific game content across Xbox One/Xbox Series consoles, Windows PC, xCloud and Game Pass.  In addition the SPM works to understand their partners enterprise needs and works to develop business requirements and scenarios for the Gaming Industry Vertical’s (GIV) prioritized scenarios (IPSs) and build out the execution framework for engagement.   Our team is looking for a well-organized and highly motivated games industry professional to lead the management of a portfolio of Content Creators.  Will meet and form partnerships with both existing partners and new potential partners in order to help bring these partners to our platforms and maximize their success on our platforms. We’re looking for an empathetic and self-motivated individual who loves videogames, has a passion for empowering creators. 

Responsibilities

Specific Responsibilities include:

Be partner feedback and data driven. You will collect partner feedback, data and external trends to inform strategy and decision making. You will monitor progress against the strategy and investment areas to enable business success. You will synthesize partner feedback and industry signals/deal trends to influence Gaming product priorities, business models and deal structures.

Co-ordinate key aspects of the relationship with the Publishers and orchestrate the different resources available within Microsoft for mutual benefit

Be close to our Publisher’s businesses and goals whilst keeping the priorities of Microsoft firmly in mind

Help to bring the best possible games to Microsoft platforms, particularly via Game Pass and other content-oriented negotiations

Coordinate key face-to-face engagements and facilitate responses to all incoming queries

Work closely with the Global and Regional Publishing teams to support joint strategies and initiatives

Troubleshoot mid to high-level technical and business issues when necessary

Be comfortable interpreting requirements from a range of different sources and translating those into actionable plans/programs with specific outcomes and objectives

To successfully work with all key stakeholders to ensure fluid and transparent communication across key deliverables

Qualifications

Qualifications include:

BS/BA degree in business or finance or equivalent experience is required

Demonstrated experience in a consumer tech and/or interactive media & entertainment business focused on developing and driving cross-company strategy

Experience in partner management, business development, content publishing/launch operations and analyzing product and technology trends. Experience within the video game industry is a plus.

Possesses a network of relationships with partners, potential partners, competitors, investors, thought leaders to aid in opportunity identification

Ability to lead, influence and drive results at all levels (from senior executives to individual contributors) and all functions (such as engineering, marketing, sales, services, finance and legal) in a complex technical and evolving business environment and under conditions of fast pace and ambiguity

Experience in developing long-term, strategic partnership growth plans and ability to identify, structure and negotiate complex, large-scale partnership deals

Strong partner relationship management and solution development skills

Strong executive presence including communication and presentation skills with a high degree of comfort to large and small audiences

Problem solving mentality leveraging internal and/or external resources, conflict resolution, and follow through with partners

Ability to travel globally to visit partners and teams up to 25% of time.

Playing video games, of any type, is a plus.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.