In my never-ending automated searches for all things NTN Buzztime, I run across their job listings every once in a while. I saw a listing for a producer and was intrigued. Do they really have producers for each of their games? Well, sort of. In NTN Buzztime lingo, "producer" actually means something else:
We are seeking an energetic person to join our Product Management Team as a Producer. Our Carlsbad headquarters is seeking a self-directed Producer (Product/Program Manager), who thrives in a growing, collaborative professional environment. As a Producer you are a key member of the product development team who will contribute to all aspects of the product life cycle. The Producer creates cohesive and compelling vision from various inputs, demands and viewpoints; communicates the vision to the team and orchestrates the cross-functional product development process. Specifically the Producer is responsible to:
• Design game concepts and features based on goals and needs of the company, sales and marketability plus mass-market appeal.
• Clearly document designs
• Define use cases, requirements and write feature specifications.
• Manage implementation of all features and designs • Lead creative direction of the product
• Develop visual style in conjunction with the artist who is on the team.
• Guide Marketing as how to best market product through style, advertising and promotional opportunities
• Provide leadership, direction to a cross-functional team and optimize efficiency with an eye towards talent development that strengthens the next iteration of project teams.
• Lead kick off meetings, brainstorming, and participate in product reviews as the key stakeholder of the project.
• Ensure the technical, operations, and business requirements are in line with business goals and objectives.
• Achieve milestones and deadlines for the product development cycle; track and manage product though requirements, design, usability testing, and release activities.
• Communicate status, issues, and risk to the project team and key business stakeholder.
• Create schedules and timelines for product development, production, and conclusion • Act as liaison and single point of contact between software, art, marketing and design.
• Monitors market and business needs to develop requirements for future development, products, and enhancements to existing product lines.
So I guess that I could say that I'm a producer in my day job (I'm a software product manager) and in my night job (as Empoprises chief blogger).
However, my software product management day job doesn't encourage me to hang around in bars...
