Client Relations Manager at Keywords Studios

Client Relations Manager

• REMOTE
• Brighton, England, United Kingdom
• Game Development
• Full time

Description:

• Salary: Annual with fixed performance bonus. Non-commission.
• Format: Full-time, permanent
• Location: **Remote, in a time zone compatible with GMT office hours**
• Reports to: Managing Director

At Player Research we want the world to experience brilliant games; ones full of adventure, surprise and intrigue – the ones you can’t put down, and those you talk about for days.

Across the world we partner with game development teams to realise their creative visions by providing meaningful insight into how real players experience play.

From our Brighton and Montreal studios we design and conduct award-winning ‘user experience’ research for video games. Each research project explores the ‘fun factor’ and ‘playability’ of a prototype video game, producing insights that will improve its game design.

We work with game developers, publishers, platform owners, incubators, universities… As an independent research studio we collaborate far and wide.

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Hundreds of studios rely on our insights on usability, UX, appeal & play

Our projects come in all shapes and sizes from testing user interfaces to interviewing super-fans; game console UI, to toys-to-life; AAA full-playthroughs, to rapid expert evaluations for indies. Our consultant researchers are brought to the heart of design decision-making in projects of all types, be that spanning years of development or as one-off research engagements.

We are exceptionally proud of our decade-long reputation for authenticity, transparency and rigour. And we’d love to make you a part of it.

About the role

We’re seeking a Client Relations Manager to lead communications with our diverse clients, deliver outreach programmes, and to oversee aspects of client project administration and contracts.

This is an established role within our business.

You will help our agency secure and schedule research projects, working alongside our team of 20 staff across Brighton and Montreal. You’ll build and maintain relationships with our varied clients across the world, becoming their trusted point-of-contact for commissioning research studies on their unreleased video games.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ We provide an essential ‘game quality evaluation’ service,

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ rooted in player psychology.

‎‏‏Each individual research solution is collaboratively designed by our client relations team, our research team, and the client: delivering to the fullest potential of the research approach, the project team, and our client’s research opportunity. Using formal meetings, written proposals and our menu of research services, Client Relations Managers ensure our research teams a have a strong pipline of projects to look forward to. Full training will be given on the software, templates and processes we use.

You will proactively maintain existing client relationships, and work to identify and nurture partnership opportunities among the global development community. You will maintain our lightweight administrative process concerning contracts and finance documentation for each commissioned project. You will seek feedback from our clientbase to constantly improve our client experience and value.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ We don’t believe in ‘the hard sell’.

Player Research has an excellent reputation. Our ability to deliver deep and valuable insights is globally-recognised. We don’t need ‘hard sell’. Our Client Relations Managers work to ensure we’re communicating efficiently, confidently, and just when player data is needed: winning research projects to keep and our clients’ games on-track.

Our teams are based in Montreal, Canada (GMT-5) and Brighton, UK (GMT). This role specifically supports our European clients, alongside our Montreal-based Client Relations Manager Abbas.

Under normal circumstances both national and international travel to events would be expected, 3-to-5 times per year. We anticipate business travel to partially resume in 2022.

Growth and Development

Player Research provides rich opportunities for owning your own initiatives and personal growth.

There are opportunities to explore: delivering marketing and bizdev initiatives; marketing/advertising; clientbase analysis and reporting; contributing to our business growth and service strategy; and leading your own initiatives for change.

We are a passionate and impactful company working on some of the biggest and best video games in the world. For more about our company culture visit our careers page.

Location

The Client Relations Manager role is a remote position, supporting both our two research studios, also working remotely. This role focuses on relationship management with our clients based in EMEA. We welcome remote applicants located in or seeking relocation to a European time zone.

Player Research have state-of-the-art research premises in Brighton UK (GMT) and Montreal Canada (GMT-5), and our teams are currently based in each city. The pandemic continues to prevent research sessions involving the general public, and Player Research is moving to remote and hybrid working across the business.

For individuals considering relocation to a compatible time zone, including seeking relocation to Brighton/Montreal, we offer conditional support packages for relocation and visas.

Core Responsibilities:

• Manage communications with client-side stakeholders at all levels, including creatives and C-level
• Develop rapport with our clientbase and their stakeholders, becoming their point-of-contact for our business
• Administrate our sales pipeline, working closely with our game developer clients, your client relations peers, and our research teams
• Support our research team in establishing and maintaining a consultative relationship with clients
• Seeking client feedback post project to ensure consistently high levels of service are maintained
• Grow our network of key contacts within both our existing and prospective clients
• Collaborate with our researchers and client relations peers to build strategies & proposals for individual research projects
• Maintain ongoing tracking of client/project/lead statuses using an existing CRM tool
• Maintain essential tracking of project finances within our established process
• Represent our company at gamedev networking events and online
• Lead initiatives for marketing/advertising and outreach about Player Research
• Contribute your skills and knowledge to develop yourself and the business

We are an equal opportunity employer and strongly value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion (or lack thereof), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, parental status, or disability. Player Research doesn’t simply accept differences — we actively celebrate and support it for the benefit of our job applicants, our employees, our services, and our community.

Your Personal Data

Player Research is strongly committed to protecting your personal information. By sending your CV you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and consent to your data being managed and retained in accordance with our data privacy and retention policy.

Stand out and be passionate. Good luck.

Skills/Experience Required:

• Account management/solutions architect or similar experience in a B2B or B2C environment
• Experience of change-management, project ownership, and independent remote working
• Experience in basic administration, proposal-writing and/or financial documentation
• Very strong interpersonal skills; exceptional communicator both written and verbally
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office
• Interest in video game development

Bonus Points:

• Knowledge of product/software development process, R&D, or principles of research
• Deeper knowledge of video games, as a consumer, or of game development processes
• Proficiency with any digital tools that will help you in the role, such as CRM (e.g. Salesforce, Pipedrive), accounting (e.g. Xero, NetSuite) or scheduling software (e.g. Deputy, ResourceGuru)
• Existing contacts in the global video games development industry

Benefits

Salary, Benefits and Perks:

• Great salaries
• Generous annual leave allowance
• Life assurance plan
• Pension plan
• Income protection plan
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• Optional subsidised private medical cover
• State-of-the-art research labs in Brighton and Montreal
• Relocation support for yourself and family
• Region-specific perks and benefits
• Friendly, inclusive teams with a range of interests and activities to join
• In addition to base salary this role includes a modest personal & company performance-based annual bonus, and a host of perks specific to each region.