Content Writer, £Excellent + Benefits

My client is a leading developer and operator of online games in China.

They began operations in 2003 before becoming their own independent company in 2007. They now operate one of the most popular MMORPGs in China and have enjoyed strong growth in user data and revenues for their games. In 2009 they opened an office in the UK.

They are looking to appoint a Content Writer to join the team in the UK office.

Key Contribution Areas:

– Create original content across all (UK) games, including website news updates, features and guides, advertising concepts, newsletters and intranet updates.

– Proofreading existing marketing material and ensuring that it is appropriate for consumption for a European audience.

– Create and implement new content ideas for current and potential future titles.

– Working with the Creative Services team to deliver projects in scope, on time and of the highest possible quality.

– Coordinate with internal and external groups to source the assets necessary to complete a project.

– Regularly find and research new developments in web content and web 2.0.

Key Capabilities:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent.

• 3-5 years experience in the games industry with knowledge of MMO’s an advantage.

• Basic HTML and Internet and computing technologies.

• Excellent writing skills.

• People orientated.

• Flexible but determined.

If you require further information or would like to apply for this position, please contact Jen Ruston at Aardvark Swift on 01709 876877 or Email jen@aswift.com

Data Analyst, Competitive + benefits

SCEE is the central support organisation for over 100 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia, marketing the world’s most popular computer games platforms – PS one®, PlayStation®2, PlayStation®Portable and PLAYSTATION®3.

They are currently looking for a Data Analyst for their WWS Finance department who will play a key role in the sourcing, consolidation and management of global 1st party product and financial information relevant to World Wide Studios on order to support decision making at senior management level.

All applicants MUST HAVE a minimum undergraduate degree in an analytic, technical or business field. They will have general technical knowledge with the ability to learn new technologies quickly. They will also have very strong MS office skills, particularly MS Excel.

Applicants will preferably have prior work experience in video games or media.

Main responsibilities of the role include:

• Oversee and maintain the WWS product catalogue and associated product metadata using an internally developed product management application.

• Suggest, gather and prioritise requirements for further enhancement of the product management application. Then liaise with internal development team to enhance the application based on prioritised requirements.

• Develop deep understanding of Cognos reporting environment and tool capabilities to assist with training and support for business users.

• Maintain, develop and support Cognos reports for distribution to global and regional personnel and perform ad hoc analyses to support queries from management and producers

The role is based in London.

In return the company offers a competitive salary plus benefits.

If you are interested in this role and would like to see the full job spec please either contact Ken Edwards or send a copy of your CV to ken@aswift.com

Senior Web Developer, £Competitive + Benefits

This is an independent game development company producing highly playable, imaginative games across virtually all platforms. They have developed over 50 successful titles and are recognised as one of the major players in the industry.

The company are now looking for a Senior Web Developer to join their team.

Summary

Design, construction and maintenance of a large range of company web sites and Intranet web applications, focussing on back-end extensibility, robustness and security.

Directly reporting to:

Head of IT / Business Development Director

Duties:

• You will be responsible for managing the delivery of back end development components for the Company's websites and web applications

• Ensuring that the back-end implementations are robust, extensible and scalable.

• Monitoring, administering and reporting on online activity and statistics

• The right applicant will play a key role in the evolution of the Company's sites and web applications

Essentials:

• Advanced knowledge of OOPHP, MySQL and database design

• Strong experience with X/HTML, CSS and JavaScript/AJAX

• A thorough understanding and proven implementations of the LAMP stack, security issues, threats and preventative measures and web standards

• Deep and up to date knowledge of current CRM/CMS packages and other off-the-shelf components that could be integrated where appropriate

• Proven experience working with cloud services

• Strong understanding of web standards, accessibility and usability

• Experienced in working with a variety of web APIs and able to bring components together rapidly

• Knowledge of SEO/SEM practices in order to improve site optimisation and performance

• Ensure coding standards and development processes are adhered to

• Ensure unit testing is executed successfully and to an adequate level before releasing code to QA

• Excellent knowledge of relational databases

• A knowledge of Linux scripting would be useful

• 5+ years experience preferred

• Enthusiasm for video games in general.

• Extensive knowledge of the web environment.

• An awareness of the importance of a strong corporate image.

• A high standard of spelling and grammar plus attention to detail.

• Good personal organisational skills.

Beneficial Qualities:

• Experience of creating community-driven web applications would be beneficial

• The successful candidate should have excellent proven experience of building websites on both the

front and back end

• Professional attitude and work ethic

• Thorough approach to problem solving and able to function independently when required

• Needs to be comfortable working to deadlines

• Attention to detail is essential and all tasks must be carried out to the highest standard

• A willingness and ability to learn is essential

If interested in this vacancy, please send an up to date CV to Danny Johnson on danny@aswift.com or call 01709 876877 to discuss further.

Copywriter, Competitive

My client is one of the world’s leading independent publishers of desktop publishing, design and graphics software with an award winning range including Pageplus, Photoplus etc.

Based in Nottingham they are now looking to appoint a Copywriter to enhance and compliment their existing team and who will report to the Senior Copywriter.

The purpose of this role is to prepare and proof copy for online and offline, internal and external marketing communication materials. To ensure that these materials are written to a high standard, convey true understanding of the products and services on offer, or the subject matter being covered. To create copy that will enhance the reader’s experience and positively impact their perception of the company’s brand and ultimately maximise sales of their product range.

The tasks and responsibilities include:

1. Email Copywriting
2. Website Copywriting
3. Direct Marketing Copywriting
4. Newsletter Copy
5. Press Release Copywriting
6. SEO Gizoo Article Copywriting
7. Writing other General Copy
8. Proofreading
9. Marketing and communications guidelines

To be considered for this position you must live or be prepared to relocate to within easy reach of the office in Nottingham. You will have excellent written and communication skills and a very high attention to detail with the ability to proofread your own work. You will have a proven ability to work to deadlines and a good understanding of Microsoft Word.

In return the company offers a competitive salary plus 20 days holiday and the right to join the contributory pension scheme on completion of your first year with the company

If you have at least one years Copywriting experience and this sounds of interest please contact Ken Edwards or email your CV to ken@aswift.com

Community Manager, £Competitive + Benefits

This is an independent game development company producing highly playable, imaginative games across virtually all platforms. They have developed over 50 successful titles and are recognised as one of the major players in the industry.

They are currently looking for a Community Manager to join the team.

Summary

The Community Manager is to be the main representative for the company’s products and services with the outside world, while at the same time channelling the voice of the community back to the company.

Specific requirements for this role:

This pivotal role sees the Community Manager engaging with our consumer base, building product and service customer loyalty, and feeding back to the many appropriate departments. The ideal candidate will have proven experience in the growing and maintaining of an Online community, coupled with a passion for the Indie Games scene.

Directly reporting to:

• Business Development Director

Expectations:

• Below is a non-exhaustive list of the Company's

expectations of the Community Manager:

• Be the main point of contact for the company community

• Help and assist consumers in relation to our products and services

• Identify and report on patterns or trends that appear in the community

• Report information to the appropriate departments for further action, and to keep customers

informed of progress

• To keep the consumer base informed and engaged with the plans and progress of the products and services

• Identify and engage advocates within the consumer base

• Maintain a flawless and effective customer support tracking system

• Proactively escalate issues, observations, opportunities, and insights to the relevant stakeholders

• Participate in professional networking by engaging with the social influencers in all things

related to Indie Games and their development.

• Crate blog posts, podcasts, videos and other community content

• Work alongside the PR department to ensure a continually high standard of communication is delivered, and that best PR practices and social strategies are shared

• Work alongside the Business Development

Director to:

• Create the appropriate tools of measurement that can then be tracked on a frequent basis

• Create goals and plans for the community and track progress

• Continually review and evolve the branding

• Regularly review social media strategies and best practices

Essential Qualities:

• Strong knowledge of all current major social media tools

• Previous experience of maintaining a community Online is essential

• A passion for gaming in general, but in particular Indie Games

• A keen interest in staying abreast of shifts and possible futures for online community management

and social media tools

• First-rate communication skills, both written and verbal. Must also have an excellent standard of spelling and grammar as well as a high attention to detail.

• Excellent organisation skills and the ability to prioritise a large number of tasks

• Must be a team player with a sense of humour but must also be able to function independently.

• The ability to be highly pro-active is vital.

• Professional attitude and work ethic

• Attention to detail is essential and all tasks must be carried out to the highest standard

• A willingness and ability to learn is essential

If interested in this vacancy, please send an up to date CV to Danny Johnson on danny@aswift.com or call 01709 876877 to discuss further.

Licensing Manager, £Excellent + Benefits + Bonuses

Part of ITV Worldwide, ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment is one of the largest and most successful commercial television distributors in Europe.

From Australia to Zambia, every hour of every day someone in the world is watching great entertainment from ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment.

They now require a Licensing Manager to join their London based Global Entertainment department.

Job purpose:

As part of the Licensing team, the Licensing Manager will support the Senior Licensing Manager to ensure that the division meets its business objectives. The Licensing Manager will create and implement licensing strategies by brand and territory to ensure the maintenance and growth of the business.

Person Specification:

• Good consumer product licensing experience, ideally within a combination of the Toy, Games, Interactive Entertainment, Promotions and Live Events sectors. Evidence of being able to develop genuine empathy with high profile children’s and adult consumer brands and in maximising potential.

• Evidence of being able to instigate and lead contractual negotiation to yield a successful Royalty/One-off Fee income including Advances and Guarantees.

• Experience of working with the Retail sector and other UK and international channels to market (i.e. Catalogue, Internet).

• Proven organisational and planning skills and experience of budgetary and project management.

• Ability to drive progress and show enterprise. Be confident in challenging or be challenged to gain facts. Undertake activity that goes beyond the job description or individual task.

• Travel involved, UK.

If you meet the above criteria and require a full job specification, please contact Danny Johnson on 01709 876877 or Email danny@aswift.com

Games Operations Manager, £Excellent + Benefits

My client is an independent and privately-owned game development studio located in the beautiful town Villingen, Germany – surrounded by the famous Black Forest and the Bodensee.

Founded in 2004, the company is committed to making only AAA titles. Comprised of industry veterans with a shared passion for creating fun, innovative gameplay, my client is now developing original properties for the next generation of cross-platform multiplayer games.

The company’s international 40+ employees work in a creative environment more common to small and autonomous studios, while enjoying the financial stability and corporate support.

Role:

As Games Operations Manager, your role is to be the voice of the market and the community in the internal development team. Working closely with all the other departments, your main goal is to ensure a sustainable monetization framework for a free-to-play project in every stage of development.

Additionally, you are leading a small team responsible for community management, localization, and developer/customer support.


Responsibilities:

• Work with the Games Director and the leads to ensure revenue growth.

• Maintain consistency of the game’s monetization & community features in order to ensure a commercial success.

• Seek continuous workflow improvements in cooperation with the other team leads

Requirements:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in information systems, business administration, media informatics, or similar.

• 2+ years of game operations experience in a comparable industry.

• Proven knowledge of online business models.

• Flexibility in terms of working hours.

Skills Required:

• Very good knowledge of MS Office Products.

• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and

presentation skills.

• Ability to work independently within very tight deadlines.

• Ability to drive excellent results from an interdisciplinary, multinational team.

Skills desired:

• Fluency in German.

• Proficiency in managing database and wiki-type

applications.

• Avid gamer (ideally FPSs/MMOs).

If you match the above criteria and would like to receive the full job specification, please contact Ken Edwards on 01709 876877 or Email Ken@aswift.com

Database Mark. Exec., Competitive Salary

This role is for 12 months to cover maternity leave.

SCEE is the central support organisation for over 100 countries in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Australasia. They market all hardware in the PlayStation portfolio and are one of the market leaders in the publishing of software on PlayStation formats.

The company is now looking to recruit a Database Marketing Executive to complement and enhance their existing team.

This is a temporary role as maternity cover for a period of 12 months within the CRM & Insight team at SCEE.

The role requires an individual with direct and relevant experience of working with customer databases, campaign management tools and with clear understanding of Email Marketing.

It will require the applicant to support the team with the following responsibilities:

• Work with campaign managers and product marketing to define monthly audience plan and campaign targets

• Advise central and local stakeholders on segmentation and campaign targets

• Set up campaign target and execute campaigns from the Epiphany Marketing Suite

• Produce regular reports on campaign activity and performance as well as consumer profiles

• Provide insight on campaign activity and response by segments and distribute to the business

• Work with external Email Service Provider on reporting, analysis and data feeds

All applicants must be educated to degree standard with at least 3-4 years experience database marketing and CRM. Candidates must be able to demonstrate numeracy and experience in analysis and using reporting tools.

Advanced knowledge of Excel and proven experience using a campaign management tool is essential.

Interest in the gaming industry is advantageous.

In return the company offers a competitive salary.

If you are interested please contact Ken Edwards or email your CV to ken@aswift.com