Director commercial strategy

Team Name:

Job Title:
Director, Commercial Strategy

Requisition ID:
R024685

Job Description:

Job Title: Director, Commercial Strategy | Irvine, CA

Reporting to: VP, Global Insights & Product Management

Department: Global Insights & Product Management

Location: Irvine, CA

Your Platform

Blizzard has been a leader in entertainment for over 30 years, with millions of passionate fans globally. As our franchises expand into more realms, so too must our strategic approach. We are seeking a candidate to drive the commercial strategy and go-to-market execution of beloved Blizzard Titles: World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and other unannounced games that will captivate players globally. This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Irvine, CA

Your Mission

As the Director of Commercial Strategy at Blizzard, you will be responsible for building and leading the development of commercial business strategy functions to maximize the value of Blizzard Titles globally. Reporting to the Vice President, Global Insights & Product Management, you will work across digital, retail, and mobile platforms with a focus on driving commercial go-to-market success across our games and products. Your role encompasses a broad scope of work, but with a clear focus on empowering our teams to build and execute world-class commercial and go-to-market strategies.

It will be your responsibility to align cross-functional teams – from development to marketing, product management, regional, and platform – to deliver industry-leading commercial strategies, and to build the processes and frameworks to facilitate the end-to-end execution of those strategies across the full development spectrum. Your strategic insights and data-driven approach will be pivotal in aligning our business objectives with market demands, ensuring Blizzard remains at the forefront of the gaming industry.

Ultimately, you will be a critical leader in driving the success of our games globally.

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Drive the process and deliverables that align long-term commercial strategies for Blizzard’s franchises and platform
• Build the insights and research plans to inform audience strategies and go-to-market planning
• Refine those insights into clear audience strategies to support marketing and product strategy
• Support product launch success by leading fast follows, rapid reaction/iteration, and aggregation and distribution of learnings across teams
• Collaborate with product teams to create comprehensive business cases and conduct opportunity sizing for potential roadmap candidates, ensuring strategic initiatives are well-founded and scalable
• Support commercial execution on business models, pricing, SKUs, etc.
• Drive data analysis and research to evaluate platform health and explore new business opportunities. Incorporate player feedback, competitive research, market trends, and quantitative data
• Regularly review and assess commercial strategy and performance, presenting findings and strategic recommendations to key stakeholders to inform decision-making
• Contribute to Annual Operating Plans (AOP) and Long Range Plans (LRP) across all titles, ensuring strategic initiatives are well-integrated and aligned with company-wide objectives
• Perform all other duties as assigned and required

Player Profile

Minimum Requirements:

Experience

• 10+ years in management consulting, insights, operations, strategy, or a related field
• Demonstrated success in designing and leading strategic planning initiatives at large, cross-organizational levels

• Deep industry knowledge (gaming, entertainment, or media)

• Demonstrated analytical mindset with a history of leading through data-driven decision making
• Ability to partner with a wide range of functional stakeholders: marketing, development, product management, and insights
• Proven ability to track, prioritize, and drive multiple concurrent projects to successful completion
• Strong analytical prowess with the ability to create full business or scenario plans when needed
• Empathy-first mindset – dynamically adapt to the ways of working of different stakeholder groups; always focused on maximizing positive player experiences
• Ability to lead and influence stakeholders and leaders across multiple levels and functions without explicit authority
• Entrepreneurial, with high tolerance for ambiguity and complexity; efficient with limited resources
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, capable of presenting complex strategies to executives and large groups effectively
• Highest level of integrity with the ability to manage confidential information discreetly
• Bachelor’s degree in business or equivalent field; Master’s degree preferred

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world’s largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovative worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ – we’ve got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to [redacted]. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ – we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $120,600.00 – $223,110.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.

Tagged as: Business, Business Objectives, Market, Market Planning, Market Strategies, Marketing, Product Management, Product Strategy, Requisition, Research