Is filling the Games Technical Director position the most difficult hire in the Games Industry?

UPDATE: You can see our full list of games recruitment agencies here

This month we look at the roles and jobs currently open for arguably the hardest position to hire for in the industry!

Hiring for the Games Technical Director Job — Hiring for the hardest jobs in the business?

Why the Game Technical Director Job is so important

Outside of the founding or senior management team of a games studio or publisher the Games Technical Director is arguably the most important hire because so much of their near and long term success is dependent on the person in this role having exceptional level of ability across numerous skill sets.

Games Recruiter - Games Technical Director - Smartest Guy — Smartest Guy in the century room..?

Smartest Guy in the room

The Games Technical Director has to have a comparable if not greater level of technical understanding of modern software, architecture and methodology than a competent games developer. That alone makes it a small hiring pool but then because this is a developer lead environment they then have to be as clever if not as a sea of extremely clever and experienced team unless they are bring some serious firepower in other areas. And even then, you have to think, if I can’t rely on the Technical Director for guidance and stack decisions then who do I speak to!

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Second interview questions to expect from an employer

Programming Languages

The person who fills the Games Technical Director Job will be expected in a recent part of their career to have extensive experience with a breadth of programming languages and tools. They will get a pass on not being up to date with all modules and frameworks associated but this is a clear competency that a good Games Technical Director will need.

Games Recruiter - Games Technical Director - Alexandra the Great — Can you code and lead like Alexandra the Great

Leadership Skills

You can’t just hire the hottest rock star head of development guru out there. The Technical Director will need to compellingly articulate and argue for adoption or investment in big ticket commitments for the company or project to underpin the long tail success against other factors which may have more short term gain like marketing, staffing or advertising. This will take exceptional communication and leadership skills that often a rock star developer however good they are has not yet cultivated.

Games Recruitment is a Small Pool but this is picture of a swimming pool…

Its a small pool

Internet Technical Directors and Games Technical Directors speak entirely different languages and rarely do they cross over to games. It’s weird, even the most interesting new trends in web development just won’t register on the radar of a games technical director and vice versa. This means you have to hire sideways from other games studios or catch an emerging star ready to make the jump into the management team

And no surprises here some of the most prestigious games studios in the UK including Natural Motion and Rovio have open positions right now and have done for some while.