Hanson Consulting Group is seeking a Playtest and User Research Program Manager to join our client's team in the gaming industry!

In this role, you will be responsible for coordinating playtesting activities and conducting user research to gather valuable player feedback for game development.  This role recruits and manages a playtesting audience, facilitates smooth operation of playtesting and research operations, and collects and translates player insights into actionable intelligence for development teams.  This is an exciting opportunity for someone passionate about gaming to interact with players in real-time with real-world gamers both in-person and in remote playtesting environments across the United States and Europe.

This position is based in the Greater Seattle Area and is a hybrid opportunity.

Responsibilities include: 

Playtesting Audience and Operations

• Managing external playtest audiences, including broad user acquisition and recruiting for a globally diverse pool.  Vet and onboard participants, provide playtesting training, direction, and support. Develop documentation for audience onboarding, manage playtesting accounts.
• Develop and maintain a playtesting schedule, organize playtesting sessions that include remote and on-site playtests that meet the cadence aligns with key milestones and development cycles.  (External playtesting may occur outside of normal business hours.)
• Collaborate with game designers, developers, release managers, QA, and Platform Partners to prepare playtesting builds and environment.
• Facilitate live playtest sessions by guiding participants through scenarios, process and gather both quantitative and qualitative feedback. Sessions may include weekends and/or after hours as needed.

User Research, Feedback, and Reporting

• Identify research objectives in collaboration with stakeholders and develop study plans to answer key questions.
• Author and conduct surveys, usability tests, and playtesting scenarios, ensuring insights are collected with appropriate breadth, depth, and rigor.
• Aggregate feedback collected during playtesting sessions, distill insights into high-impact reports.
• Provide actionable recommendations to game designers and development teams based on player feedback, contribute research findings and perspectives across all development cycles.
• Track the evolution of feedback over iterative development cycles, monitoring how changes affect player experiences.
• Compile reporting that communicates actionable insights and intelligence to stakeholders and partner teams at a regular cadence.

Desired Skills & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, project management, game design or game development or related degree
• 5+ years of experience in playtesting, user research or game development/publishing
• Project Management experience
• Exceptional written and verbal communication
• Previous experience doing data analysis and reporting
• Familiarity with user research methodologies
• Experience utilizing Atlassian tools such as Confluence, Jira etc. 
• Experience with Microsoft Office
• Experience with Steam Beta is a plus

Benefits:

• 100% employer-paid medical for employees through top-tier medical provider
• 100% employer-paid Dental and Vision
• 100% employer-paid life insurance ($50k) and LTD
• 401k plan with match program with no vesting period
• Paid time off and sick leave
• Paid holidays
• Flexible hours of work
• Passport Corporate Membership
• Wellable Membership
• Hartford Employee Assistance Program, Travel Assistance and ID Theft Protection
• Behavioral Health Resources (Ginger, Talkspace etc.) also available in partnership with medical provider Cigna
• Optional pet insurance through Figo
• Optional legal plan through MetLife/MetLaw

Hanson Consulting Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer