Senior UX Designer

Department overview:

Partners is one of three pillars within the PlayStation design organization. We design and build enterprise tools for our PlayStation Partners – all the gaming studios that create games, to build and publish games for PlayStation. Partner Platform - our ecosystem of tools is vast and covers everything from registration and account management to development support, publishing, and QA to analytics and post-launch support. 

Partner Platform Publishing covers the tools that enable submitting product metadata, game content, sales, and promotion information required to publish PlayStation products. We aim to support all PlayStation game developers and publishers, getting their content to the consumers with as little effort and time as possible. This position will play an integral part on the Partner Publishing team in revolutionizing how our Partners publish their content on multiple devices.

Role overview:

Join our Partners Publishing team to shape the future of publishing workflow for game studios on the PlayStation Partner platform.

We’re looking for a passionate senior UX Designer to lead in shaping the future of publishing for the world’s largest game and content distribution platform. You will partner with a cross-functional team of product managers, researchers, writers, engineers, and business partners to ideate and craft experiences that make it easier for our game development and publishing partners to create and deliver great content to our players worldwide. This role focuses on designing enterprise tools and service design that enables delivering value at scale.

As part of the larger SONY design community, you will be part of a global design group that respects and celebrates the value of design, design thinking, and the design process. Collaborate with designers both locally and globally to elevate the standard of design across the organization. 

An ideal candidate possesses passion, dedication, and skills vital to lead and deliver best-in-class products and services on a global scale. If this sounds like you, then we would love to hear from you. 

What you’ll be doing:

As a member of the Partners UX team, your role would be pivotal in shaping and advancing our Partners’ platform, guaranteeing reliable and high-quality user experiences across all our products and services. You’ll be responsible for the end-to-end user-centered design process and UX outcomes for our Publishing initiatives.  This role requires service design thinking and experience designing and developing enterprise tools and B2B products.

You’ll collaborate with user researchers and product managers to run discovery sessions with internal business stakeholders, backend users, and partners, translating your findings into user needs and solution ideas. You’ll work closely with your Product Manager to shape the next generation of Publishing within the Partner Platform and drive the program forward iteratively. You’ll also be responsible for advocating for a user-centric approach, collaborating with the Product team, and negotiating with business stakeholders to ensure user insight is at the heart of your solutions. 

As part of the UX Design team, you’ll work with other designers, supporting them in developing their skills and elevating the overall quality of our products and services.

Additional responsibilities include:

• Leading a large program of work in Partner Publishing
• Developing from an MVP PoC, working with Product through Discovery, Design, and Development to define the future of publishing workflow. 
• Leading and developing the service design, facilitating workshops and collaboration sessions to map out service blueprints, experience maps, and flows.
• Staying on top of tech and industry trends, facilitating blue-sky thinking, and identifying opportunities for innovation within the program scope
• Identifying research opportunities, working with researchers and product management to shape discovery and validation studies 
• Create real, trailblazing, innovative products and experiences out of vague & ambiguous concepts. 
• Collaborate with stakeholders across multiple teams, analyze feedback, and implement that feedback into your designs.
• Rapidly iterate on design solutions based on engineering feasibility or other constraints.
• Contribute to the design and development of the Partner Platform Design System.

Who we’re looking for: 

• 6-8 years of experience building user-centered interactive designs, with 3+ years working in Enterprise applications and/or B2B products
• Experience working in a complex, cross-functional organization.
• A system thinker with the ability to lead complex projects, navigate ambiguity, and translate intricate requirements into user-friendly solutions
• Proven track record in leading through the design process and successfully launching products or services
• Demonstrable service design experience, with the ability to connect backstage and frontstage interactions
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to influence product design strategy and promote a user-centric design philosophy among cross-department teams
• Strong problem-solving skills, with a keen understanding of technical constraints in software design
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively, demonstrating a high level of self-motivation and organization
• Exceptional attention to detail and the ability to become a product expert, providing constructive feedback on the usability of new products and features
• Comfortable working in a global team across different continents, with a willingness to travel occasionally
• Skilled at translating very complex requirements into simple solutions
• Strong critical thinking and analytical skills.
• A Portfolio of shipped work showcasing your work and design process throughout the entire product development lifecycle.

Bonus points for:

• Deep experience working within a technical environment that includes both hardware and software
• Knowledge of video game service and software industry
• Solid knowledge and/or interest in new technologies in web, mobile, VR, and other devices
• Extensive experience designing for a global audience in multiple languages
• Deep passion or knowledge of movie, television, music, and video game services
• The ability to speak, write, or understand the Japanese language

If this sounds like you, drop us a line.