Technical Project Manager

About the Job

Type: Contract or Full Time

Position Description:

SMERC is seeking a Senior Technical Project Manager to work on infrastructure and systems integration initiatives. The candidate will be responsible for leading and coordinating projects from a business and technology perspective, ensuring that software development life cycle activities are consistent with the direction of the business. The candidate may also be expected to spend a significant amount of time working with development activities. The candidate will be responsible for participating in team meetings and communicating appropriate project status. When working on architecture initiatives, the candidate will be part of a team of peers working on highly technical initiatives.

Responsibilities:

• Guide Design and Development of distributed Services and Applications that integrate across different technologies

• Guide Design/develop critical framework components/reusable modules.

• Work on technical, enterprise initiatives.

• Help Project Members within estimation process.

• Communicate professionally and effectively to clients, management, and other departments.

• Document technical findings/decisions and make technical presentations to the team.

• Ability to fully understand and define scope of technical software projects.

• Maintain, improve and optimize our internal software offerings and testing processes.

• Establish, maintain and adhere to set of development testing standards

Position Requirements:

Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or similar degree is required.

• 1-2 years game industry experience beneficial

• 3+ years of development experience in the LAMP environment, PHP, Linux, Apache, MySQL, big data, Facebook APIs, deep understanding of ORM, and Eclipse,

• 3+ years’ experience as a Project Manager providing technical leadership/guidance/mentorship (direction setting and articulating, consensus building, conflict mediation, etc.) in a fast paced environment.

• Real-world experience designing enterprise software and defining software architectures (UML, design patterns, SOA, etc.)

• Experience with multi-tier system development.

• Experience building and supporting mission critical applications

• Experience working with teams in disparate geographic locations.

• Demonstrated self-starter, with the ability to set the direction when there is little or none.

• Experience with Software Development Life Cycle methodologies. Agile and waterfall.

• Project Management certification preferred

• Flexible schedule needed with occasional evening and weekend work.

• Understanding of Amazon EC2 and other technologies or other cloud offerings

• Understanding of security techniques including authentication, authorization and cryptography.

Please send resume and cover letter to jobs_smerc.com.

Great article in USA Today re:our upcoming game Workout in the Park. ‘Self’ magazine enters games business.

“This game puts Self on the leading edge of one of the most vibrant consumer experiences just as the market for high-quality branded games, goods and virtual services is exploding,” says Vice President and Publisher Laura McEwen in a statement.

Click here to read the full article.

And another exciting preview of our new game for Self Magazine – Workout in the Park on AllFacebook.com – Self Magazine Will Launch Fitness Game On Facebook.

Self Workout in the Park will have a profound effect on our brand footprint as the number of female gamers has grown exponentially, now representing 55 percent of the 98 million social gamers in the U.S. Self is at the right place at the right time — the game is fun, funny, engaging, and captures women’s passionate interests in fitness, health, and wellness.

Click here to read the full article.

Another fabulous preview for our upcoming game Workout in the Park for Self Magazine.
Vator.TV, a hot Silicon Valley tech news site, wrote a glowing story on SELF’s announcement.

Click here to read the full release.

Responding to a growing market, programmers are creating games by women for women

Hoping to reach women with social gaming, Self Magazine a health and fitness publication for women published by Condé Nast Publications, announcedWednesday at the Game Developers Conference 2012 the upcoming launch later this month of its first Facebook game inspired specifically by its annual fitness event Workout in the Park.

Workout in the Park encourages participants to get out of the gym and into the great outdoors of San Francisco, New York, and Chicago. Self Magazine believes that the new Facebook game will encourage more women to register to its 19th event and serve as an entry point into social gaming for health. The game was conceptualized and created in-house at Condé Nast’s office in New York by Laura McEwen partnering with best-in-class partners SMERC, Live Gamer and Kontagent.

McEwen is part of a growing movement of female developers who are creating games for women and girls. Programmers such as Vancouver-based Silicon Sistersare creating games by women for women and girls, an audience that has historically shied away from the gaming world.

These programmers are challenging head-on an often-held misconception that gaming is for young males even though women now make up half of all video game players.

Yet the topic of women in games — as players, developers and characters — is the source of ongoing debate in the gaming community, not least because the most dedicated players, the self-professed “gamers,” are still predominately young and, or immature males.

But time has changed and now women make up for 50% of the gaming population.

“This game puts SELF on the leading edge of one of the most vibrant consumer experiences just as the market for high-quality branded games, goods and virtual services is exploding,” says McEwen, via a press statement. “SELF Workout in the Park will have a profound effect on our brand footprint as the number of female gamers has grown exponentially, now representing 55% of the 98 million social gamers in the U.S. SELF is at the right place at the right time—the game is fun, funny, engaging and captures women’s passionate interests in fitness, health and wellness.”

Workout in the Parkoffers its participant an energetic social experience, one where the gamer is fully engaged in customizing its setting, giving her for instance the ability to create her own park and to personalize her avatar to accurately reflect her body type and level of fitness.

She can also adjust level of difficulties up or down based on gameplay and connect to it on her mobile phone to continue play on-the-go, purchased branded goods,including athletic apparel, beauty and grooming, lifestyle fashion and accessories, and food and beverage.

The game is scheduled to be released on Facebook on March 19, 2012.

A Magazine Takes a Page From the Web and Puts Its Pitch Into a Social Game

Take a moment to read the New York Times Article for Self Magazine’s Workout in the Park developed and designed by SMERC.

FOR traditional media like magazines, remaining relevant in a world of new media and social media is no walk in the park. So how about a workout in the park?

Why is another social game a big deal? SMERC is helping to change how brands evolve to embrace social gaming.

 … the Self game as “a hybrid of branded entertainment and traditional event marketing,” and as such, “the way it positions brands is positive and seamless.” Branded entertainment is the integration of products into the plots of movies and television shows; as the Self game shows, brands are also being embedded into video games and online games.

Self’s arrival into social gaming is “one of those landmark events, seeing the new model embraced in such a big way,” said Andrew Schneider, president of Live Gamer and a co-founder of the company with Mitch Davis, chief executive.

Click here to read the full article.

“Kickboxing. Sport of the future.”  -  Lloyd Dobbler.

XARM F.U. for iphone

Lloyd was a man of his time. Let me introduce you to the true sport of the future.

XARM F.U. brings you to the table for “The Roughest 3 Minutes in Sports”. XARM is the newest hand-to-hand combat sport from the Creator of the UFC, Art Davie. Train with coaches who developed the official sport, and compete against athletes who fight in the real world league.

XARM video

SMERC is once again breaking ground with the awesome new action sport fighter XARM F.U. This intense 3-D fighting game give brings you the next iteration of MMA fighting. The setup allows players to punch and kick one another while arm wrestling.  If you’ve stopped chuckling at the image this brings to mind then download the app and get to fighting

The downloads speak for themselves. 35000 in the first week. That my friend, smells like success. Or at least virtual sweat and blood spilled in manly combat.

Go ahead and download it for yourself here: http://bit.ly/PGGkue

The app has been sited  by Appilocious for its innovative controls and another first – live action video at virtual goods in a mobile game. Purchase new moves by watching videos explaining the moves. Scout other players by watching videos and earn boosts for your player.

We’ll post later about why this is a breakthrough transmedia event. How many other sports do you know that launches as a digital property before their television debut? SMERC has been integral to forming the digital strategy that is bringing this incredible sport into focus.

You can read all aboutthe sport on teh XARM site.: http://xarm.com

Maybe the next post will be about Vision Quest…..

SMERC is in search of a Game Producer to join its team  managing the design and development of high quality, online social and mobile games.

Producers are responsible for maintaining project budgets and schedules. They play a vital role in all aspects of SMERC’s success – ensuring creative integrity, assuring project profitability, nurturing relationships, and fostering team morale.

We are looking for a person possessing a flair for creating fun and can drive the creation of projects and ensure that all efforts stay on course.

You will assist the production team with the day-to-day running of projects, as well as internal and external communication throughout the game development process, ensuring the highest quality product is delivered on the agreed schedule.

Your duties will include; proposal writing, design doc creation, scoping projects,  identifying and managing the appropriate development resources, managing the QA process, and shepherding games for release.

Responsibilities:

• Create and review game concepts and designs
• Prepare and maintain game proposal and design documents
• Manage all aspects of a project throughout its life cycle
• Generate and manage project plans, estimates and schedules
• Simultaneously manage internal team and client relationship
• Contribute strategic vision and have ownership in the quality of the final product

Requirements:

• Strong understanding of Game Mechanics and Dynamics
• Experience in game design
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
• Outstanding organizational and project management skills
• Self starter that takes initiative
• Minimum 4-year college degree (graduate work a plus)

About Us:

South Park Pop Quiz

The only movie I have ever been to during which I couldn’t hear the sound but for the din of laughter was the South Park movie. What would Brian Boitono do? Shut You F***ing Face Uncle F***er! Ten years later I still think about these moments and laugh to myself.

So when South Park asked us to make them the mother of all video trivia games we jumped at the chance. We’d had great success working with South Park before. With over 15 million plays, our game South Park Death Rally is the most popular SouthPark Game ever made. From this came the South Park Pop Quiz. It is the definitive interactive South Park experience. We think it is one of the most entertaining things on the Internet. You’re welcome, world.

The game features clips from the actual show paired with hilarious questions and answers from the team over at South Park Studios. Players unlock achievements for their efforts and can win exclusive items in the South Park avatar creator.

Let’s dig a little deeper and look under the hood at why this application is such a success.

South Park Pop Quiz

1) Facebook and SPS

South Park wanted their app available for their entire audience, so we built it for their South Park Studios site and for Facebook. We supplied them with  the ability to use the South Park login on their site and then play on Facebook as well. Players on both sites progress were tracker against a common backend.

2) Extensive CMS

South Park wanted to be able to customize EVERY aspect of this game. Every question. Every answer. Music. Sound. Tags. They can import questions from an excel files or manage them online. They can change the appearance and the experience down to minutiae.   In the end the received an app that will live and thrive for a long time and be able to adapt to the needs of their audience.

3) Sponsorships and reporting

As much as we’d love to believe the internet is free someone pays for all this fun. The realities of internet life are that sponsorships and reporting are key to making the magic happen. We built South Park a  means of assigning and monitoring their sponsorships that could satisfy them and their clients. What could be more demanding or more rewarding?

In the end SMERC produced the premier online South Park experience online not for now but for a while to come. Play the game and come to realize it obvious genius, not some much for what we did but how can you resist Cartman’s Authoritae in video glory no less?

Kung Fu Panda Home Run Derby

Baseball season is upon us and Kung Fu Panda 2 is in the air.  Before the season moves into full gear SMERC released a great new game supporting Dreamworks upcoming release Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom. Kung Fu Panda Home Run Derby is part of a suite of socially connected games SMERC is producing for this fantastic franchise.

Kung Fu Panda Home Run Derby

Challenge Po to a homerun derby! The goal of the game is to hit as many homeruns as possible! Po will try to strike you out! Select your difficulty level – major or minor league and swing for the fences!

Players logged in with facebook Connect to post high scores to the leaderboard and share their accomplishment.

Stay tuned for more games from SMERC for Kung Fu Panda. In teh mean time you can play the game  HERE

Kung Fu Hoops Madness

Just before March Madness kicked into full gear SMERC released a great new game supporting Dreamworks upcoming release Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom.

Kung Fu Panda Hoops Madness is part of a suite of social connected games SMERC is producing for this fantastic franchise.

Kung Fu Panda Hoops Madness Po's Turn

Take turns with Po shooting hoops in this exciting HORSE style basketball game. Each time you sink a basket, you fill in a basketball. Be the first to score 4 baskets to win! You and Po take shots in this turn-based game as you try to outscore him!!

Kung Fu Panda Hoops Madness Your Turn

Players logged in with facebook Connect to post high scores to the leaderboard and share their accomplishment.

Stay tuned for more games from SMERC for Kung Fu Panda. In teh mean time you can play the game  HERE.

Jersey Shore Yourself 2

Last year MTV asked us to build a cross channel follow up game for Jersey Shore Yourself, the web game we built to great success for season one of The Jersey Shore.

We responded with GTL: Jersey Shore Yourself 2. GTL lives as a Facebook game and a webgame on MTV that is socially connected by FB Connect, Twitter and TwitPic.

Like it’s predecessor, JSY 2 allowed the player to become a part of the Jersey Shore world by creating a fun avatar to share on social networks: as an avatar icon, or as a desktop, except this version is bigger and better with more choices, more functionality and greater social integration. Players can add multiple characters, tag friends, make them dance, give them hilarious names, and post it all to Facebook.

Jersey Shore Yourself 2 uploaded image

The stats are an overwhelming success for MTV.

• 500,000+  plays on MTV
• 328,000+ plays on FacebooK
• 14,826 lifetime likes for app page and app
• 7,830 content shares with 5.9 reactions per share last month

63,299 content shares lifetime with 46 feedbacks per share

4 – 8 feedbacks per share is usually deemed a hit. 46 is an an unbelievable amount. Over 63 thousand times users posted an image to facebook or twitter that they created or an award they won.

That means the shares have recieved 2,911,754 interactions from the posters’ friends. This is the definition of social success.

Jersey Shore Yourself 2 Pump or Dump

Better yet- we also included a voting feature for players that choose to upload images in the game or as a FB widget we created for the main sidebar from which people could vote.

Get Pumped or Dumped while getting dank with your crew.

1,814,463 votes were cast in pump or dump. That is an HUGE audience. Voting encouraged people to push their creations farther and share them with more people.

T-Mobile sponsored the game wanting to be part of the Jersey Shore frenzy and it worked out well for them. Their logo was prominently displayed throughout the application and a special virtual item was created for them. Players unlocked the Virgin phone after creating their first image and could then use the Virgin phone as an accessory in game.

Virgin got tremendous exposure and was very pleased with the results.

Jersey Shore Yourself 2 was a success in every way. Gameplays were off the charts for an MTV game. Socially the game was a knock out. Sharing and interactions were stellar. The brand integration was flawless; it reflected the tenor and character of the show perfectly.

When you offer engaging licensed property brands in compelling ways, users win. HIgh quality products paired with the correct interactive content will always win.