External Development Manager

Who We Are…

When we say, “the stuff dreams are made of,” we’re not just referring to the world of wizards, dragons and superheroes, or even to the wonders of Planet Earth. Behind WBD’s vast portfolio of iconic content and beloved brands, are the bringing our characters to life, the bringing them to your living rooms and the creating what’s next…

From brilliant creatives, to technology trailblazers, across the globe, WBD offers career defining opportunities, thoughtfully curated benefits, and the tools to explore and grow into your best selves. Here you are supported, here you are celebrated, here you can thrive.

Rocksteady Studios is an award-winning, critically acclaimed video game developer. Founded in 2004, we are home to the widely celebrated Batman: Arkham series of games. Our philosophy for game development is all about treating people well to create quality entertainment that stands the test of time. We’re a one-project studio that built our success by combining genre-defining gameplay and character-driven cinematic narrative with AAA production values. Born in the heart of London, our multicultural team takes inspiration from the culture and history of our home in one of the most diverse cities in the world.

EXTERNAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Contract - 18 months

Join Rocksteady Studios as an External Development Manager and play a vital role in delivering our next AAA title. In this role you will take ownership of a multidisciplinary external development portfolio and play a key role in delivering our next AAA title. You will lead relationships with external partners, drive delivery pipelines, and ensure that outsourced content meets our quality, schedule, and budget expectations. You will collaborate closely with art, design, production, engineering and QA teams, acting as the primary point of accountability for our partners output and long‑term performance to deliver high-quality content through effective coordination.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and manage a portfolio of external development partners, acting as the primary point of contact and ensuring delivery of high‑quality content across multiple disciplines.

• Lead coordination between internal teams and external partners, ensuring clarity of requirements, timely feedback, and alignment with project goals.

• Assist with documentation and contract preparation, liaising with legal and finance teams.

• Own and refine the onboarding process for our external partners so that we’re providing a high quality and seamless onboarding experience, working closely with our IT team.

• Assist with cost tracking for your portfolio, providing accurate reporting to the Lead External Development Manager.

• Maintain regular communication with our Production and external teams to track progress of our external partners deliverables and flag issues proactively.

• Facilitate communication between our development team and external vendors, ensuring clarity and timely responses and helping flag and resolve issues where needed.

• Pro-actively identify and help resolve risks to both the project and outsource pipeline and ensure that all security measures are in place.

• Maintain delivery pipelines, including asset tracking and review workflows.

Technical Requirements

• Familiarity with project management tools (Jira, Shotgrid/Flow preferred).

• A solid understanding of waterfall and Agile methodologies is advantageous.

• Knowledge of asset creation workflows and tools is advantageous.

• Proficient in the Office Suite and similar applications.

Skill Requirements

• Experience working as a External Development Manager, Producer or Project Manager in game development, VFX or similar fast paced environment.

• Very strong communication and organisational skills.

• Detail-oriented with a proactive approach.

• Experience with project budgeting and cost tracking.

• Ability to work under pressure and handle multiple priorities while driving towards a deadline.

• Proven ability to work as part of a team.

• Able to think strategically and balance short term needs vs long term studio goals.

• Passion for games and a collaborative mindset.

Benefits

TBD

Hybrid Working - This role is advertised as a Hybrid work model, that combines remote and in-office work, following our current company policy and to be agreed with your Line Manager. Subject to any applicable laws, WBD / your Line Manager reserves the right to change this working agreement where this is essential to business needs and upon reasonable notice to you.

How We Get Things Done…

This last bit is probably the most important! Here at WBD, our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate and are central to how we get things done. You can find them at along with some insights from the team on what they mean and how they show up in their day to day. We hope they resonate with you and look forward to discussing them during your interview.

Championing Inclusion at WBD

Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects a wide array of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, disability or any other category protected by law.