Scout, develop, test, and market tabletop games for a leading games company. Thames & Kosmos is a growing educational toy company that publishes high-quality tabletop games, science kits, and activity toys.

The principal responsibility of the Product Manager for Tabletop Games is to find and develop great new games, collaborating with our internal product team as well as our global partners to ensure new games get to market on time, on budget, and with the required specifications and quality level. The Product Manager’s goal is to create games that our consumers will love, maximizing play-ability, product value, and product awesomeness.

The ideal candidate will have their finger on the pulse of American tabletop gaming culture; strong written, verbal, and visual communication skills; thorough knowledge of all of the company’s games and the competitive landscape in the game industry; years of successful game development experience; strong game logic skills; excellent creative abilities; experience working with game authors, inventors, artists, writers, and publishers; and will be extremely well organized and detail oriented.

Primary Responsibilities

Product Development and Project Management

• Develop new tabletop games, including family, party, and children’s games
• Coordinate and cooperate with our international game development colleagues
• Create, track, and manage product development schedules for new and existing games
• Oversee editorial & design contractors
• Work with the various factories and suppliers to develop new games and solve problems with existing games
• Collaborate with internal purchasing, safety, and compliance teams

R&D — Research and Development

• Research trends, competition, new technologies, game author submissions, user needs, customer requests, sales performance, market opportunities and other data sources to help guide product strategies
• Develop and maintain relationships with game inventors, authors, product designers, and other creators for the purpose of licensing/purchasing IP for the company’s games
• Attend and exhibit at board game conventions, trade shows, and inventor meetings
• Implement play testing and user research practices for the purpose of game development

Editing

• Review and edit game rules, rulebooks, product-marketing copy, packaging copy, and other product assets
• Review printing proofs and production samples
• Coordinate and implement product revisions

Secondary Responsibilities

• Assist with game-related sales presentations, events, demos, and other sales efforts

Skills/Qualifications

Required:

• Extensive experience with, and a strong passion for, tabletop games
• Exceptional productivity, organizational skills, and attention to detail
• Strong writing and editing skills
• Clear and organized communication skills: oral, written, and visual (sketching)
• Experience with consumer product development and/or publishing
• Team player with a positive attitude and the confidence that candidate can solve problems and figure things out
• Ability to meet deadlines and balance multiple priorities and projects
• A love of games and toys!

While not all required, the candidate selected will likely have some of the following:

• Multiple years of experience in the game industry, including the development of new games from start to finish
• An impressive portfolio of games to which candidate contributed integrally to the development
• Undergraduate Degree
• Experience designing and running play-test sessions
• Hands-on experience in prototyping games
• German language skills (writing and speaking) a strong plus
• General knowledge of game fabrication, printing, and manufacturing processes
• Strong computer skills. Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator skills
• Visual-spatial skills, ability to visualize and sketch three-dimensional objects
• Experience demoing and teaching games at conventions

Compensation

• Full-time position. Annual salary commensurate with experience.
• Full company-paid health insurance after two full months of employment
• Generous vacation and sick day policy
• Retirement plan options available after one year of employment
• Plus additional benefits

This position is based at the company’s headquarters in Providence, RI.

To Apply

Submit the following:

No calls please. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.

If selected, there will be a multi-stage interview process. You will be required to supply at least three references.

About the Company

Thames & Kosmos is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island and works closely with product development teams at our parent company, the 200-year-old publishing house Kosmos based in Stuttgart Germany, as well as at other partner companies around the world. Thames & Kosmos is a place where creativity is valued, teamwork is essential, and hard work is recognized.