If there was any doubt before, it’s clear now that Facebook is embracing the fact that games are a core part of its experience, and it’s taking its relationship with gaming companies very seriously. The company has recently posted a job listing for a Head of Games Partnerships, who will be asked to “develop and enhance successful partnerships and influence internal and external partners and industry stakeholders in the Gaming industry.” Facebook exec Dan Rose, who used to head the company’s global business development and is now VP of Partnerships and Platform Marketing, posted a link to the listing twelve hours ago.
Gaming has been very popular on Facebook for quite a while, but the social network has created a strained relationship with some developers as it’s changed the rules on the fly by cutting off the viral notifications channel and pressuring developers to use official Facebook Credits (which Facebook gets a 30% cut of).
But now the battle over games and developers is heating up: Google is preparing to launch a new social strategy with a social network rumored to be called Google Me, and gaming will play a big part in that. Google has already forged an alliance with Zynga, which has long been a major source of Facebook traffic and advertising dollars.
The news also comes just a week after a Nielsen report found that in the US, online gaming was beating email in terms of time spent online, with half of Americans playing online games like FarmVille.
The full job listing:
Facebook is seeking a leader for our Strategic Partner Development team to build and manage a high performance team, develop and enhance successful partnerships and influence internal and external partners and industry stakeholders in the Gaming industry. This job requires high levels of creativity and strategic thinking, as you’ll be called upon to help both large, incumbent gaming companies as well as venture-backed gaming start-ups develop innovative social gaming experiences building on Facebook Platform. This team is the face of Facebook to our external gaming partner relationships and serves as the primary point of contact for both internal and external stakeholders. You should be as comfortable pitching and negotiating deals with partners as working cross-functionally with colleagues in Product, Engineering, Sales, Operations, Finance, Marketing, and Legal to create new social experiences that meet the strategic objectives of partners and Facebook. You should also expect to handle day-to-day operations and partnership management with many of our most important gaming partners, develop and execute on strategic partner initiatives and advocate internally and externally for our social gaming partners.
Responsibilities: • Build, train, manage and grow a high-performing team of talented and motivated partner-facing individuals • Develop and drive our gaming partner strategy to support the continued growth and success of our partners and social gaming on Facebook • Scale our gaming Partner Development team by hiring highly talented and motivated individuals • Initiate, structure, negotiate, and maintain high impact strategic gaming partnerships. • Support new partners through launch process and liaise with Facebook product and technical support. • Track, analyze, and communicate key quantitative metrics and develop and execute against partner account plans. • Become the primary point of contact for and maintain strong direct relationships with Facebook’s key gaming partners • Be an internal and external advocate for our gaming partners.
Requirements
Requirements: • BA/BS degree with outstanding academic performance. MBA a plus. • 10+ years experience, including 5 years of related partner or partner facing experience • Extensive experience in the gaming industry • Business development experience negotiating complex media or Internet deals preferred. • Deep passion for Facebook products and social gaming • Strong management and coaching skills • Proven track record of initiating and successfully driving new business opportunities. • Excellent project management experience, with the ability to lead and execute multiple time-sensitive projects • Exceptional communication and presentation skills, and the ability to clarify and summarize complex issues • Demonstrated ability to think strategically about complex issues, leading to thoughtful recommendations and action plans.