Every Monday, mobilegamer.biz brings you the latest job news from around the mobile games business. Here’s who’s moving where this week.
First up, a reshuffle at Space Ape. Cofounder Simon Hade is no longer COO as he focuses on building out Space Ape’s “publishing and marketing capabilities, chasing the success of Beatstar and supporting the launch of our new games including Boom Beach: Frontlines,” he said on LinkedIn.
It means that Nic Walker has stepped up to COO from his role as head of technical operations, and Alessandro Simi becomes CTO, having previously been technical director at Space Ape.
Walker said on LinkedIn: “It really is humbling to be part of this incredible studio and to feel as excited as I was when I joined eight (eight?!) years ago. The passion and creativity of folk here is off the charts; we have some really cool stuff in the pipeline.”
Robert Woodburn is no longer at King, and has moved to become co-founder and studio director at 8-Bit Bandits, a Stockholm-based studio backed by Wildlife. Woodburn spent nine years at King, initially in recruitment before becoming director of design operations and later senior producer for new games.
“I’m excited to share that I’m starting a new position as co-founder and studio director at 8-Bit Bandits. Looking forward to the challenge of creating a new type of studio, and making new types of games – should be a hell of an adventure,” said Woodburn on LinkedIn.
In other King news, Lindsey Chunn has stepped up to become associate director of product marketing, having previously served in senior product marketing and brand management roles during over eight years at the Candy Crush maker.
Also on the rise this week is Franchesca Lim, who is now associate director of monetisation at Tripledot. She’s moved into the new role after a couple of years of service in the Woodoku maker’s marketing department.
Lynda Isabel Muy Gonzalez is now talent acquisition business partner at Behaviour Interactive, moving over from a similar role at Technicolor Creative Studios.
At Hutch, Chris Ash is the company’s new recruitment lead. He returns to Hutch after a stint in QA there many moons ago, following recruitment roles at Fraser Dove International and GxPeople Global.
Jesus Cuza is now senior product manager at Big Fish Games, moving over from HypGames, where he was director of product and analytics. Cuza has also previously worked as a data analyst at EA.
At Village Studio, maker of the Playken avatar platform, Panpan (Grace) Han will be heading up front end and smart contract works. Han previously worked at metaverse fashion firm Storey.
Two new recruits at Kwalee continue the firm’s rapid expansion. Naveen Rg is now head hunter at Kwalee India, making the move over from business software company Advanced, where he was a senior consultant. And in São Paulo, Brazil, Henrique Prado is now Kwalee’s user acquisition manager, making to switch from Fanatee, where he managed UA for games like CodyCross, WordLanes and Stop.
And last but not least, NaturalMotion’s Brighton studio has a new senior technical recruiter in the form of Jeff Naca, who is relocating from his previous role at Zynga’s Austin, Texas operation.
Looking for a new job? Space Ape, Trailmix and First Touch Games are all hiring right now. Hit the links for more.
If you have a new recruit you want to shout about, email details and a headshot to neil@mobilegamer.biz.
