Senior Director – Human Resources – Franchise People Officer

A key advisor to the Chief People Officer, the Franchise People Officer significantly contributes to the company’s performance by ensuring the provision of tactical and strategic solutions on critical talent, overall workforce effectiveness and enabling organizational capabilities that directly enable the outcome of the business objectives.

This position has direct accountability to the strength, productivity, and readiness of its workforce to maintain its leadership position in the market and grow significantly, year over year. This position is a critical member of the HR and Franchise teams and is accountable to continuously improve the productivity of the workforce by determining and executing the human capital initiatives that achieve business objectives.

The Franchise People Officer will lead and carry out the following responsibilities: talent attraction, sourcing, retention, succession, pipeline planning and workforce optimization; performance and total rewards management, employee productivity, relations; policy interpretation and application. Additional responsibilities include organizational design, effectiveness; staffing models, talent capabilities, career progression initiatives, and training.

Partnering with franchise leaders and HR leadership, the Franchise People Officer ensures people strategies align seamlessly with business goals while fostering a culture that supports the creativity and innovation essential to game development. The ideal candidate is a visionary, change agent, and advocate for an inclusive, resilient workforce.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• A HR leader who thrives at the intersection of organizational design, leadership development, and business strategy— ready to drive meaningful change while keeping Blizzard’s unique creative culture at the core of everything we do, you will:
• Lead & Develop – Manage and mentor a team of HR professionals, ensuring their growth while fostering a healthy, high-performing team environment.
• Shape the Future – Partner with leadership to transition Blizzard’s HR function from a bespoke, service-oriented model to a more strategic and scalable approach.
• Optimize Organizational Design – Align HR strategies with Blizzard’s evolving business needs, particularly within Game Development teams.
• Drive Change & Scalability – Support leadership through structural shifts, including Microsoft integration impacts, and ensure HR is positioned as a key strategic thought partner.
• Balance Standardization & Customization – Support complex development teams by ensuring HR solutions are both scalable and adaptable.
• Develop Leaders & Succession Planning – Identify and elevate leadership talent across the organization to strengthen Blizzard’s long-term growth.
• Ensure Alignment – Work cross-functionally with key stakeholders to implement changes that enhance team effectiveness and HR operations.
• Deliver Measurable Impact – Drive HR initiatives that improve team performance, engagement, and business outcomes.

PLAYER PROFILE
The ideal candidate will have deep Human Resources experience in the gaming, entertainment or tech industries. They have demonstrated strategic and tactical prowess, as well as business acumen. This position requires an expert in Human Resources who is a proactive self-starter constantly looking to push the envelope with innovative and clever ideas to grow and develop talent within Blizzard.

Requirements

• 12+ years of experience in human resources or related fields, including 5+ years in a leadership capacity.
• Previous experience in the entertainment industry.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• Proven HR leadership expertise in workforce planning and organizational development.
• Strong business acumen with a history of aligning people strategies with business goals.
• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills.
• Experience fostering an inclusive workplace culture.
• Data-driven mindset with experience using HR analytics for decision-making.
• Proven strong foundation and experience of principles & practice of HR including modern solutions to people challenges and organizational transformation.
• Identify and build culture carriers who embody and exhibit the franchise’s values and ambitions.
• Proven client management and business literacy skills.
• Strong interpersonal and negotiation skills.
• Proven knowledge of full lifecycle workforce diagnostics, recruiting components to include sourcing; qualifying; networking; assessing; selling and wage/salary trends.
• Highest level of integrity with a proven ability to gain trust from all levels of the organization.

OUR WORLD
At Blizzard Entertainment, we pour our hearts and souls into everything we create. Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft, we’ve been creating genre-defining games for millions of players around the world for more than 30 years. We’re on a quest: bring our dreams to life and craft the most epic entertainment experiences…ever. Hard work, iteration and polish go into the Blizzard “secret recipe,” but the most important ingredients come from talented people who share our vision. If that sounds like you, join us.

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.