Senior Producer

Nex is on a mission to help families rediscover the joy of movement. Created by parents for parents, Nex combines technology and play to deliver fun, social, and interactive experiences powered by natural body motion, encouraging kids and adults to move more, play more, and have fun together. Nex Playground, the company’s award-winning active play system, is purpose-built to get families moving year-round, with safety and privacy as core considerations in its intentional design. It is certified kidSAFE+ COPPA compliant and built to support healthy, active play for all ages and abilities.

Nex Playground features a growing library of 50+ experiences, including motion and dance games, fitness and educational experiences, and Nex Originals. Content includes collaborations with partners like Hasbro, Sesame Workshop, and NBCUniversal. Nex has been recognized by Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, TIME’s Best Inventions, and Parents’ Best Entertainment System for Families, and has earned Red Dot, IDEA, and Core77 international design awards. We encourage you to explore Have Fun and Is Motion Gaming Back? , as they offer a deeper look into our culture, values, and explain how our approach to motion gaming differs from previous generations.

Nex employees may be expected to collaborate with colleagues across different time zones. Depending on the role and location, occasional travel may also be required for company events, external meetings, and other business-related activities.

Important Notice: ⚠️ To protect yourself from recruitment scams, please note that Nex communicates through official company emails ending in @nex.inc . If you receive a suspicious email or message, please do not respond and report it immediately to us.

Overview

Nex is looking for a Senior Producer, External Japan to drive our externally developed game projects on Nex Playground in the Japanese market. Sitting in the Publishing organization and reporting to the Japan General Manager, this is a pivotal role as we expand beyond our internal development capacity, and a unique opportunity to tap into Japan’s world-class game development ecosystem and its rich landscape of iconic IP.

You will own the external product pipeline from ideation through launch and sustain phases, working with a wide range of Japanese game developers, from major studios to mid-size and boutique teams, as well as leading IP holders spanning anime, manga, character, and entertainment franchises, to bring bar-raising experiences to Nex Playground.

The Senior Producer, External Japan will partner closely with internal game development teams, QA, BD, Legal, and the Japan GTM team, while collaborating with the US Publishing organization to ensure Japan’s external content pipeline is aligned with the global roadmap and platform standards.

The Role

Your core focus is managing Japan’s external game development pipeline end-to-end, from identifying and onboarding the right developer and IP partners, through green light, production, launch, and live operations. That includes:

Owning the full production pipeline for externally developed experiences in Japan, from developer pitch and selection through GTM and sustain.

Building and managing relationships with Japan-based game developers of all scales, from major studios to mid-size and boutique teams, as second-party development partners.

Negotiating and managing partnerships with Japanese IP holders, including anime, manga, character, and entertainment licensors.

Serving as the primary Japan-side partner to the US Publishing team, ensuring Japan’s external content pipeline is integrated into the global roadmap.

Reporting to the Japan General Manager and representing Japan’s external development strategy in global publishing forums.

What You’ll Do

Game Quality & Creative Direction

Develop a deep, inside-out understanding of each externally developed title, its gameplay systems, creative vision, target audience, and quality bar, so that all feedback and decisions are grounded in a clear view of what the game needs to be.

Set the destination clearly for each project, defining the quality bar and creative vision, while leaving how to get there to the developer and their Director. The Producer’s role is to bring out the best in the development team, not to do their job for them.

Conduct regular, structured playthroughs and build reviews throughout the development cycle, providing sharp, meaningful, and timely feedback through questions and commentary that motivate the team and elevate quality without overriding the developer’s creative ownership.

Continuously assess whether each project is tracking toward the right vision, not just technically complete, but genuinely fun, polished, and right for the Nex Playground audience, and course-correct early when it is not.

Recognize that a project requiring the Producer to take over creative direction is already in trouble; intervene early through clear communication, targeted feedback, and escalation before a project reaches that point.

Exercise the Producer’s ultimate authority decisively and with sound judgment when necessary, including recommending a change of Director or, in extreme cases, replacing the Developer entirely. Knowing when and how to make that call, and having the courage and clarity to act on it at the right moment, is one of the most critical responsibilities of this role.

Budget, Schedule & Green Light Management

Drive the green light process for each Japan external project, proactively coordinating with BD, Finance, Legal, and US Publishing to gather required inputs, align stakeholders, schedule green light reviews, and secure formal approval to proceed.

Own the milestone approval process end-to-end: prepare milestone review materials, schedule and facilitate approval meetings with relevant internal stakeholders, manage pre-meeting alignment, and ensure decisions are documented and communicated clearly.

Manage the full budget for each Japan external development project, tracking costs against approved budgets, processing milestone payments, managing change requests, and flagging financial risks to the Japan GM and Finance team.

Define, maintain, and enforce project schedules and milestone plans for all Japan external titles, holding developers accountable to agreed timelines and proactively identifying and resolving schedule risks before they become blockers.

Escalate budget overruns, schedule slippage, or unresolvable quality concerns to the Japan GM and US Publishing team promptly, with clear context and recommended actions.

External Production Pipeline Management

Oversee the entire production pipeline for Japan externally developed experiences, including developer pitch and selection, green light, project planning, milestone tracking, and launch readiness.

Build out production frameworks and implement tracking mechanisms to manage the Japan external pipeline from pre-green light through GTM and sustain phases.

Foster a collaborative, problem-solving approach with Japan development teams to drive high-quality games and experiences that meet Nex Playground’s bar.

Work with the internal Development team to support Japan external projects as needed, ensuring smooth integration with Nex Playground’s platform and technical standards.

Developer Relationships & Onboarding

Identify, evaluate, and onboard Japan-based game developers across all scales, from major studios and mid-size teams to boutique developers, as Nex Playground external development partners.

Manage the full developer onboarding process for Japan developers, including documentation, tooling access, Discord channel management, and ongoing developer communications.

Contribute to an evolving green light process for new Japan development projects, coordinating with BD, Finance, and Legal to conduct thorough developer due diligence and reviews.

Build