Hi everyone, neuropantser again. You heard from me last week, when I gave you a heartfelt plea to consider joining NISEI. Since then, I’ve been amazed by the influx of wonderful and talented people from the Netrunner community, all across the organization. I’ve had a very busy week handling all the responses!
However, we aren’t even close to done. As interim VP of Engagement SwearyPrincess explained in her article this week, NISEI has recently reorganized. There are entirely new teams, entirely new leadership structures, and entirely new opportunities available for both NISEI and Netrunner as a whole.
Or, to put it simply once again: NISEI needs people. We need people to lead core teams in the organization, provide strategic decision-making and clear-eyed insight, and help NISEI chart the course we’ll take in 2022 and beyond. Our recent success at PAX Unplugged 2021 is just the latest reminder that Netrunner is a truly one-of-a-kind game, people absolutely love playing it, and we’ve barely scratched the surface of how far Netrunner can go as a game and as a community. You can play a vital role in making Netrunner, bringing it to new players who’ve never played it, and making sure that long-time players are just as excited about playing the game now as they were when they cracked open their first pack.
To put it even more simply: NISEI needs you. Do you have experience managing teams of people, keeping everyone on the same page and working together to complete goals? NISEI needs you. Are you a good teacher, able to effectively coach people on how to tackle new challenges? NISEI needs you. Do you know how to create personal connections, either one-on-one or at scale? NISEI needs you.
Every person reading this article has a truly unique combination of skills. I encourage you to take a look at these roles – all of them – because your unique combination of skills may be a perfect fit for one of them. And you may find a role that’s perfect for a friend, or someone in your local meta, or someone you play games against on jinteki.net. The only way NISEI works is with great people. Consider this an invitation to show us how you’re great.
These positions are open effective immediately, so you can start applying now. You must apply by January 7, 2022, to be considered for these roles. Please note that NISEI is an all-volunteer organization — these positions are unpaid.
Executive Team
As SwearyPrincess’ article outlined, NISEI is moving away from our “wide” organizational structure to more of a “tall” structure. An essential part of this structure is the Vice Presidents of NISEI’s three departments: Product, Engagement, and People. These are essential leadership positions. In each of these roles, you should expect to manage people who are themselves managing teams, and you should expect to make large decisions that have a major impact on Netrunner as a whole.
VP of Product
As the VP of Product, you’ll oversee the creation of all Netrunner products. You will sit on the NISEI Board, and you’ll work closely with the NISEI President, the other Department Heads, and the heads of Design, Development, Production, Rules, Translation, Narrative, and Visual, among others. Your leadership and vision will be essential in every single Netrunner release, and your impact on the overall course of the game will be hard to overstate.
Duties:
- Oversee Product Pipeline from initial concept to community handover
- Work with the Design lead to originate, vet feasibility of, and plan new products
- Manage team leads for Design, Dev, Narrative, Visual, Translation and Production
- Work with President and other Dept Heads on NISEI-wide issues and strategy
- Agree budget and expenditure for dept
Current/Upcoming Projects:
- Work with President and other Dept Heads on 2022 budget
- Review current state of Borealis, Bell-Tower, and [scoops redacted]
Essential skills:
- Planning and organization
- Team management, including conflict mediation and coaching
- Diligence and perseverance
NOTE: NISEI is a volunteer organization. This role is unpaid, as are all roles in the organization.
VP of People
As the VP of People, you’ll oversee managing NISEI’s most valuable resources: its people. You will sit on the NISEI Board, and you’ll work closely with the NISEI President, the other Department Heads, and the head of Recruiting, among others. Your leadership and vision will have an outsized impact on NISEI’s ability to maintain a cohesive team culture and grow efficiently as an organization.
Duties:
- Oversee the creation, and then maintenance, of internal NISEI processes
- Work with the Design lead to originate, vet feasibility of, and plan new products
- Manage team leads for Recruitment and any other teams formed
- Work with the President and other VPs on NISEI-wide issues and strategy
- Approve budget and expenditures for the Department of People
Current/Upcoming Projects:
- Work with the President and other VPs on the 2022 budget
- Determine teams needed within the Department of People and build the team
- Develop and document internal processes and guidelines – for example, establishing escalation frameworks to report issues within teams
Essential Skills:
- Interpersonal leadership skills, including conflict mediation and coaching
- Empathy
- Awareness
- Ability to think “big-picture”/organizationally
NOTE: NISEI is a volunteer organization. This role is unpaid, as are all roles in the organization.
VP of Engagement
As the VP of Engagement, you’ll oversee all communication between NISEI and the larger Netrunner community. You will sit on the NISEI Board, and you’ll work closely with the NISEI President, the other VPs, and the heads of Community, EDI, OP, and Marketing, among others. You’ll set the tone for how NISEI communicates with the Netrunner community, how official NISEI events function, and how NISEI brings new players into Netrunner. Your leadership and vision will be essential to keeping people excited about playing and talking about Netrunner.
Duties:
- Oversee message presented externally, to ensure consistency, accuracy, and inclusivity
- Manage team leads for Community, EDI, OP and Marketing
- Work with President and other VPs on NISEI-wide issues and strategy
- Approve budget and expenditures for the Department of Engagement
Current/Upcoming Projects:
- Work with the President and other VPs on the 2022 budget
- Review the current tech stack with the WebDev Manager
Essential Skills:
- Planning and organization
- Interpersonal leadership skills, including coaching
- Awareness
- Excellent communication skills, including an understanding of how to set an organization’s tone
NOTE: NISEI is a volunteer organization. This role is unpaid, as are all roles in the organization.
Engagement
The Department of Engagement is in charge of how NISEI interacts with people outside of NISEI. That’s a big category, and as you might expect, there are already big plans for 2022, from executing the recently announced changes to the Organized Play calendar to establishing a brand-new Marketing team. To help execute on those plans, we are looking for managers of the Organized Play, Community, and Marketing teams.
Organized Play Manager
As the Organized Play Manager, you will oversee all official NISEI Netrunner events. You’ll determine the overall organized play structure, plan the schedule of tournaments throughout the year, and oversee other aspects of the Organized Play department, such as selecting and distributing tournament prizes and organizing Continentals-level and above tournaments. Organized play is a core reason that many members of the Netrunner community stay engaged with the game, and your leadership and vision will help ensure players of all skill levels and competitive inclination have a compelling reason to play Netrunner.
Duties:
- Lead the Organized Play Team
- Oversee the overall structure of official Netrunner Organized Play
- Plan the tournament schedule
- Organize tournaments at the level of Continentals and above
- Arrange the selection and distribution of prize kits to organizers for events at the level of Nationals and below
- Approve budget and expenditures for the Organized Play team
Current/Upcoming Projects:
- Review the 2022 tournament schedule
- Work with the Prize Coordinator to specify requirements for prizes for 2022 tournaments
- Plan Toronto Worlds for Q4 2022
- Review the OP Kit distribution process
Essential Skills:
- Excellent communication skills, both internally and externally
- Planning and organization
- A keen mind for logistics, scheduling, and deadlines
NOTE: NISEI is a volunteer organization. This role is unpaid, as are all roles in the organization.
Community Manager
As the Community Manager, you will oversee the direct interactions between NISEI and the larger Netrunner community, including the nullsignal.games website and NISEI social media accounts. You’ll set the tone for how NISEI communicates externally, plan social media campaigns, and work with the Web Development team to specify needed enhancements to nullsignal.games.
Duties:
- Lead the Community Team
- Oversee the content of the nullsignal.games website and NISEI social media accounts
- Liaise with the Web Development team to specify nullsignal.games feature requests
- Liaise with Marketing Manager regarding social media campaigns
Current/Upcoming Projects:
- Review the structure of nullsignal.games
- Review the organization of information with the Community team
Essential Skills:
- Communication skills, both internally and externally
- Organization and planning
NOTE: NISEI is a volunteer organization. This role is unpaid, as are all roles in the organization.
Marketing Manager
As the Marketing Manager, you’ll determine and execute NISEI’s strategy for bringing new players into Netrunner and bringing new Netrunner products to the attention of the world at large. You will establish and then manage the Marketing Team at NISEI, oversee outreach campaigns in a variety of channels designed to bring in new players, and give NISEI a larger platform by working with external media sources such as websites and podcasts.
Duties:
- Establish and lead Marketing Team
- Oversee outreach campaigns to bring on new players via a variety of channels
- Coordinate with external media (websites, podcasts, etc) to platform NISEI voices
- Schedule and oversee NISEI appearances at expos and conventions
- Approve budget and expenditures for the Marketing team
Current/Upcoming Projects:
- Work with reviewers receiving Gateway Promo copies to amplify content
- Find new reviewers for System Gateway and future Netrunner products
- Shortlist conventions for potential 2022 appearances
- Plan 2022 Marketing campaign, including NISEI presence at gaming conventions
Essential Skills:
- Market awareness
- Communication skills, both internally and externally
- Curiosity and a willingness to explore new technologies, platforms, and communication channels
NOTE: NISEI is a volunteer organization. This role is unpaid, as are all roles in the organization.
Product
The Department of Product is responsible for making the cards used to play Netrunner, from the initial concept to the finished product you can sleeve up for a local game night or load up on jinteki.net. Work is currently underway on several Netrunner products, including Borealis, Bell-Tower, and [scoops redacted]. To help bring those products to life, the Narrative team is looking for an Assistant Editor, as well as several Writers and Affiliate Writers.
Due to the global nature of Netrunner’s setting and narrative, the Narrative team especially strongly encourages applications from countries that are traditionally underrepresented in cyberpunk writing and game writing in general.
Assistant Editor
As Assistant Editor, you will proofread and edit all Narrative Team work, including card names, flavor text, and fiction pieces. You will report directly to the Lead Editor and collaborate with them on larger pieces to give a second or third editing pass. You’ll also assist the Lead Editor and Narrative Director in assigning writing tasks to the team and ensuring that deadlines and progress updates are met.
Due to the global nature of Netrunner’s setting and narrative, the Narrative team especially strongly encourages applications from countries that are traditionally underrepresented in cyberpunk writing and game writing in general.
Examples of tasks:
- Proofreading Narrative Team work for simple errors, typos, etc.
- Editing fiction for broad issues like readability, flow, internal consistency, in collaboration with writers
- Assigning tasks and setting deadlines for the Narrative Team
- Writing translation notes for the translation team
Essential Skills:
- High English language competency. Competency in languages other than English is a huge plus.
- High attention to detail
- Well-read and familiar with writing styles of many types
- Any prior experience as an editor, writer, copywriter etc is a plus
NOTE: NISEI is a volunteer organization. This role is unpaid, as are all roles in the organization.
Writer
As a Writer, you will create writing and narrative-related content within NISEI, including writing fiction pieces, working on card names and flavor text, writing art briefs, producing content for narrative campaign products, and working on the worldbuilding, themes, and pre-production work for future cycles or other products. You will be a full member of the Narrative team, and your work will be seen by the thousands of people who consume Netrunner’s story in its myriad forms.
Due to the global nature of Netrunner’s setting and narrative, the Narrative team especially strongly encourages applications from countries that are traditionally underrepresented in cyberpunk writing and game writing in general.
Examples of tasks:
- Writing flavor text for a card, or a series of connected cards
- Collaborating with the Visual team to produce an art brief for commissioned card art
- Writing a fiction piece for a product release
- Collaborating with the Design team during product pre-production
Essential Skills:
- High primary language competency. ESL writers are welcome, but require moderate English language competency.
- Interest in writing fiction with a high focus on tone, theme and thoughtful meaning
- Capable time management skills
- Very capable communication skills
- Previous writing experience is a major plus
- Previous experience with art and knowledge of art styles is a major plus for writing art briefs, but is not required
NOTE: NISEI is a volunteer organization. This role is unpaid, as are all roles in the organization.
Affiliate Writer
As an Affiliate Writer, you will create writing and narrative-related content within NISEI, including writing fiction pieces and working on card names and flavor text. This is an associate NISEI role that does not come with full NISEI team access. However, this role has greatly reduced responsibility and expectations, making it ideal for a person who is interested in collaborating directly with NISEI on fiction writing but does not have an interest or the time to work on the full scope of Narrative Team duties.
Due to the global nature of Netrunner’s setting and narrative, the Narrative team especially strongly encourages applications from countries that are traditionally underrepresented in cyberpunk writing and game writing in general.
Examples of tasks:
- Writing fiction pieces for any number of product releases, spoiler or announcement articles, or campaign products
- Brainstorming card names and flavor text
- Brainstorming concepts for art briefs
Essential Skills:
- High primary language competency. ESL writers are welcome, but require moderate English language competency.
- Interest in writing fiction with a high focus on tone, theme and thoughtful meaning
- Capable time management skills
- Very capable communication skills
- Previous writing experience is a major plus
- Previous experience with art and knowledge of art styles is a major plus for helping with art briefs, but is not required
NOTE: NISEI is a volunteer organization. This role is unpaid, as are all roles in the organization.
