Franchise Narrative Director (Apex Legends)

Locations : Offsite - New York, New York, United States of America
Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. Part of a community that connects across the globe. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. A team where everyone makes play happen.

Founded in 2010 by the original creators of the Call of Duty Franchise, Respawn was created with the philosophy that when talented people have creative freedom, they'll make extraordinary games that achieve the unexpected. From our roots as an indie studio to joining the expansive roster of studios at Electronic Arts, this remains our guiding principle. We truly love what we do and want to share our passion with players worldwide. Our shipped titles include critically acclaimed multi-platform games Apex Legends, Titanfall, Titanfall 2, Star Wars™ Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars™ Jedi: Survivor and Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. Join us for the opportunity to create groundbreaking games with some of the best developer talent in the industry.

You can learn more about our studio and values at respawn.com/studio.

As the Franchise Narrative Director, you will hold the definitive creative vision for the entire Apex IP. You will act as the senior manager and strategic mentor to our product-specific Narrative Directors, guiding how overarching lore, world-building, and systemic storytelling intersect across our portfolio. Your mandate is to set the long-term, multi-year creative compass for the universe and ensure that every individual game release, digital experience, and transmedia initiative feels cohesive, authentic, and interconnected.

We are looking for a senior creative leader who excels at macro-level world-building, character-first IP incubation, and managing high-performing creative directors. You understand how to scale a universe across multiple experiences simultaneously without losing its core identity.

In this role, you will partner closely with the Franchise Director, Franchise Art Director, and discipline leaders (Design, Art, Audio, Brand, and Production) to ensure our franchise narrative pillars harmoniously support high-octane competitive gameplay and long-term studio growth.

Key Responsibilities

- Define & Guard Franchise Lore: Establish, champion, and maintain the master narrative bible, timeline, and foundational world-building pillars for the Apex franchise. Set the high-level boundaries and creative rules for the universe.
- Senior Creative Management: Provide direct leadership, mentorship, and career growth for the Narrative Directors and Lead Writers across different teams, serving as their ultimate creative sounding board and manager.
- Multi-Project IP Alignment: Oversee the narrative direction across a portfolio of current and future experiences within the Apex ecosystem, ensuring individual projects maintain canonical consistency and contribute meaningfully to the broader franchise lore.
- Macro Character & Universe Strategy: Guide the long-term evolution of our IP's character roster and major faction dynamics, architecting overarching multi-year narrative events that can ripple across different games and media.
- Cross-Discipline Executive Collaboration: Partner with Franchise Director, Producers, Game Directors, and Studio Leadership to align the franchise's narrative goals with product roadmaps, player-retention strategies, and business objectives.
- Transmedia & Brand Guardianship: Direct external partnerships and internal transmedia teams on trailers, animated shorts (such as Stories from the Outlands), publications, licensing, and adaptation projects to ensure a unified and premium brand presence.
- Global Talent & Department Scaling: Partner with Narrative Producers and recruiting to forecast departmental needs, recruit top-tier writing and design talent, and establish industry-leading narrative workflows and pipelines across multiple sites.
- Advocate for Inclusive Storytelling: Set the standard and foster an environment for authentic, nuanced representation and inclusive world-building that reflects and respects our global player community.

Qualifications & Requirements

- AAA Narrative Leadership: Extensive experience in a senior creative leadership capacity (such as Franchise Narrative Director, Studio Creative Director, or Executive Narrative Director) overseeing narrative direction across multiple shipped AAA titles or massive live-service ecosystems.
- Management of Directors: Proven track record of managing, mentoring, and directing other Narrative Directors, Lead Writers, and cross-functional creative leads.
- Master-Level World-Building: A portfolio demonstrating exceptional skill in creating, scaling, and maintaining complex, character-driven intellectual properties across multiple products or platforms.
- Systems & Design Fluency: Deep understanding of how narrative integrates with systems-heavy, competitive, and multiplayer game design, with an ability to guide narrative design teams in delivering lore through gameplay.
- Business & Production Acumen: Experience partnering with executive-level producers to balance creative ambition with business goals, scheduling realities, and multi-studio development pipelines.
- Exceptional Communication & Influence: Masterful presentation, pitching, and written communication skills, with extensive experience presenting franchise visions to C-suite executives, external partners, and global audiences.
- Lore Landscape Literacy: Deep appreciation for the Titanfall / Apex universe and a strong instinct for where competitive action, character development, and genre-defining storytelling meet.

Pay Transparency - North America

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
The ranges listed below are what EA in good faith expects to pay applicants for this role in these locations at the time of this posting. If you reside in a different location, a recruiter will advise on the applicable range and benefits. Pay offered will be determined based on a number of relevant business and candidate factors (e.g. education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, or business needs).
PAY RANGES

Pay is just one part of the overall compensation at EA.
In the US, we offer a package of benefits including paid time off (3 weeks per year to start), 80 hours per year of sick time, 16 paid company holidays per year, 10 weeks paid time off to bond with baby, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and other incentive programs.

About Electronic Arts We’re proud to have an extensive portfolio of games and experiences, locations around the world, and opportunities across EA. We value adaptability, resilience, creativity, and curiosity. From leadership that brings out your potential, to creating space for learning and experimenting, we empower you to do great work and pursue opportunities for growth.
We adopt a holistic approach to our benefits programs, emphasizing physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support a balanced life. Our packages are tailored to meet local needs and may include healthcare coverage, mental well-being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, complimentary games, and more. We nurture environments where our teams can always bring their best to what they do.
Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.