Simon Lawrence

I have been working in Games since graduating from university having studied Physics with German. I started in functionality QA, but became more and more involved in localisation eventually becoming head of LQA at Babel Media. Having studied French at school and German at university I have a keen interest in languages.

I have worked for multinationals – Microsoft and Sega and also privately owned companies – Babel Media and Alpha CRC. I’ve worked in several countries, India, Brazil, Spain and the UK co-ordinating multiple sites and departments. I’ve used computers extensively and am familiar with Windows, Mac, iOS and Android platforms. I have used industry standard tracking systems - Devsuite, Test track Pro, Jira, Mantis as well as bespoke testing tools. I also have experience with translation and asset management tools such as Trados, MemoQ and Xloc.

I have a wide range of experience including recruiting, interviewing, mentoring and developing individuals and teams; managing departments and offices; project management and vendor management. I am used to dealing with internal teams as well as maintaining relationships with outsourcing partners, client and external vendors, example freelance translators or audio studios.

Latterly at Sega as Production Manager I was involved in all QA. Forecasting and planning Functionality, Localisation and Compliance QA across all platforms including mobile and tablet. I worked closely with other internal departments as well as our development studios. For iOS and Android titles, based on feedback from my teams I escalated and highlighted any issues prior to release. I set the QA budgets and was responsible for tracking spends and maintaining quality.