Talent Relations & Operations Manager

About Evo

For more than 20 years, the Evolution Championship Series (Evo) has produced the largest and longest-running fighting game tournament conventions in the world. Our events are gathering points where players, fans, publishers, developers, creators, and brands come together to celebrate fighting games and the communities that make them thrive.

Beyond our flagship live events, Evo continues to expand how we create, celebrate, and grow fighting game fandom around the world.

Role Overview

As the Talent Relations & Operations Manager, you will be responsible for how Evo identifies, develops, hires, and manages relationships with on-camera talent.

Evo has one of the most passionate communities in gaming and, as the pinnacle of the fighting game community, carries a responsibility to the wider ecosystem. This role is not public-facing, but will be the primary point of contact between Evo and the on-camera talent who are among the most vocal and visible leaders in the Fighting Game Community. Internally, you will help shape and execute Evo’s approach to discovering, developing, and hiring on-camera talent across our productions. You will also oversee the day-to-day talent experience for Evo’s live events and content productions, including communication, hospitality, scheduling, travel, accommodations, contracting, and payment coordination.

This role sits within the Evo Production team and works closely with our production leaders to ensure strong communication and feedback across the organization. The ideal candidate has experience discovering, developing, and working with on-camera talent while managing the needs of an ambitious production calendar that includes live tournament coverage, remote productions, livestreams, and video features. They understand the nuances of talent relations and the responsibility Evo has to the passionate fighting game community it serves.

Reporting Structure

You will report to Evo’s Head of Production.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with production leadership to develop and execute strategies for talent discovery, development, casting, and scheduling across Evo’s global event and content calendar.
• Work with production teams to identify talent needs for each production and ensure the right talent is placed across live events, livestreams, remote productions, and video content.
• Negotiate talent contracts and compensation in partnership with production leadership and relevant internal stakeholders.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with on-camera talent and the fighting game community Evo serves.
• Evaluate talent performance across Evo productions and provide clear feedback and recommendations to production leadership.
• Lead ongoing global talent discovery efforts, with a focus on identifying emerging voices and talent not yet working on high-profile fighting game productions.
• Create and maintain a centralized database of on-camera talent, including availability, experience, performance history, and other relevant information.
• Oversee talent scheduling, travel, accommodations, hospitality, and communication for Evo productions and live events.
• Coordinate and oversee talent payments and related administrative processes.
• Manage talent-related expenses within approved production budgets.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in talent management, talent relations, casting, or a related role within live production, entertainment, gaming, esports, sports, or digital media.
• Demonstrated experience discovering, developing, and managing on-camera talent.
• Experience negotiating talent rates, contracts, and other commercial terms.
• Strong organizational and operational skills, with experience managing talent travel, scheduling, payments, and budgets.
• Excellent communication and relationship-management skills, with the judgment to navigate sensitive or high-profile situations.
• Ability to balance the needs of talent and community stakeholders with production and business objectives.
• Comfortable operating both strategically and tactically in a fast-moving live production environment.
• Ability to work weekends and travel domestically and internationally as required.

Bonus Points

• Passion for fighting games, esports, gaming communities, and the people who make them thrive.
• Experience working directly within the fighting game community.
• Experience supporting large-scale tournament productions, television programming, and more intimate streaming events.
• Existing relationships with tournament organizers, community leaders, creators, publishers, on-camera talent and other key figures within the fighting game landscape.

Compensation

The salary for this role is $70,000 to $90,000, based on experience and qualifications.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, Vision and Life Insurance
• 401k plan available for employee contributions
• Flexible work schedule
• Generous PTO and company-observed holidays
• Remote-first culture