David Pennelle
About
David Pennelle is from Uppsala, Uppsala County, Sweden. David is currently Director of Operations at Windup Games, located in Uppsala. David also works as Senior Producer at Windup Games, a job David has held since Mar 2025. In David's previous role as a Chief Operating Officer at Kinda Brave, David worked in until Dec 2024. Prior to joining Kinda Brave, David was a Chief Executive Officer at Ember Trail and held the position of Chief Executive Officer at Uppsala, Uppsala County, Sweden. Prior to that, David was a Chief of Planning & Release Management at Raw Fury, based in Stockholm, Sweden from Sep 2019 to Mar 2021. David started working as Senior Account Manager at PlayStation in San Mateo in Jun 2017. From Jul 2016 to Jun 2017, David was Program Manager at PlayStation, based in San Francisco, California. Prior to that, David was a Senior Manager - Live Services Readiness at Electronic Arts (EA), based in Redwood shores, California from Oct 2015 to Apr 2016. David started working as Senior Group Program Manager CSM at Guidewire Software in Foster City in Jun 2015.
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David Pennelle's current jobs
David Pennelle's past jobs
--- Operating with a Team and Game 1st Mentality --- Executive Leadership & Strategy: Partner to the CEO and exec team in shaping and executing company strategy. Developed and operationalized shared frameworks and success benchmarks for both upcoming and live titles across studios and publishing to align brand with portfolio delivery pipeline. Team Leadership: Built and scaled high-performing central teams (Production, Portfolio, Marketing, PR, Sales, Release, QA) to foster collaboration across studios and publishing—anchored in a sustainable, positive culture. Financial Stewardship: Led financial planning, budgeting, and KPI-driven forecasting to ensure fiscal responsibility. Partnered with CEO on investor relations and fundraising. Publishing & Portfolio Strategy: Owned verticals for portfolio, brand, and go-to-market strategy to drive ROI for developers and stakeholders. Business Affairs & Legal: Managed contract negotiations, licensing, and IP strategy across titles and franchises in partnership with CEO. Operational Excellence: Streamlined dev and publishing workflows, tailoring frameworks to fit team needs and enable pragmatic portfolio delivery. Partnerships & Biz Dev: Led strategic partnerships with platforms, distributors, and tech providers. Supported CEO and board on key relationship management.
Vision & Strategy: Defined and championed a new studio vision rooted in trust, transparency, and work-life balance—culminating in a rebrand to Ember Trail and renewed strategic direction. Organizational Transformation: Restructured the team post-mortem to align with the studio’s vision and support development of Distant Bloom. Hired key leadership (Creative Director, Senior Producer) to establish a stronger lead structure and improve team efficiency (peak size: 19). Team Leadership & Culture: Cultivated a collaborative, creative studio culture. Prioritized mentorship, professional development, and employee-led growth plans with transparent feedback loops. Financial Oversight: Managed budgeting, forecasting, and resource allocation in coordination with parent company Kinda Brave to ensure operational sustainability. Production & Pipeline Management: Directed game development across live (Main Assembly), in-production (Distant Bloom), and future concepts. Revamped production workflows and hired Senior Producer to ensure milestone discipline. Publishing Start-up: Partnered with Kinda Brave to co-design and launch an internal publishing arm, building a best-in-class in-house capability.
Strategic Delivery Oversight: Led planning and release operations in a holacratic setup, driving clarity and coordination across autonomous teams. Process Optimization: Redesigned planning and release workflows to simplify the delivery pipeline and improve team alignment. Impact on Delivery: Achieved a 25% increase in on-time deliveries by tightening project timelines and enhancing cross-functional collaboration.
Publishing & Partner Leadership: Primary contact for all North American publishing matters with EA; secondary for global coordination. Business Ownership: Owned regional revenue and engagement targets, aligning on shared commercial goals with EA’s publishing teams. Strategic Partnership Management: Built and nurtured long-term relationships to support seamless publishing operations and mutual success. Operational Excellence: Served as escalation point for all launch and live service issues, ensuring smooth execution and partner satisfaction. Premium Partner Experience: Focused on delivering a best-in-class publishing experience, tailored to one of PlayStation’s most significant partners.
SAFe Methodology Leadership: Adopted, practiced, and championed SAFe principles across cross-functional teams to improve alignment and delivery. Lead for Global Store Merchandising Initiatives: Oversaw end-to-end program management for high-impact merchandising features on the global PlayStation Store. Scope, Plan & Deliver Complex Initiatives: Defined scope, led planning and development, and managed deployment of multiple large-scale, cross-regional projects. Executive Stakeholder Communication: Led and presented program updates to global executive leadership, ensuring visibility and alignment on priorities.
Led Live Service Launches for AAA Titles: Owned EA’s Live Service Readiness framework, ensuring successful launches across multiple global titles. Drove BI Metrics Integration Across EA Services: Defined and implemented key business intelligence programs to support live operations decision-making. Executive Communication & Tooling: Managed executive business reviews and led agile tool development to support live planning at scale.
Data & Analytics Program Leadership: Owned BI portfolio planning and executive reporting for Guidewire’s analytics programs. Agile Process Implementation: Designed and rolled out portfolio management and agile planning frameworks across the org. Certified Scrum Master (CSM): Obtained CSM certification and applied principles to improve delivery processes and team coordination.
Global GTM Leadership: Owned global go-to-market plans for EA’s game portfolio, driving coordination across publishing, marketing, and studio teams. Operational & Release Management: Escalation lead for operational issues across global launches. Drove resolution strategies and optimized cross-functional delivery. Data-Driven Optimization: Led postmortems and continuous process improvements to evolve global launch practices and improve efficiency.
Regional Launch Program Lead/eventually global: Led retail and digital launch planning for EA Sports, Bioware, and EA Partners games across North America. Platform Partnership Management: Managed launch readiness with Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Oversaw platform certification initiatives and online tech readiness.
Partner & Franchise Operations Lead: Directed partner relations for Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Oversaw ~1000 SKU submissions annually in 20+ languages. Team Leadership & Mentorship: Managed a team of 5, mentored two promotions and developed a succession pipeline. BI & Certification Systems: Led BI tooling and internal process innovation for the global certification team.
European Retail Launch Lead: Managed all retail product launches for EAP, The Sims, and EA Sports franchises across Europe. Marketing & PR Support: Led pre-release media distribution in support of international campaigns. BI Automation & Reporting: Built internal BI tools and automated reporting systems to streamline team performance insights.