Full-time community manager position at Torn

1 - Job Type

Full Time equivalent role (~40hrs a week). Work from home. Contractor relationship unless negotiated otherwise. No specific / strict working times

2 - Trial Period

This role will begin as a part-time contracting relationship (ideally a couple of hours per day) for a month or two while you are trained to the level required for this job, escalating through the ranks of Helper > Moderator > Officer, before finally becoming the community manager. This exact process will need to be decided once a suitable candidate has been found.

Once a full time role has been established, a six month probationary period will be in effect to ensure that you are the right candidate.

3 - Benefits

Starting at £35,000 annually (or negotiated rate in a local salary)
Compensation is negotiable depending on skills and past experience.
As a team member, annual reviews of compensation will be completed which take into account your performance and the performance of Torn.
Excellent quality "work from home" IT setup will be provided and refreshed regularly as mutually agreed.
You will be expected to invoice at the start of each month.

4 - About Torn

Torn is a free-to-play online text based RPG game which opened in November 2004 and has been under constant development ever since. We now have a team of around 20 full time staff, 27 volunteer moderators, and a community of over 20,000 daily players.

Torn is something of an alternate life simulation, focusing on slow but worthwhile gains over long durations - many players continue to play a decade after signing up.

Players train in the gym to get stronger, complete crimes to earn money, attack other players, gamble in the casino, race cars, participate in faction wars, complete missions, get an education, get jobs, work for player-run companies, buy/rent/lease/upgrade properties, earn awards, invest in the bank / stock market, travel abroad and import items, take out loans, trade, e.t.c. e.t.c. However, the primary draw and the reason players stick around is Torn's community.

5 - The Role

As Torn grows, so does the quantity and scale of routine day-to-day tasks. I have reached and exceeded my limit in this respect, which has lead to an inferior quality of work being completed in insufficient time - and a great deal of stress on my part.

As the acting community manager, I would like to find someone to take over many of these duties so I can focus on the work I'm best at and enjoy the most, while also allowing me to reduce my workload during nights and weekends.

To put it simply, this position will be personally responsible for keeping Torn's playerbase happy and ensuring the administration, support and service areas run smoothly, every hour of every day.

6 - Skills Required

Experience - Experience on the Torn staff team isn't necessary as you will receive training up to the highest level - although this may take some time. Experience and a full knowledge of Torn and all of its features would be very helpful.

Passionate - This position is for someone who is passionate about helping players and will strive to make their experiences more enjoyable, making Torn a better place for everyone.

Reliability - We need someone who's very reliable, being around when they're expected to be, and capable of completing tasks on time.

Leadership - The role requires substantial leadership skills, as you'll be managing players, heading up the staff team and directing resources, holding the fullest authority. People will be looking to you for answers and decisions - and you'll be the one to provide them. You must not be afraid to use your powers and challenge others if required, while also not stepping over the line.

Communication - You need to be able to understand others and how they think, see things from their perspective and successfully explain issues / confusions in a way that can be understood.

Honesty - Admitting your limitations or mistakes and maintaining the userbase's full trust is essential. Personally, I greatly appreciate someone who is truly open and honest.

Fast learner - There will be a hell of a lot to take in and remember as you become familiar with the different processes and systems. You'll be trained in each area individually, with responsibilities increasing over time. Initially I expect you'll work closely with me, asking questions about even the smallest things you're unsure of until you can start handling everything yourself.

Mature and stable-minded - The position requires maturity at the highest level. You can't be seen poking fun at people or having petty arguments with others. It also requires someone with a high stress tolerance - absolutely no anger issues or sudden outbursts.

Intelligent - We need someone who can fully analyse many situations each day and take the best course of action quickly. For example, crediting a refill to a player who's missed out may seem the right thing to do, but does it set a future precedent? Can you combine all evidence against a player to determine a final verdict, understanding that it cannot be overturned easily in the future without causing mass hysteria? Do you possess accurate foresight of the results your actions may produce, time and time again, while learning from any mistakes?

Availability out of hours - There may be times when you'd be required to work late nights or during vacations due to the responsibilities of this position. Being available at any time, day or night, is important. Some duties may require checking first thing in the morning, and last thing at night. However, you won't be expected to exceed the standard 40 hours work week often unless there is some kind of emergency that requires it.

Kindness & Empathy - Do what you can for every player to make Torn a nice place for them to be; always treating everyone with the utmost respect and friendliness no matter who they are, or their histories. You should provide the exceptional level of service that I'm unable to; you'll be the friendly face of Torn who's always there to help and go the extra mile for players.

Unbiased - Your feelings towards a specific player should not affect your actions or responses in the slightest. All players, new and old, smart or annoyingly unintelligent, should be treated as equals.

Spelling / grammar - In this position you'll be representing Torn in a primary, forward-facing position. Good writing skills alongside flawless spelling and grammar are important.

Long-term - If you are not willing to fully dedicate yourself to this job for potentially many years, this position is not for you.

Capable of working with me - I am honest and speak my mind, and my answers may sometimes appear short if I'm busy, but I will always provide my time as required. During discussions on a topic I often play devil's advocate or create arguments - this is just how I work to find the best outcome. I expect you to debate with me until a resolution is mutually agreed upon, rather than being instantly submissive or offended.

7 - Responsibilities

This role has many responsibilities; the main ones have been listed below. The majority of these responsibilities are currently handled by myself, but could potentially be passed on to the community manager. It will be totally up to you to work out how to manage your time efficiently to maximise your output.

Staff leadership & management

Staff recruitment Arranging recruitment drives, reading applications, selecting potential new volunteer staff members, studying their history on Torn and conducting interviews, determining their trustworthiness and whether or not they'd be suitable. Accepted staff will need to be fully trained with regular checkups until they can go it alone.

Staff promotion Determining whether there is a demand for higher staff positions and then approaching the best staff in the previous tier to see if they're interested and have the time available. You will also be required to handle training and frequent reviews of the work being done.

Staff dismissal Assessing whether a staff member is applying enough activity to warrant their role, abusing their role, or is no longer a good fit for the team. Discussing the situation with them and then either demoting or removing them from the team as required.

Staff reviews Each staff member will require a personal catch-up / review every 6 months to see how they are doing, if they're having any problems, and to see if we can better assist them with their duties.

Staff assignment Assigning staff to the roles that match their skill sets and passion, ensuring they're in the best position to make the most use out of their time. It'll be up to you to ensure every area is sufficiently covered and being taken care of promptly across all time-zones.

Assisting staff Staff may occasionally request certain information that only you have access to, i.e. Specific logs. It'll be up to you to find, sort and provide the information and assist with the case if needed.

Staff support & recognition You will need to personally know every staff member and ensure they feel appreciated and fully cared for. The time they volunteer to Torn is valuable, they need to know it is time well spent. They should always know that you stand with them and will always support them in any matter - within Torn or outside it.

Staff responsibilities

Final verdicts Staff may occasionally need a final opinion on something that is unclear. For example, whether or not to take action, or which action to apply. It'll be up to you to look at the case and decide on a verdict. All of the difficult decisions will fall upon you to make.

Case reviews If a player declares they are innocent after a warning or punishment has been applied, or they feel they have been treated unfairly by staff, your job will be to review the case and ensure the correct course of action was applied. This may result in you releasing them or reducing their sentence and providing compensation if required.

Pardoning offenders If a user has admitted guilt, shows remorse and requests forgiveness, assuring they won't repeat the infraction, you will have the unique ability to pardon a player or reduce their sentence. Only the person holding the position of Community Manager can do this, but such actions must only be performed if it is determined that their release will result in a net-positive for Torn. It'll be up to you to assess the likelihood of the player being an issue in the future, and to ensure whether your actions will affect the behaviour of the community at large in the future.

Church funds A future system will be implemented where the playerbase’s donations to the church can be redistributed to those who have lost out to scams or other unfortunate events unrelated to rule-breaks or bugs (events which do not qualify for staff credits). It'll be up to you to manage this system, deciding who deserves this money and ensuring the balance is not depleted.

Regular staff work You may need to complete regular staff work like moderating the forums / chats, investigating player reports, finding multiple accounts e.t.c on a frequent basis, especially when under high-loads and the rest of the staff team are struggling to keep up.

Responding to messages Your in-game messages and chat should be freely open to any player allowing the community to easily get ahold of you. You can help to answer their enquiries and resolve their issues, or pass them on to a staff member who's online.

Forum activity Frequently read the forums and participate in discussion as needed, ensuring your comments are clear, well mannered and cannot be misunderstood or taken out of context. You should also set the overall tone for the forums at large.

Educating users Often we see forum threads created by users who misunderstand situations and start negative rants regarding Torn's hierarchy or development. This is fine, but they should have all of the facts. It'll be up to you to make statements, kindly explaining Torn's position, answering their concerns in a clear manner, and providing counter arguments to resolve ill feelings quickly. If their concerns are legitimate, you are expected to work decisively towards resolving them.

Complaints Handling all complaints with care and apologising on behalf of Torn when needed. We should strive to ensure complaints are responded to and resolved quickly and effectively, with a resolution that is more than satisfactory for the player if possible.

Player disputes Player disputes are common and can sometimes become serious, involving real-life interaction or harassment. You may need to spend time with individuals to discuss their issues and attempt to resolve such conflicts. Occasionally incidents may require reporting to authorities / police.

Announcements You may occasionally need to make announcements on Torn or over our social media platforms, especially during times of crisis when players need reassurance.

Other responsibilities

Payment issues & enquiries Handling of the payments email account: answering questions, checking issues, managing refunds and disputing chargebacks. Ensuring responses are always made within 12 hours, providing a high level of service and ensuring customers are happy.

Payment withdrawals Managing the payment accounts and sorting the withdrawals each month.

Services management You may be asked to monitor certain services we use daily or weekly and alert us or take action when required. For example, keeping our SMS sending budget topped up, or occasionally checking various Torn stats to find any anomalies.

Review responses Frequently checking reviews of Torn on third party sites, responding to them if required or passing along any issues mentioned that you think might need looking at.

Passing up major issues or exploits As the point of contact for users reporting serious issues or exploits, you will need to quickly alert the developers and help to find a resolution. You should also ensure the reporter is suitably thanked and rewarded if they had the option of substantially profiting from a reported bug.

Unexpected tasks Occasionally, usually after incidents, you may be given tiring, monotonous tasks that need completing as quickly as possible. For instance, gathering / sorting / analysing vast amounts of data or manually making adjustments to hundreds of players.

Additional tasks You may be asked to assist in other areas or projects for Torn. For example, participating and providing opinions during project design, testing new features or reproducing issues, conducting surveys, gathering information and feedback from players etc.

Continuous improvement

Liaising with developers Frequently converse with developers and bring up any issues or thoughts that potentially need developer insight or attention, nudging them if they're taking too long or have forgotten.

Assisting design of the new staff panel We have a long-term project planned which involves revolutionising the current admin panel which is very old and inefficient. Once you're fully experienced, you'll have a great insight into its current limitations and ideas for improvements.

Rule adjustments Determine what the majority of the community really wants and thoroughly discuss potential changes to the game’s rules, social guidelines, case examples and staff instructions.

Committee & Staff collaboration Our committee and staff team have a huge amount of experience in Torn, and you will need to collaborate with them frequently to find the best solutions and enhancements for the community.

Community manager training At some point in time, we may wish to bring on a second community manager to better fulfil the needs of Torn players. You would need to work closely with them and pass down the expertise you've acquired.

Wojciech Marciniak
Hasan Almasi
Jaak Horn

8 - Application Questions

Would you be happy taking on this role part-time while you are trained in the processes / usage of systems to a sufficient standard, with the intention of receiving a full-time job when complete and if your progress is acceptable?
Are you happy spreading your hours out over the week, putting in time during the evenings / weekends / on vacations as needed?
How extensive is your knowledge of Torn?
What are your feelings regarding the Torn community and its current management (if any)?
What experience in management / leadership positions do you have? Can you provide any examples where you've had to use these skills in the past?
Can you give us an example of a specific and relevant challenge you have overcome in the past?
Tell us about a time when you have successfully dealt with a customer or player whose demands were unreasonable.
Imagine a situation where you have notified your superiors of a problem, but your assessment and solution was rejected and the problem continues to go unchecked. How would you deal with this situation for the good of the game?
What one skill makes you the most qualified for this position?
To date, which of your professional achievements are you most proud of?
How would you describe your professional working style?
What makes you interested in this position? Are you leaving a current employer - if so, why?
What weaknesses do you have, and what skills would you like to improve on?
Finally, what do you like to do outside of work?

Ryan McGuire
Tom Roberts
Trinity Treft
Spenser

9 - Application Process

Please send your application & CV to webmaster@torn.com by September 30th 2018.

- Cover letter / Personal statement
- Personal information
- Torn account information
- Educational background
- Employment history / experience
- Application Questions answered