Mobile Movers: All the latest appointments and job moves from around the industry

• Knowing who’s going where and doing what is key to understanding the industry and where to head next
• Who's doing what for who and where… Here's our latest rundown of the latest moves

Who's going where and why… The mobile industry is huge and there's a lot to keep track of. Whether that’s new board members, executives or key team members moving on, jumping ship or just getting ahead. Knowing who’s going where and doing what is key to understanding the industry and where to look next.

That’s where this our round-up of hires comes in. Who's doing what for who and where… Here's our latest rundown of the latest moves. Starting off with…

Homa appoints Scopely veteran Dan Adair as VP and general manager of hybridcasual

Adair’s new role is as VP and general manager of hybridcasual, tasking him with ensuring each of Homa’s hybridcasual titles has "transformative impact".

The hire comes as Homa seeks to expand and strengthen its hybridcasual division, and follows Devin Radford’s appointment as VP of business development in late May.

Adair brings 10 years of games industry experience to his new role at Homa, with a background in product leadership preparing him to make "significant contributions" at Homa. His start in the industry was at Zynga, leading Dawn of Titans and Zynga Poker teams, before moving on to Scopely.

The Monopoly GO! maker is where Adair spent eight of his 10 years in the industry (so far) in general manager and product leadership roles. He was involved in games like Kingdom Maker and WWE Champions, as well as company initiatives such as updating frameworks around greenlighting, developing, and launching new games.

BBC Studios hires former Bossa Studios CCO Marina Mello as first global director, gaming and interactive

As a BAFTA member who led Bossa Studios’ business development, marketing, publishing, finance and legal teams for over five years, Mello’s expertise ranges from strategy to fundraising to game publishing.

Before Bossa, she managed a range of commercial and strategic projects for Shine Group and worked with brands like the cooking competition Masterchef.

Mello took to LinkedIn to share: "I'm thrilled to be joining BBC Studios as global director, gaming & interactive. The BBC is renowned for its outstanding content and unique role in fostering and promoting British creative excellence.

Pixel Federation appoints Daniel Duranka as CEO

Anne-Marie Pelkonen is Rovio's new head of performance marketing

Anne-Marie took to LinkedIn to share the news of her step from associate director to head of performance marketing as part of a ten years plus career at Rovio.

In that time Anne-Marie has progressed from specialist to head, leading strategies for user acquisition and product marketing for popular games such as Angry Birds. She's also managed player support and licensing agreements in previous roles. 

Prior to Rovio, Anne-marie worked at H&M and Stockmann, and held customer service at OP-Pohjola Group and Sanoma. 

Brett Hunt is Newzoo's new market analyst 

“After 2.5 years at Newzoo, and almost six years in Europe, I'm incredibly excited to share that as of last week l've joined Newzoo's Market Analyst team,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “It's thrilling to be at the base of a new climb. The amount of learning ahead is a bit daunting, but welcome nonetheless. I've never felt more at home, by all literal and figurative definitions."

Hunt has a diverse background in data analysis, product management, and business development having previously worked as a business development representative at Newzoo.

His experience includes managing media and visualization products at GRID esports and strategizing for esports initiatives at Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation.

loana Hreninciuc joins Huuuge Games as chief product officer

Prior to her experience as CPO of Huuuge Games, loana co-founded Runware and has previously served as CPO at Homa Games and held multiple key roles at GameAnalytics, including CEO, COO, and head of product, over a span of more than five years. 

She joins Huuuge Games  and the Huuuge Casino studio to help usher in a new era of growth and player focus and has expressed her excitement to be able to work on one of the titles that shaped and continues the social casino genre.

“I love working with game devs and being a part of the success story of a title,” she writes on LinkedIn. “I am truly glad to take everything I've learned over the past 10 years about running high performance teams & using data to grow games, and putting it to work for genre defining titles like Huuuge Casino and Billionaire Casino."

Oskari Nivara joins Rovio as new public relations lead

Nivara previously served as a senior brand & PR specialist at Rovio and prior to that he worked as a communications specialist at Talous ja nuoret TAT, focusing on helping young people develop skills in economics and working life. 

He's also held a role as communications coordinator at Miltton, where he focused on empowering changemakers.

“Despite the struggles of being a bold and impatient kid who still tries to figure some things out, I'm super excited about the new role and new areas that I can start exploring. Feeling proud, motivated and lucky,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

Devin Radford joins Homa as new VP of business development

With 18 years experience in business development, Devin Radford joins Homa after leading video game licensing at OneTeam Partners and holding executive roles at Disney and FoxNext.

In his new role, Radford will enhance Homa’s game developer ecosystem and lead strategic partnerships with studios including driving Homa's move into games publishing, sealing new deals with external parties alongside Homa's product strategy and corporate development teams to create new games.

“I’m truly excited to join Homa at this pivotal moment in its growth trajectory and to collaborate with such a seasoned team. I look forward to connecting with the best studios that can contribute to Homa’s mission of providing audiences with amazing gaming experiences,” said Radford.

Fingersoft appoints Mikko Kirmanen as chief of growth

After seven years with Fingersoft, Mikko Kirmanen has been promoted once again, this time to director of growth. The new role means Kirmanen will now lead the marketing division to grow Fingersoft "via excellent games".

This level up has advanced Kirmanen from the head of user acquisition role, in which he tested ad creatives, UA KPIs, channels, and more, He clearly proved himself worthy of further responsibility and Fingersoft’s focus on keeping "small and personal" with a "relaxed, casual and informal work atmosphere" is reflected in this in-house promotion, having kept Kirmanen in the company since his days a publishing director in 2017.

"I feel honoured and grateful to be chosen as the new director of growth at Fingersoft! I'll do my best to lead the teams in the growth division - busy times ahead," he posted on LinkedIn.

Michael Pattison is the new vice president of Lightspeed Studios

Michael Pattison joins Lightspeed Studios with over two decades of experience in the industry, Pattison has worked in senior positions at THQ and Capcom before becoming leading third-party publishing, developer relations, and global marketing at Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2013.

Prior to this Pattison was chief executive officer at Team 17 following eight years at PlayStation.

With over 28 years experience in the creative technology industry, Michael's experience spans multiple areas of the business including senior executive roles at platforms, publishers and developers working across console, PC, mobile, streaming distribution and subscription models. 

"Hiring Pattison is invaluable as we continue to innovate and create exceptional game experiences for our players on a global scale," said Steve C Martin, vice-president of Lightspeed.

Tracey Watson has been promoted to senior manager of Content Design at Netflix

Having previously held four positions at Netflix, Tracey Watson will be stepping up to the position as senior manager of Content Design.

Previously, Watson was UX & Content Design Leader at Netflix Games, having been manager of content design for Emerging Content Experience and before that content designer for  games.

Prior to her career at Netflix, Watson worked as studio lead for narrative design at King, working on Candy Crush Saga. There she managed a team of narrative designers and led the narrative design discipline at King’s flagship studio in Stockholm, overseeing the creative story, game, and brand elements for multiple titles across studios. 

Commenting on her new appointment she said “It helps that I have the best team and partners in the business!” in a post on LinkedIn.