Jobs in Croatia's gambling industry: roles, skills, career trajectories

The Croatian gambling industry is not only a casino and slots, but also a developed digital ecosystem: online operators, payment providers, live game studios, Risk/Compliance teams, IT infrastructure and marketing. Thanks to tourism and mobile online demand, the sector forms stable employment in coastal regions and large cities, as well as provides opportunities for hybrid and remote formats.

1) Land casino operations (Front of House)

Key roles:

Dealer/Croupier (roulette, blackjack, poker) - game management, rule control, payment calculation, guest service.
Supervisor/Pit Boss - table control, limit management, dispute resolution.
Cashier (Cash Desk) - work with chips/cash, identification of customers for large payments.
Host/VIP manager - personal support of high rollers, coordination of F&B and transfers.
Hall Operations Manager - Schedules, Shift KPIs, Training and Service Standards.

Skills and KPIs: mathematical accuracy, stress tolerance, English (often German/Italian), speed and impeccable service; KPI - round speed/accuracy of payments/NPS of guests.

2) Live casinos and studios

Roles: live dealer (on-camera), show game host, studio floor manager, broadcast director, camera operator, content producer, etiquette and speech coach.

Focus: stable HD stream, competent diction, timing, compliance with RG scripts.

Career: from live dealer → trainer/supervisor → production manager.

3) Online operator: product and support

Product/Operations:

Casino Manager/Sportsbook Manager - range of providers/lines, promotional calendar, tournament nets.
Content/Promo Ops - banners, "For You" showcases, push campaigns, A/B tests.
CRM/Lifecycle - segmentation, retention, cross-sell between slots/bets/live.

Support and moderation:

Customer Support (RU/EN/HR/DE/IT) - chat/mail/phone, KYC checks on checklists.
Payments Support - pin statuses, analysis of 3-D Secure/SCA cases, communication with acquirers.

KPI: Retention D7/D30, deposit conversion, Payout ETA, CSAT/NPS, response time.

4) Risk Management, AML/KYC and Responsible Gaming

Roles:

Risk Analyst/Fraud Analyst - monitoring multi-accounts, arbitration, bonus abuse.
AML/KYC Officer - identity/address verification, SoF/SoW for large amounts, reporting.
Responsible Gaming Specialist - deposit/time limits, self-locking, vulnerable behavior cases.

Skills: knowledge of EU regulatory practices, work with payment rules, behavioral analytics, competent escalation.

KPI: share of auto-approved payments after KYC, false-positive in anti-fraud, alert closing dates, RG indicators (share of activated limits).

5) Payments and finance

Roles: Payment Operations, Reconciliation Specialist, Chargeback Manager, Financial Controller.

Tasks: integration of cards/wallets (Skrill/PayPal), SEPA reconciliations, commission control, GGR/tax reports, work with chargebacks.

KPI: deposit conversion, Payout ETA P95, chargeback share, reconciliation accuracy.

6) Technology and data

Roles: Backend/Frontend/Mobile Dev, DevOps/SRE, QA, Data Engineer, BI-Analyst, ML-Specialist (risk, personalization).

Stack (approximately): microservices, containers, CI/CD, analytics (DWH/BI), real-time feeds for betting, integration of content providers.

KPI: uptime, crash-free sessions, latency live-tables, release roll-out speed, dashboard accuracy.

7) Marketing, brand and creative

Roles: Performance marketer, ASO/SEO, SMM/community, affiliate manager, stream producer, copywriter/localizer (HR/EN + travel languages).

KPI: CAC/LTV, channel ROI, community activity, tournament and mission contributions to GGR.

8) HR, Training, Safety and Infrastructure

Roles: HRBP/Recruiter, Dealer and Live-Presenter Training Manager, HSE/Physical Security, Facility.

Focus: selection during the peak season, onboarding, shift schedules, service standards, safety of halls and studios.

9) Seasonality and employment formats

Peak: May-October on the coast (tourism, cruises, festivals) - reinforced shifts, temporary contracts, night slots.

Hybrid/remote: support, CRM, Risk/BI, part of development; offline roles and live studios - mainly on-site.

Career growth: offline start → online operations/risk → management; or tech track from QA/Support → Dev/DevOps/BI.

10) Skills and certification

Soft-skills: service/ethics, shift work, team communication, English (often another European language).

Hard-skills: Excel/SQL for analytics, basic probability mathematics for dealers, knowledge of payment flow and KYC/AML checklists.

Certificates (by role): AML/KYC courses, Responsible Gaming, basic ISO security modules, live coaching certificates.

11) Examples of KPIs by role (compressed benchmark)

Dealer: errors per 100 rounds ≤ standard, round speed, guest complaints.

Risk/AML: SLA by alert, share of confirmed fraud cases, reduction in bonus abuse.

Payments: median Payout ETA, deposit success, chargeback rate.

CRM: Retention D30 growth, share of "For You" segments, mission/tournament response.

Dev/DevOps: uptime ≥99,9%, deploy time, MTTR incidents.

12) Tips for job seekers

1. Define the track: front-office (service and communication) or back-office (data/payments/risk/IT).

2. Prepare the database: English + 1 EU-language, Excel/SQL-minimum, intelligible CV with KPI.

3. Seasonal start: Respond 2-3 months before peak; take a short RG/AML course - that makes it stand out.

4. Service portfolio: cases of conflict resolution, speed/accuracy, recommendations.

5. Schedule flexibility: Night/holiday shift readiness is a plus.

13) Recommendations to employers

Job descriptions: clear KPIs, shift, language requirements, RG/AML mandatory.

Onboarding: basic school (rules of games, box office, RG), shadow shifts and checklists for the first 14 days.

Training: regular refresh courses for dealers and support, live simulators/solution tables.

Benefits: transport at night, meals, medical programs, bonuses for the season.

Culture: zero tolerance for violation of RG and compliance, understandable escalation of incidents.

14) Growth outlook

Live segment and mobile online expand the demand for frames with languages and TV skills.

Data/BI and anti-fraud is a fast career elevator for analysts.

The hall ↔ application omnichannel adds CRM/personalization and product management roles.

Croatia's gambling industry creates a wide range of jobs - from dealers and live presenters to risk analysts, engineers and CRM marketers. Seasonal tourism supports offline employment, and digitalization opens up hybrid and remote roles. A successful career is built on a combination of service, languages, RG/AML discipline and basic analytics - it is this skill set that ensures stable growth and sustainability of the team all year round.