Play Designer

Sago Mini is an award-winning publisher of preschool apps and toys worldwide. We are supported by a team of artists, designers, developers, product managers, thinkers, and doers devoted to play. With over 100 million downloads and three subscription services featuring 45+ apps, Sago Mini brings thoughtful design to life for kids and parents worldwide. Along with Toca Boca and Originator, we’re part of the Piknik family – a collection of top-rated apps for kids in one subscription. 

About the Role

As a Play Designer you will work with our product owners, developers and artists to craft active playful experiences for children ages 2-5. You will be a key advocate of the child and parent experience, applying insights and research to establish and iterate on the details of play, interaction, and visual design. This position would be ideal for someone with a background in mobile game design or toy design with a special interest in designing great digital experiences for children.
 

You’ll thrive in this role if you…

• Are playful and curious by nature
• Enjoy working with and for kids!
• Have strong interaction design skills.
• Take pride in ownership and like to hustle.
• Are able to work collaboratively and take pride in your ability to communicate your ideas. 
• Like to solve problems and are eager to learn new things.
• Are obsessed with the details, and can take an experience from good to great.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Design fun and intuitive open play experiences for kids.
• Create sketches, storyboards, wireframes, and prototypes.
• Work collaboratively with digital artists and developers to make great apps.
• Play test digital products with young children and parents.
• Communicate insights and observations to the team.
• Understand kids’ motivations and expectations when it comes to play.

Qualifications and Skills

• You have a degree in product, industrial, or interactive design or have demonstrable working experience.
• You have at least 5+ years of professional experience working in design.
• You are naturally inquisitive and capable of making careful observations and conclusions with an open mind.
• You are curious and playful and an enthusiastic lateral thinker.
• You must be a comfortable communicator and excellent collaborator.
• You can successfully communicate interaction design details that account for the needs of artists and developers.
• You have a strong interaction design sensibility and a passion for details.
• You love working with and for children.
• You are serious about silliness and can also be seriously silly. 

Nice to Haves

• Experience working in the Unity game engine
• Previous experience designing for mobile apps

About the Process

• You’ll get an email response confirming we’ve received your application, and we’ll let you know within a few weeks if we’d like to schedule a follow-up.
• If you’re moving ahead, we’ll book a call to learn more about your experience. 
• If that goes well, we’ll send you a short homework assignment to get a better feel for your skillset. 
• If the assignment goes well, we’ll book an interview with you and the hiring team to dive deeper.
• You’re a strong candidate at this stage! We’d love for you to meet the team before we make a final call. 

We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

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Based in Toronto, Sago Sago Toys is a subsidiary of Spin Master Limited a leading global children’s entertainment company that creates, designs and manufactures a diversified portfolio of innovative toys, games, products and entertainment properties. We hire humble and collaborative people who care about doing great work. Sago Mini is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity at our company.