Design: Senior Game Designer

Unknown Worlds is looking for an experienced Senior Designer to help us incubate and develop new game ideas from conception to release. The ideal candidate is a consummate communicator and collaborator. They are a student of game design with the toolset to understand and explain design theory and pitfalls. They coach and encourage their team are self-directed and highly motivated and enjoy working with multidisciplinary collaborative teams.

This is a remote position on a fully distributed team. We are looking for a candidate with the flexibility to collaborate with a team located primarily in the East and West Coast USA.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of developers to pitch and refine multiple game ideas and systems.

• Help teams navigate the early prototyping phase by assisting with hands-on development and iteration.

• Identify game design needs; drive conception and implementation of key features.

• Create and shepherd designs from paper to shipping.

• Advocate for the player’s perspective by assisting with the facilitation of playtests addressing concerns and driving solutions on design challenges.

• Coordinate with team leaders to identify address and adhere to constraints.

• Establish and maintain design documentation for systems across the project.

• Work across teams to ensure best design practices are followed.

Qualifications

• Experience leading or product-owning multi-disciplinary strike teams.

• Extensive experience with game design principles game balance pacing and player motivations.

• Deep knowledge and experience in a design discipline: systems gameplay 3Cs level design or other.

• Experience shipping at least 2 game titles in a design-focused role.

• Hands-on experience supporting the implementation of features and ideas in-engine.

• Experience transitioning game concepts from prototyping through pre-production and production phases.

• Excellent situational awareness and judgment with the ability to demonstrate both qualities in high-pressure situations.

• Excellent written and verbal communication.

• Experience with project management software such as JIRA Favro Notion and/or equivalents.

• Deep understanding of the foundational elements and player expectations of multiple genres.

Preferences

• Experience creating and refining game pitches.

• Experience working directly in Unity and/or Unreal 5.

• Experience working on a game in all phases of development from pre-production to shipping.

• Experience with open development or Early Access models engaging with large and active communities.

• Scripting experience (via code proprietary tools and/or visual scripting languages).

• Experience working in an environment that stretches the designer outside their bounds including experience with level gameplay and/or UX/UI design.