Level / Game Designer - Senior
What You'll Do
- Act as a primary design point of contact for external partner studios, driving collaborative efforts and ensuring alignment of vision and execution across distributed teams
- Drive the conceptualization, documentation, and macro-level vision of levels, spaces, missions, and gameplay experiences
- Develop and iterate on pipelines, processes, and tools to elevate the efficiency and quality of the entire design team
- Lead cross-functional strike teams to achieve end-user experience goals, proactively identifying and resolving project-wide blockers
- Lead by example in grey-boxing, pacing, layout beats, scripting, encounters, and gameplay implementation, setting the gold standard for the studio
- Drive testing, debugging, level performance, streaming, and optimization strategies
- Act as a champion for the discipline, actively accountable for driving results and owning specific project mandates
- Be a foundational source of knowledge, providing high-level mentorship to Associate and Core designers to foster a culture of excellence
What You'll Bring
- 8+ years of professional game development experience, demonstrating a consistent track record of driving results, iterating on process, and owning major game features and experiences
- Experience working on at least 3 shipped titles, with a proven ability in driving macro-level vision, establishing pipelines, and guiding cross-functional teams from concept to final release
- Exceptional ability to tackle highly complex, cross-discipline problems where no established pipeline exists, turning ambiguity into actionable strategies
- Mastery of virtual spaces, pacing, flow, immersion, player motivation, and aesthetics
- Proven leadership in collaborating across disciplines in both internal and external teams
- Excellent active communication skills, capable of pitching, defending, and driving consensus on high-level design decisions
- Expert understanding of technical concepts, logic, logic flow, and systemic game design
- Expert mastery of Unreal Engine and its development environment, with a track record of pushing the engine's capabilities
Nice to Have
- AAA experience
- Experience with Unity or proprietary custom engines
- Experience developing on console
- At least one shipped title
Job Details
Job Title: Level Designer - Principal
Reports to: Director of Design
Department: Design
Work Location: Fully Remote
Employment status: Full Time
FLSA: Salaried, Exempt
Benefits: Generous PTO, Health, Dental, & Vision coverage; Healthcare and Daycare FSAs, 401k with company match; Life and Disability insurance, Technology Stipend, Paid Sick leave, commuter benefits, paid company holidays and office closures
About Hardsuit Labs
Hardsuit Labs is an independent game developer founded in 2015 in Seattle, Washington. We believe that great games can only be built with great people and that great people thrive and do their best work in a healthy, collaborative, and positive work environment that values them. We believe in a diverse and inclusive workplace and building equity throughout the organization.
Equal Employment Opportunity
We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.
Personal Data Protection Policy
By providing your information in this application, you understand that we will collect and process your information in accordance with our Applicant Privacy Notice. For more information, please see our Applicant Privacy Notice at https://www.keywordsstudios.com/en/applicant-privacy-notice.
E-Verify Notification
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