Lead Designer

Location: Hybrid preferred, fully remote possible

Limited to applicants residing in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

The team operates in a remote fashion. The candidate is strongly preferred to be someone local to Southern California that can deliver milestones in person to Beverly Hills as frequently as once a month.

Employment Type: Full-Time

About Snail Games USA

Snail Games USA is a leader in the video game industry, known for delivering innovative and immersive experiences. The company specializes in developing culturally rich and complex games.

Position Overview

A Lead Designer for an upcoming open world space game will be a visionary leader with a deep understanding of the survival game genre and have the capability to blend it with other game genres, such as logistics, 4X and exploration. They will drive a pillar of the game’s development, with responsibility for blending their mechanics and player experience with the overall vision of the game.

Key Responsibilities

• Creative Vision: Strategically own the vision of a pillar of the game, crafting the major design elements and how they fit within the overall vision.

• Team Leadership: Make long term plans for the design team to include roadmaps, content implementation plans, documentation plans while also upholding a high standard for design excellence.

• Game Design: Oversee the design of gameplay systems, mechanics, and features that enhance player engagement and experience. Ensure that the game is balanced, fun, and challenging.

• Collaboration: Work closely with other departments, including art, programming, and production, to ensure a cohesive development process where interdependencies are recognized and planned for.

• Iteration & Feedback: Implement a continuous feedback loop, utilizing playtesting and player feedback to refine and improve game elements throughout the development cycle.

Qualifications

• Experience: At least 7 years of experience in game design, with a minimum of 3 years in a lead design role.

• Technical Skills: Proficiency in Unreal Engine, Blueprinting, and appropriate source control solutions.

• Project Management Skills: Capability to break down work into actionable tasks, manage and monitor progress of those tasks and ensure that deadlines are being met.

• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, capable of clearly conveying complex design concepts to a multidisciplinary team.

Compensation

• $120,000 - $155,000 per year Salary is dependent on experience.

Health Insurance, Retirement Plans, separate PTO, sick time and holiday pay and other benefits.