Design Senior Game Designer at Unknown Worlds Entertainment

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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.