Vacancies

Lead Systems Designer – Star Wars

Game Design (Austin-TX, London-UK)

At NaturalMotion, we make games that wow people. We innovate to create experiences that previously were impossible and that would not exist without us. We take pride in making titles that reach a large audience and in creating communities that last. For the past six years, NaturalMotion Studios have been named as one of the Best Places to Work in the UK games industry by gamesindustry.biz

We are looking for an experienced systems designer to join us at NaturalMotion/Zynga in creating Star Wars: Hunters™, a competitive arena combat game for the Nintendo Switch system and mobile devices. Star Wars: Hunters will bring players together to engage in thrilling, squad-based, multiplayer battles featuring a diverse array of distinctive new Star Wars characters. 

As lead systems designer, you will oversee the development of meta-features and systems that will excite and engage our players, and help define the game’s roadmap in close collaboration with the product team.

In this function, you will be tasked with spearheading the design of individual features, as well overseeing the harmonious integration of new systems within the existing framework of the game.

Your experience on past projects will allow you to clearly articulate feature designs that are extensible, tunable, and live-ops ready.

Finally, as lead systems designer, you will support and guide other designers in your field to facilitate development of their own feature designs.

Key Roles & Responsibilities:

• Working closely with product and analytics stakeholders to identify features that will support and grow the success of the game, helping shape roadmap strategy and prioritization.
• Writing detailed design specifications for major game systems that marry KPI and design goals, while accounting for interactions with existing features and the game’s economy.
• Clearly present and communicate your designs to project leads and members of the development team.
• Collaborating closely with the UX discipline to ensure that complex features are visualized in a clear and engaging way.
• Developing extensible and data-driven solutions that can be easily operated in a live-ops environment.
• Leading the feature design team in the successful delivery of features, reviewing design documentation and providing guidance to the team.

 

Required Experience & Skills

• Experience as a lead designer in the mobile gaming industry and the free-to-play market.
• Experience designing for a live-ops game with a strong understanding of key performance indicators and analytics.
• Experience writing detailed design specifications for meta-systems with the ability to define data-structures and tuning parameters.
• Ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with stakeholders across multiple disciplines, including analytics, product, and user experience design.

 

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Working within a live-ops environment; collaborating with analytics to understand user behavior and react to live data.
• Experience working with competitive multiplayer games or other mid-core titles.
• Experience leading and mentoring design talent.

What we offer you

• Competitive salary and discretionary annual bonus scheme
• Create next-gen games that will be played and loved by millions of players around the world
• Work in a family-oriented, collaborative team that invests in your development and growth on-the-job
• A diverse team of friendly, fun and supportive co-workers
• Flexible working hours & crunch-free working culture
• Summer/Winter parties and weekly Happy Hour in the studio
• 26 days holiday + bank holidays, 2 paid personal days
• 6 months of fully paid maternity/adoption leave or 16 weeks of fully paid paternity leave (eligibility criteria apply)
• Pension plan with a double matching employer contribution (capped at 8%)
• Private medical insurance, dental insurance and healthcare cash plan
• Life insurance, accident insurance and long-term disability insurance
• Company Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) (eligibility criteria apply)
• Fitness Reimbursement plan worth £600 per annum
• Charitable Giving Platform to which the Company contributes a 2:1
• Annual season ticket advance and cycle to work scheme

We are an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to building a diverse and talented workforce. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, medical condition, disability, or any other class or characteristic protected by applicable law. We welcome job-seekers, players, employees, and partners from all backgrounds to join us!

We will consider all qualified job-seekers with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with physical or mental disabilities in order to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.  Please contact us at accommodationRequest@zynga.com to request an accommodation associated with your application for an open position.

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