Design: Lead Designer - New Game Project

Come make something brand new with us! 

Unknown Worlds is looking for an experienced Lead Designer to help us incubate and develop new game ideas from conception to release. The ideal candidate is a leader, consummate communicator, and collaborator. They are a student of game design, with the toolset to understand and explain game design theory and pitfalls, and the vision and enthusiasm to voice the promise in ideas at a very early phase. 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 looking for a candidate with the flexibility to collaborate with a team located primarily in the East and West Coast USA.

• Establish a stable, inclusive creative process for the game’s development.
• Help teams navigate the early discovery phase by assisting with hands-on prototyping, evaluating and refining pitches, setting creative goals, and directing concepts as they develop.
• Ensure team-wide alignment around game vision, designs, intentions and reasoning.
• Collaborate with leaders in other disciplines, adapt to constraints and produce creative solutions and alternatives.
• Design and drive key features from conception to shipping.
• Identify design needs and help staff a new project team. Lead design interviews, candidate feedback, and onboarding processes.
• Advocate for the player’s perspective by assisting with the facilitation of playtests, addressing concerns and driving solutions on design challenges.
• Develop, document and maintain the design systems, pipelines, and workflows for the game.
• Work with the entire development team to ensure best design practices are followed.

• Experience leading one or more multi-platform games in a lead design role through all phases of development.
• Deep knowledge of design best practices and experience in a design discipline: systems, gameplay, 3Cs, World, or other. 
• Demonstrated ability to support the implementation of features and ideas in-engine.
• Excellent situational awareness and judgment, with the ability to demonstrate both qualities in high-pressure situations.
• Experience managing, mentoring, and coaching designers. 
• 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 and successfully leading game discovery efforts.
• Experience working as an individual contributor in Unity and/or Unreal 5.
• Experience with open development or Early Access models engaging with large and active communities.
• Scripting experience (in code, proprietary tools, and/or visual scripting languages).