Principal Designer

Frontier; Town Of Cambridge; On-site; AUD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Successful annual bonus

Share option schemes

Private family healthcare

Flexitime working hours

In-house subsidised catering

Cycle to Work scheme

Social activities and events

Job summary

Frontier is seeking a Principal Game Designer to join their Design team in Australia. You will lead design efforts on projects, driving game vision and ensuring high-quality experiences. Responsibilities include managing major features, mentoring team members, and collaborating with various disciplines. Ideal candidates will have substantial commercial game design experience, a strong understanding of player psychology, and excellent communication skills. Frontier offers a competitive salary, annual bonus, and various employee wellbeing initiatives.

Qualifications

• Deep game knowledge across a range of genres, especially management and simulation games.
• Commercial game design experience in a senior role.
• Experience of designing and delivering major game features.

Responsibilities

• Taking ownership of design for major feature areas.
• Working with the Game Director to deliver on the game’s vision.
• Managing project risks and identifying blockers.

Skills

Game knowledge across management and simulation genres

Commercial game design experience

Strong understanding of player psychology

Excellent presentation skills

Team management and motivation

Job description

WHAT'S THE ROLE?

We are looking for a Principal Game Designer to join our Design team. In this role, you will either act as the lead designer on a project, or support project leadership. You will be responsible for driving the game vision and translating it into compelling, high-quality game experiences.

Principal Designers at Frontier are experts at their craft and manage major feature areas on a project, mentor and inspire the wider design team, and create exemplar design work.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

• Taking ownership of design for major feature areas, or where required leading design across the entire project.
• Working with the Game Director to deliver on the game’s vision.
• Providing line-management for design team members, developing their careers, and making the most of their capabilities.
• Managing project risks, and identifying blockers and inefficiencies.
• Driving quality using playtests, player feedback, QA reporting, and your own insights.
• Designing game features, creating in-game content and balancing game systems.
• Collaborating closely with other development disciplines to build understanding and gain alignment throughout development.
• Managing game design documentation & communication across the team.
• Working with Production to ensure effective feature prioritisation and work scheduling.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• Deep game knowledge across a range of genres, especially management and simulation games.
• Commercial game design experience in a senior role.
• Experience of designing and delivering major game features.
• Experience of managing and motivating teams.
• Strong understanding of player psychology.
• Excellent presentation skills, and experience in presenting your ideas to stakeholders both within and outside the project.
• Knowledge of a variety of game design theories and methods.
• Ability to clearly communicate your ideas across a variety of media.

BONUS IF YOU HAVE

• Experience working on management games.
• Knowledge of UX/UI design principles.
• Experience of supporting and growing live games.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU

You will work with talented and passionate people to support, develop or publish our sophisticated and enduring games, in a creative, collaborative and inclusive environment. We love what we do, and we work hard to provide outstanding experiences for our players.

Wellbeing is a big focus at Frontier, and we are continually evolving how we can support our people. We encourage a healthy work/life balance and provide a range of wellbeing activities, initiatives and sessions to support both mental and physical health.

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package, which includes a success-based annual bonus, share option schemes, life assurance, private family healthcare, flexitime working hours, enhanced maternity/paternity leave, in-house subsidised catering, support with relocation, a Cycle to Work scheme, free bike servicing, and social activities and events.

We strive to create an environment where everyone can fully demonstrate their capability and potential. If you therefore need any reasonable adjustments to support you during the recruitment process, please speak to your Talent Acquisition representative.

For queries, please email: [e-mail]