Senior Game Designer

Smoking Gun Interactive 1; Vancouver; Remote; CAD 80,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid/Remote flexibility

Medical/dental benefits

RRSP matching

Training & development

Vacation & personal leave

Job summary

Smoking Gun Interactive, a Keywords Studio company, seeks a Senior Game Designer for mobile and PC projects in Vancouver. You will design systems, balance gameplay, create levels and UI features, and communicate ideas clearly across teams.

You will work with analytics to tune mechanics, craft docs, and contribute to both small titles and larger collaborations, maintaining high quality and initiative in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience as a game designer.
• Experience with at least 2 shipped titles on mobile and PC.
• Experience designing for UI centric games.
• Experience tuning complex gameplay systems.
• Experience with game analytics and live products.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to take direction, work under pressure, and multitask.
• Understanding of mobile, online & console game markets.
• Willingness to push the envelope and innovate.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Lead Designer and Design Director to realize the project vision.
• Work with UI/UX Designer, Producer and Client to craft top-tier experiences.
• Create strong design documentation as the single source of truth.
• Convey the design vision across teams and stakeholders.
• Develop and tune gameplay mechanics for final quality per design goals.
• Analyze game data and generate reports with suggested design changes.
• Balance gameplay based on analytics and iterative testing.
• Coordinate with art and programming to hit project milestones.
• Contribute to all design facets on small and large projects.

Skills

Game design

UI design

Communication

Analytics

Balancing

Independent work

Mobile/PC

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Job description

Company Description

Smoking Gun Interactive, a Keywords Studio, is an industry-leading game development studio founded in 2007 by award-winning industry veterans. SGI is fearless in creating IP and boldly partners with renowned brands to develop a wide range of world-class, immersive titles and interactive experiences that resonate with strategy gamers worldwide and entertain millions of casual players every day.

Job Overview:

As a Senior Game Designer with Smoking Gun Interactive (SGI), you’re a talented, passionate individual with industry experience in game design for mobile products. You have hands-on experience designing systems, balancing gameplay mechanics, level design, puzzle design and visual/interactive elements of UI. A strong literacy in game design and the ability to clearly and concisely communicate ideas in both written and verbal forms is key. You can work independently with little supervision and collaborate with other disciplines to deliver a high-quality product.

Requirements

In this role, you will:

• Collaborate with the Lead Designer and Design Director to deliver on the creative vision for the project;
• Work closely with the UI/UX Designer, Producer and Client to create best in class experiences;
• Build strong design documentation to be used as the source of truth for all team members;
• Help evangelize and communicate the design vision to the team;
• Work independently to develop, build, tune and document gameplay mechanics to final quality while adhering to the design vision of the product;
• Track and analyze game data, and create reports with suggested design changes based on gameplay data;
• Adjust game mechanics designs and tune to balance gameplay mechanics based on gameplay analytics;
• Collaborate with art and programming disciplines to achieve project goals;
• Develop all facets of the game design on small games and contribute to all facets on larger teams;
• Maintain a high proficiency in workflows and pipelines, collaborating to improve tools and methodologies;
• Maintain a high level of quality in all aspects of their work;
• Take initiative in creative problem-solving and collaborating as needed to facilitate effective resolutions;
• Helping liaise between the design team and QA.

To be successful in this role, you must have:

• 3-5 years of experience as a game designer;
• Experience with at least 2 shipped titles as a game designer on mobile and PC games;
• Experience designing for UI centric games;
• Experience tuning of complex gameplay systems;
• Experience with game analytics and running a live product;
• Demonstrable expertise in game mechanics design and tuning;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, able to communicate ideas clearly;
• Ability to accept and provide direction, work well under pressure, and handle multiple tasks;
• Self-driven, take initiative and work independently without supervision;
• Experience in understanding the market and target audience for mobile, online & console games;
• Willingness to push the envelope and innovate within game parameters;
• Display a positive attitude, and passionate about gaming and striving to improve the quality of games.

It would also be helpful if you had:

• Experience with freemium game mechanics, retention and monetization strategies;
• Multi-platform development experience (Mobile, PC, Console);
• Experience working on AAA gaming projects;
• Basic knowledge of web development (HTML, CSS, Javascript);
• A bachelor’s degree.

Benefits

• 10 days vacation leave
• 5 paid days personal leave
• 7 paid sick days
• Life Insurance & Accidental Death & Dismemberment
• Dependent Life Insurance
• Long Term Disability (LTD)
• Extended Healthcare Benefit
• Dental Care
• RRSP matching
• Hybrid working
• Training & Development

Salary Range: $80,000 - $95,000 CAD

Smoking Gun Interactive is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran’s status, age or disability.

Keywords Studios is dedicated to following a well-established Equal Opportunities Policy. We endeavor to create a workplace which provides for equal opportunities for all employees and potential employees.

PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY

By providing your information in this application, you understand that we will collect and process your information in accordance with our Applicant Privacy Notice. For more information, please see our Applicant Privacy Notice at https://www.keywordsstudios.com/en/applicant-privacy-notice.

Role Information: EN
Studio: Smoking Gun
Location: Americas, Canada, Vancouver
Area of Work: Game Development
Service: Create
Employment Type: Full Time
Working Pattern: Remote