Lead Game Designer

Rebellion; Warwick; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is looking for a Lead Game Designer to guide a talented team on an exciting unannounced project. This role offers a fantastic opportunity to shape the development process from the ground up. You will lead, mentor, and inspire your team, ensuring high-quality gameplay experiences are delivered in line with project direction. With a hybrid working model, you can enjoy flexibility while collaborating with a world-class team. Join a vibrant environment that values creativity and innovation, and be part of a company that is not just about games but also explores film, comics, and more.

Benefits

22 days holidays + Christmas closure

Private Medical Insurance

Life Assurance

Enhanced Pension Scheme

Mental Health and Wellbeing Support

Qualifications

• Extensive knowledge of people management best practices.
• Expert knowledge of video game development process.

Responsibilities

• Lead and inspire a team of Designers using best practices.
• Collaborate with Design Directors to balance vision and production.

Skills

People management

Video game development process

Production pipelines

Prototyping and iterating

Education

Experience in game design

Job description

We want you to #JOINTHEREBELLION!

For 30 years we’ve been independently developing and publishing incredible video games at our multiple studios founded by Jason & Chris Kingsley, but Rebellion is more than just games. We have our own film and mo-cap studio, we create board games, publish books, and through 2000AD, publish comics and graphic novels such as the amazing Judge Dredd.

We are seeking an experienced Lead Game Designer with exceptional leadership and people management skills to guide our talented team on an unannounced project. This role offers a fantastic opportunity to help shape the development right from the very start.

Your role is to lead, inspire and develop your team and mentor designers in all aspects of their role, whilst overseeing the work of the project design team. Your focus is to lead a team of Designers to deliver a high-quality gameplay experience in line with project direction.

This exciting hybrid opportunity can be based out of either of our studios in Oxford or Warwick studios, offering flexibility, collaboration, and the chance to work with a world-class team! We can provide a relocation package, including moving assistance, temporary accommodation, and full support to ensure a smooth transition to your new environment.

We believe in the power of face-to-face collaboration and encourage working from our studios. However, we understand that flexibility matters, so we’re open to discussing hybrid options based on individual needs.

Responsibilities:

1. Lead and inspire a team of Designers with best practice people management techniques.
2. Proactively manage your team’s performance and professional development through performance review cycles giving constructive, actionable, relevant feedback.
3. Collaborate with Design Directors and the Production team to balance creative vision with the production realities.
4. Oversee the work of a project design team and mentor designers in all aspects of their role.
5. Regularly review your team's work against the design brief and provide actionable feedback to make improvements, incorporating appropriate feedback from key stakeholders.
6. Verify the quality of design in the game, give feedback to designers and suggest improvements where necessary to fit technical constraints and artistic direction. Ensure correct documentation workflows and processes are followed throughout the project lifecycle.
7. Plan and conduct gameplay evaluations with the Design Director and the team providing feedback and suggestions to help fine-tune and improve the game.
8. Be an active mentor and role model for the Design team. Work to maintain morale, create an atmosphere of creativity, enthusiasm and inspiration.

Requirements

1. Extensive knowledge of people management best practices.
2. Broad business knowledge of the company structure, operations and strategy.
3. Willingness and ability to deliver high quality results using tools and processes required to get the job done.
4. Expert knowledge of the video game development process, including working in a timely manner, and prototyping/iterating appropriately within that restriction.
5. Excellent knowledge of production pipelines.

Benefits

We offer an extensive benefits package to our team including:

1. 22 days holidays + Christmas closure (typically 4 days) & Bank holidays (increasing with service at 5 years – one day each year until you reach 31 days)
2. Private Medical Insurance, healthcare cash plan, including dental and Vision
3. Life Assurance, Income Protection & Critical Illness Cover
4. Enhanced Family Leave
5. Interest Free, Tax-Free loans
6. Enhanced Pension Scheme
7. EAP a range of Mental Health and Wellbeing Support
8. Plus loads more… including a wide range of discounts, freebies, and social events!