Lead Gameplay Designer

Flix Interactive Ltd; West Midlands; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private health and dental care

20 days A/L plus additional leave over

Fully remote working (Europe)

Gamepass or PS Plus Subscription

Flexible core hours

Job summary

Flix Interactive Ltd in the West Midlands is seeking a Lead Melee Combat Designer to own and develop a fluid, impactful melee system for a major title. You’ll oversee concepts through prototype, production and final polish, shaping player movesets, enemy behavior and combat rhythm in Unreal Engine.

You’ll lead by example in the prototype phase and may grow a design team, collaborating with animators, programmers and game directors to balance solo and co‑op encounters and deliver responsive,

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional experience designing melee combat
• Ownership of combat systems on at least one shipped title
• Expert practical knowledge of Unreal Engine with Blueprint skills
• Strong understanding of animation systems in Unreal (state machines, blend spaces, montages)
• Experience designing and balancing multiplayer combat (co-op)
• Leadership experience and ability to mentor a design team

Responsibilities

• Own combat design from concepts to final implementation in Unreal Engine
• Build, test, and refine combat with programmers and animators
• Design movesets, abilities, enemy behaviors, bosses and encounters
• Tune attacks, combos, timing, spacing and flow for responsive combat
• Shape animation timing and gameplay integration with the animation team
• Balance combat for solo and co-op play across player counts
• Drive focused prototypes, playtesting and iteration
• Communicate designs clearly and document work
• Lead and potentially recruit/mentor a design team

Skills

Melee combat design

Unreal Engine

Blueprints

Animation systems

Co-op balance

Leadership

Prototyping

Gameplay balancing

C++ in Unreal

Team mentorship

Tools

Unreal Engine

Animation blueprints

Job description

Europe Remote or West Midlands-based / Full-Time Permanent

Please note: We welcome applicants who prefer to work from home; however, we cannot offer visa sponsorship for this opportunity at this time.

Role ID: FLX-R205

Role:

We’re looking for a Lead Melee Combat Designer to own and develop a fluid, impactful melee combat experience inspired by Shadow of Mordor and God of War.

You’ll take combat from initial concepts through prototyping, production and final polish, shaping both the player’s abilities and the enemies they face. Working primarily in Unreal Engine, you’ll combine creative ideas with a strong sense of timing, flow and game feel to make combat intuitive, varied and rewarding in both solo and co-op play.

This is a hands‑on leadership role. You’ll initially lead by example through the prototype phase, with the potential to build and manage a design team as development grows.

Responsibilities:

• Own the combat design from paper concepts to final implementation, setting a clear direction in collaboration with the Game Director.
• Build, test, and refine combat directly in Unreal Engine, working closely with the Senior Technical Animator and programmers.
• Design player movesets, abilities, enemy behaviours, bosses and combat encounters that create depth, variety and meaningful choices.
• Tune attacks, combos, defensive actions, hit reactions and targeting, with close attention to responsiveness, timing, spacing and flow.
• Shape animation timing, transitions and gameplay integration alongside the Senior Technical Animator.
• Balance combat for solo and co-op play, keeping different player counts, complementary abilities and enemy interactions in mind.
• Keep combat engaging throughout the game through new enemies, abilities, encounters and evolving tactical challenges.
• Explore new ideas through focused prototypes, playtesting and iteration.
• Communicate designs clearly, maintain practical documentation and take responsibility for delivering polished results.
• Help establish the combat design team as the project grows, potentially taking on recruitment, mentoring and line management.
• 7+ years of professional experience designing melee combat, including ownership of combat systems on at least one shipped title.
• Expert practical knowledge of Unreal Engine, with strong Blueprint skills and the ability to independently build, debug and tune character combat.
• A strong working understanding of Unreal’s animation systems, including Animation Blueprints, state machines, blend spaces, montages, animation notifies, root motion, motion matching, motion warping, IK and Control Rig.
• Confidence adjusting animation implementation and timing to improve combat feel, in close collaboration with animation specialists.
• A strong understanding of player combat, enemy design and encounter balance, with a clear feel for anticipation, impact, recovery and combat rhythm.
• Experience designing and balancing multiplayer combat, with an understanding of the challenges of co-op play.
• The ability to create combat variety and sustain player interest across a full game.
• A creative, experimental approach, supported by sound judgement and a willingness to test, adapt or discard ideas.
• Demonstrated ability to lead from the front, take ownership and move work forward independently.
• Clear communication skills and a collaborative approach to working across disciplines.
• Experience with Unreal’s Gameplay Ability System and networked gameplay systems.
• Experience shipping a game with both solo and co-op combat.
• Experience growing, mentoring or managing a design team.
• Familiarity with animation production and motion capture workflows.
• C++ experience, particularly within Unreal Engine.

What We Offer:

Based just outside Birmingham, Flix is made up of welcoming, passionate, active gamers who support one another in all aspects of development. We offer you:

• Private health and dental care.
• 20 days A/L plus additional leave over the Christmas period.
• Team social events, including board game nights and charity fundraisers.
• Two company‑wide parties a year, all expenses paid.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Fully remote working (Europe).
• Gamepass or PS Plus Subscription.
• Flexible core hours.

On top of that, here’s more:

• The opportunity to join a friendly, nurturing work environment and build games as part of an extremely talented, ambitious studio.
• Work on market‑leading titles and IP with globally reputable studios and publisher partners.
• Being part of a sustainably growing game developer studio as we consciously expand our team and projects on a case‑by‑case basis.
• Learning within an independent studio across a wide range of projects and opportunities both internal and external.

GDPR COMPLIANCE – When applying for this job you’re authorising Flix Interactive to store your application information and distribute it to the appropriate email inboxes of senior team members in order to review your role eligibility.

Your application will be stored on a private cloud based online system for processing. If you would like us to update, delete or refine your application please email [e-mail]. Your request will be actioned within 30 days of receiving your email.

Please note – In compliance with GDPR law your data will be used for recruitment purposes only. We are unable to accept candidates requiring visa sponsorship for this opportunity at this time.

Flix Interactive Ltd is an equal opportunities employer committed to inclusion and diversity. We welcome applications from all suitable candidates regardless of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity status, race, religion or belief, and marriage or civil partnership status. We also encourage applications from underrepresented groups in the gaming industry.

All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only. Site cared for by Dekiru