Development Manager jobs in United Kingdom

About the role:

This is a pivotal design role and a crucial partner to the Game Director on one of our R&D game projects. You will play a key role in shaping the game and design vision for a new game concept, from prototyping through production and launch. You will also mentor and nurture the growth of a talented team of game designers, fostering a culture of creativity and excellence.

What you'll achieve:

1. Carry the product vision and guide the team’s major design decisions.
2. Drive discussion and alignment on the team as the game navigates through complex and ambiguous design challenges.
3. Architect systems that meet product goals and give us strong conviction in the commercial viability of the game.
4. Ensure that the team’s design decisions are well-connected to product goals and player motivations, and that these are clearly articulated.
5. Help build and mentor a highly effective and engaged design team who push themselves and one another to their fullest potential.
6. Share your knowledge and learnings as an expert on the game’s design, target audience, genre, and opportunity space with the broader product organization beyond the game team, to advance our collective knowledge.

What you'll need to be successful:

1. A holistic view of game systems, including the downstream effects of design decisions throughout both the product and player lifecycle, coupled with a strong understanding of fundamental design principles, metagame systems, game economies, and player psychology to design from first principles.
2. You will demonstrate deep insights and nuanced views on key differentiators, challenges, and opportunities within the game's design space.
3. Strong ability to connect design decisions with product goals and player motivations, ensuring alignment and coherence in the overall game design.
4. Ability to partner with designers and product managers, and cross-functional groups including engineering, art, and production.
5. Ability to synthesize feedback from team members, user playtests, and other validation efforts into product insights and rapidly iterate on designs.
6. Ability to articulate the nuances of abstract concepts and how they apply to complex, interrelated systems.
7. A well-structured communication style that allows for clear and effective articulation of design ideas and concepts.
8. Extensive knowledge of games as a service and live operations – you know what good looks like and can build efficient design processes, workflows, and tooling to enable it.
9. Enthusiasm for mentoring and elevating the people around you to do their best work.
10. A natural curiosity and eagerness to learn - we believe this is essential to our ability to stay ahead of the market and value this over years of experience.

We expect senior talent to continue being students of their craft and the game spaces they’re working in. You should be educated on the latest trends and have a strong perspective on how they relate to our current and future projects.