Design Director, World Systems

Scopely; Culver City (CA); Remote; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Scopely in Culver City or remote across the US is seeking a Design Director, World Systems to own procedural world generation and lead the team from day one.

You will define how terrain, creatures, props and encounters form a cohesive world, collaborating with Tools, Art, UX, and Engineering to scale the content pipeline for a live title.

This role requires 5+ years leading world design, strong leadership, and a passion for density, pacing, and player exploration.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of game design leadership on large‑scale worlds (open world, procedural world, action RPG, MMORPG, etc.)
• 5+ years of experience leading level/world design or encounter placement
• Demonstrated experience shipping worlds combining authored intent with generated content
• Minimum 10 years working on shipped new or live game products
• Experience collaborating with tools/engineering to define world-building frameworks

Responsibilities

• Own the player experience of generated worlds and raise it to an authored, readable standard
• Define how diverse world elements compose into a cohesive whole
• Establish and enforce world-design standards for density, pacing, traversal, sightlines, and landmarking
• Partner with Tools to specify generation frameworks and tuning levers
• Lead end‑to‑end world generation concepts through live iteration
• Bring strong level-design sensibility to procedural space and pacing
• Follow design-thinking to meet player and business goals
• Understand audience and tailor world solutions for diverse players
• Collaborate with Creative, UX, Product, Technical and Content leadership
• Envision scalable world designs for a large live‑operated game
• Prototype world behaviors with Art/UX/Tools/Engineering
• Manage multiple world systems and mentor designers
• Maintain top-quality design documentation standards
• Inspire and grow a team of designers

Skills

World design leadership

Procedural generation

Level design

Cross‑functional leadership

Gameplay pacing

Tools

Unity

Job description

Scopely is looking for a talented Design Director, World Systems to join our team on an exciting unannounced title built on a globally recognized IP in our Culver City hub, or remotely within the US.

At Scopely, we care deeply about what we do and want to inspire play every day — whether in our work environments alongside our talented colleagues or through our deep connections with our communities of players. We are a global team of game lovers who are developing, publishing and innovating the mobile games industry, connecting millions of people around the world daily.

As Design Director, World Systems, you will own the design of procedural world generation — the systems and craft that combine terrain, creatures, props, resources, buildings, encounters, and points of interest into a cohesive, playable world. You will be hands‑on from day one, partner closely with Tools to build the frameworks and tuning levers the team needs, and grow your team over time to serve the needs of the project.

What you will do:

• Own the player experience of generated worlds and raise it to a standard that feels authored, readable, and worth exploring.
• Define how diverse world elements (terrain, creatures, props, resources, buildings, encounters, POIs) compose into a cohesive whole rather than a pile of systems.
• Establish and enforce world-design standards for density, gameplay pacing, traversal distances, sightlines, landmarking, and encounter/POI placement.
• Partner with the Tools team to specify generation frameworks, authoring workflows, and the levers designers use to tune procedural output.
• Work end‑to‑end in an iterative process — from earliest world concepts and prototypes through directing designers in implementation and live iteration.
• Bring a strong level‑design sensibility to procedural space: how far players walk, what they see, when the world breathes, and when it demands attention.
• Follow a design‑thinking methodology to understand player needs, ideate, and propose solutions that meet both player and business goals.
• Understand our audience at a deep, empathetic level, and formulate world solutions that serve different player segments.
• Closely partner with Creative Director, UX Director, Director of Product, Technical Director, and Content / Adventure leadership so world systems land cleanly in the full player experience.
• Envision and direct world‑generation designs that can sustain a large live‑operated game, with scalable quality and a scalable content pipeline.
• Understand game engine and performance boundaries, and propose creative solutions that work within them.
• Partner with Art, UX, Tools, and Engineering to prototype specific world behaviors early — so the team can feel density, pacing, and composition before full production.
• Manage the design of multiple world systems at once, ideating on new generation problems while overseeing development of others.
• Ensure a culture of top‑quality specification for all relevant design documentation.
• Inspire, empower, and grow a team of game designers to produce the best possible quality of world and level experience.

What you will need:

• 5+ years of game design leadership on large‑scale worlds (open world, procedural world, action RPG, MMORPG, or comparable adventure / survival spaces)
• 5+ years of experience leading level design, world design, or encounter placement at a high craft bar
• Demonstrated experience shipping worlds that combine authored intent with generated or assembled content
• Minimum 10 years working on shipped new or live game products
• Experience iterating on ideas in the early phases of development, in a tightly collaborative environment, as well as working on production or live‑operated games
• Strong instincts for gameplay pacing, world density, traversal, and sightlines — and the ability to turn those instincts into tunable systems
• Experience partnering with tools or engineering teams to define world‑building frameworks, pipelines, or generation levers
• Demonstrated ability to define and ensure standards of excellence in design documentation

Bonus Points:

• Hands‑on experience with procedural generation systems, world‑composition tools, or content‑assembly pipelines
• Experience working on major IP, navigating the competing pressures of player expectations and the need to innovate
• 3+ years working in Free to Play
• Experience on cross‑platform products, and console / PC games
• Experience working directly in Unity