Design Director, World Systems

Scopely; United States; Remote; USD 164,000 - 247,000; Full time

Job summary

Scopely is seeking a Design Director, World Systems to lead the design of procedural worlds for a major title in Culver City or remote within the US. You will own world generation systems, guide a team of designers, and partner with Tools, Art, UX, and engineering to deliver a cohesive player experience.

You bring 5+ years leading large-scale world design, a strong sense of pacing and density, and hands-on experience with procedural generation and Unity.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of game design leadership on large-scale worlds.
• 5+ years leading level/world design or encounter placement.
• Shipping worlds combining authored and generated content.
• Minimum 10 years working on shipped game products.
• Experience iterating ideas in early development in a collaborative environment.
• Strong instincts for gameplay pacing, density, traversal, and sightlines.
• Experience partnering with tools or engineering on world-building frameworks.
• Ability to define and ensure standards of design documentation.

Responsibilities

• 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 compose into a cohesive whole rather than a pile of systems.
• Establish and enforce world-design standards for density, pacing, traversal distances, sightlines, landmarking, and POI placement.
• Partner with the Tools team to specify generation frameworks, authoring workflows, and tuning levers designers use to tune procedural output.
• Work end-to-end in an iterative process from earliest concepts 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 and business goals.
• Understand our audience deeply, and formulate world solutions for different player segments.
• Closely partner with Creative Director, UX Director, Director of Product, Technical Director, and Content / Adventure leadership.
• Envision and direct world-generation designs that sustain a large live-operated game with scalable quality.
• Understand game engine and performance boundaries, and propose creative solutions within them.
• Prototype world behaviors early with Art, UX, Tools, and Engineering to sense density and pacing.
• Manage the design of multiple world systems and oversee development of others.

Skills

World design leadership

Procedural generation

Level design

Team leadership

Gameplay pacing

World-building frameworks

Cross-functional collaboration

Unity

Tools

Unity

World generation tools

Prototyping

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

For candidates in CA, CO, NJ, NY, and WA, the annual salary range is provided below. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible for equity, bonuses, and a comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare benefits, retirement benefits, pet insurance, paid holidays, paid Scopely free days, and unlimited paid time off. Base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

$164,000 - $247,000 USD

About Scopely

Scopely is a leading video game and global interactive entertainment company, home to many of the world’s most beloved and enduring experiences, including two of the most successful mobile games of all-time "MONOPOLY GO!" and "Pokémon GO," along with "Stumble Guys," "Star Trek™ Fleet Command," "MARVEL Strike Force," "WWE Champions," the Scrabble® franchise, "Yahtzee® With Buddies," and many others. Across mobile, web, PC, and console, Scopely creates, develops, publishes, and live-operates one of the most diversified and award-winning portfolios in the games industry - bringing hundreds of millions of players together through a shared love of play.

Founded in 2011, Scopely is powered by its exceptional team - including thousands of world-class gamemakers around the globe, a distinctive tenet-driven culture, and its proprietary technology platform, Playgami. Together, these strengths have fueled Scopely’s position as the #1 mobile games company in the U.S. and #2 globally, generating more than $10 billion in lifetime revenue. Whether building global sensations like "MONOPOLY GO!" from the ground up, or expanding through strategic acquisitions, including the FoxNext, GSN, and Scopely Explore games businesses - Scopely consistently delivers experiences players love today and return to for years to come.

Recognized multiple times as one of the '100 Most Influential Companies in the World' by TIME magazine and one of Fast Company's "World's Most Innovative Companies" and "Best Workplaces for Innovators," Scopely believes that video games can be a force for good - creating meaningful connections, vibrant communities, and making life better through play.

Employment at Scopely is based solely on a person's merit and qualifications. Scopely does not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), or any other basis protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.