Game Director

Mob Entertainment; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 257,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Profit sharing

Health insurance

Dental/vision insurance

401(k) matching

FSA/HSA

Paid time off

Parental leave

Job summary

Mob Entertainment, a startup studio behind Poppy Playtime, is seeking a Game Director to ensure the game systems convey the creative vision across production, art, story, and level design.

You will guide the global design direction for multiple projects, collaborate with VP of Games and CCO, and oversee the entire process from pre-production through live operations, maintaining high quality and timely delivery.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of leadership experience in the video game industry or similar.
• 10+ years of design experience in a lead or management role.
• Knowledge of Unreal and its limitations.
• Knowledge of prototyping game ideas and working in a small team to bring ideas to life.
• Familiarity with project management software (e.g. Jira).
• Exceptional organizational, interpersonal, and presentation skills.
• Effective cross-departmental communication with programming, art, design, marketing, etc.
• Mentorship: guiding the next generation of creatives.
• Autonomy in using presentation and design tools (PowerPoint, Photoshop, Google slides).
• A solid understanding of the market and a passion for video games.

Responsibilities

• Work with senior leaders to ensure game design, art, and story meet the vision.
• Define project methods and inform all teams.
• Communicate quality and content expectations to design teams to align systems and UX.
• Translate design elements into Level Design and Engineering deliverables.
• Harmonize design across departments and manage Jira requests to avoid delays.
• Collaborate with Art, Engineering and Production for smooth operations.
• Report to VP of Games and keep management updated on status.
• Analyze game objectives and communicate them clearly to creative teams.
• Develop and implement a global creative vision and foundations for the game.
• Develop the creative vision in line with the product vision.
• Participate in brainstorming and project follow-up meetings.
• Write clear documentation including required visual references.

Skills

Leadership

Game design leadership

Cross-department communication

Prototyping

Presentation skills

Mentorship

PowerPoint/Design tools

Market understanding

Tools

Unreal Engine

Jira

Job description

Mob Entertainment is a startup multimedia studio that is best known for our hit indie horror game "Poppy Playtime". This franchise is one of the hottest new properties in gaming, and our team is naturally expanding as our ambition expands. To give a taste of our brand's popularity, more than 200 billion YouTube views of Poppy Playtime related content have occurred since the game's launch 6 years ago.

As a Game Director, you’ll have the important mission to ensure that the game systems properly convey the creative vision and that the vision remains an integral part of the target player experience.

You will oversee the New game creation in a small team outside of the Poppy Franchise and work with all key stakeholders to ensure the overall vision and health of these products help the company grow.

You will also assist the VP, General Manager of Games and CCO in reaching the strategic design and Art objectives set out for a project by guiding conceptual application in the game. While your designers focus on their areas of ownership, you’ll pay attention to the larger picture, overseeing the game’s overall outcome: progression, pace, balance, and – of course – quality.

You will ensure that all elements related to design work together cohesively to fit the intended experience and make it rich and fun.

What you’ll do

• Work with the VP, General Manager of Games and CCO to ensure that the game design, Art and Story meets the vision that was set out.
• Define best methods for the project and inform all teams.
• Communicate quality and content expectations to the design team on a regular basis so that the systems take constraints onto account in order to ultimately create the optimum user experience for target players.
• Translate the rational game design elements and gameplay elements into things that Level Design and Engineering can bring to life
• harmonize design across all departments, making sure design has ready answers and Jira requests for Engineering, Art, Sound, fx, etc so that the project does not run behind schedule.
• Work hand in hand with other areas of the team: Art, Engineering, and Production to insure smooth operations
• Reports to VP of Games and insure they and upper management is aware of the status of the project on a regular basis
• Analyzing the different aspects and objectives of the game and communicating them clearly to the creative teams
• Developing and implementing a global vision and creative foundations for the game (visual effects, theme, context, gameplay, etc…)
• Developing the creative vision of the game in line with the product vision
• Participating in the proposal development process aka brainstorming
• Participating in project follow-up meetings at all phases (pre-production, production, live)
• Writing clear documentation including required visual references

What you bring

• 4+ years of leadership experience in the video game industry (or other relevant experience): you’re a creative leader with a vision for the future of games
• 10+ years of Design experience in a lead or Management role
• Knowledge of Unreal and their limitations
• Knowledge on prototyping game ideas and working in a small team to bring ideas to life so they can go into production and then move on to the next idea and design.
• Familiarity with project management software (e.g. Jira)Exceptional organizational, interpersonal, and presentation skills
• Effective cross-departmental communication: you have the know-how to comfortably communicate with all disciplines (programming, art, design, marketing, and so on)
• A highly collaborative and innovative spirit
• The ability to take technical and production feasibility into account when coming up with concepts
• Mentorship: you’re motivated to share your expertise to guide the next generation of creatives
• Autonomy in using presentation and design tools (e.g. PowerPoint, Photoshop, Google slides, etc.)
• A solid understanding of the market & a (fiery) passion for video games

Salary Range

San Francisco, CA; New York City, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Seattle, WA; Boston, MA; & Seattle, WA DC Metropolitan Areas: $200,000 - $257,000 USD annually

Austin, TX; Denver, CO; Nashville, TN; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; & Miami, FL Metropolitan Areas: $174,000 - $223,000 USD annually

All Other U.S. Locations: $148,000 - $190,000 USD annually

Benefits

Mob Entertainment offers the following benefits to all eligible U.S.-based full-time employees: profit sharing; medical, dental, and vision insurance; 401(k) matching; FSA/HSA; paid time off; sick time; holidays; and parental leave.

Mob Entertainment is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and complies with all federal, state, and local laws prohibiting discrimination in employment. We are committed to providing equal opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, military service, or any other protected class under applicable state or local law. Mob Entertainment also considers all qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with Fair Chance laws as well as any other applicable state and local laws.