Lead Systems Designer – Player Progression & Rewards

Respawn Entertainment; Madison (WI); Hybrid; USD 153,700 - 233,600; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Sick time

Company holidays

Maternity/Paternity leave

Medical/dental/vision insurance

Life insurance

Disability insurance

401(k)

Job summary

Respawn Entertainment seeks a Lead Systems Designer to shape player progression and reward ecosystems for Apex Legends. You will drive design, balance, and iteration across platforms in a hybrid setup, partnering with design, UX, product, analytics, and eng teams.

You will define progression paths, economy frameworks, and engagement mechanics that motivate and retain players, while ensuring scalable live-service delivery.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of systems design experience on live service games, with demonstrable work on progression and/or reward systems.
• Strong collaboration skills and experience communicating design intent to cross-disciplinary teams.
• Deep understanding of live service engagement loops, player motivation models, and meta-progression frameworks.
• Expertise in game progression and the underlying work that drives it.
• Experience leveraging analytics and player feedback to iterate and improve system outcomes.
• Ability to create high-quality design documents and prototypes that clearly articulate goals, success metrics, and implementation assumptions.
• Passion for competitive and live service games, especially Apex Legends and similar titles.
• Competitive multiplayer experience.
• Familiarity with balancing economies, player retention mechanics, or incentive structures.
• Experience with scripting, data tools, or technical implementation that enables rapid prototyping and iteration of systems.

Responsibilities

• Own the design and iteration of player progression and reward systems, including leveling, challenges, and long‑term engagement loops.
• Create high‑level documentation that clarifies the vision and goals of various systems and how they interact with other parts of the game.
• Write detailed design documents that fuel implementation and fully work out the nuances of progression systems.
• Create progression system models in tools like Excel, Google Sheets, or languages like Python to iterate on and balance complex and interconnected systems.
• Partner with cross‑functional teams to build, ship, and scale player‑centric systems that support key game goals.
• Use data, player insights, and live performance to inform decisions and continuously improve system outcomes.
• Communicate designs, goals, and trade‑offs clearly while advocating for player‑first, high‑quality experiences.

Skills

Systems design (live service)

Progression systems design

Reward systems design

Cross-functional collaboration

Analytics usage

Prototyping design docs

Scripting & data tools

Competitive multiplayer experience

Economy balancing

Player motivation models

Tools

Excel

Google Sheets

Python

Job description

Respawn Entertainment seeks a Lead Systems Designer to shape player progression and reward ecosystems for Apex Legends. You will drive design, balance, and iteration across platforms in a hybrid setup, partnering with design, UX, product, analytics, and eng teams.

You will define progression paths, economy frameworks, and engagement mechanics that motivate and retain players, while ensuring scalable live-service delivery.