Mission Designer

Absurd Ventures; Santa Monica (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Vacation time

Comprehensive benefits: medical/dental

Life insurance

Disability insurance

401(k) matching

Bonus and equity eligible

Job summary

Absurd Ventures is seeking a Mission Designer to craft memorable missions for a new open-world IP built in Unreal Engine 5. You will hands-on implement main and side missions, collaborating with a multi-disciplinary team in Santa Monica, CA.

You’ll shape storytelling and encounter design, iterate from playtesting data, and contribute to game systems that define core features. On-site role with full benefits and competitive compensation.

Qualifications

• 1–2+ years of experience building mission content in open-world games.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Creative problem-solving in a collaborative team environment.
• High-quality portfolio with scripting, encounter, or mission design work.
• Strong storytelling and narrative design understanding.

Responsibilities

• Own implementation of engaging, diverse, innovative missions within a story-driven, open-world game.
• Collaborate with Lead Mission Designer to improve iteration speed across the team.
• Challenge the status quo and refine open-world mission design.
• Build brand-new game systems for missions defining core features across the rest of the game.
• Leverage open-world systems to create dynamic mission experiences that adapt to player choices.
• Provide feedback to other mission designers to improve design quality.
• Create documentation to support missions and tools developed for missions.
• Implement design changes based on play testing data.

Skills

Open-world mission design

Storytelling

Communication

Portfolio

Collaboration

Tools

Unreal Engine 5

Unreal Engine 4

Job description

We are seeking a Mission Designer to create highly memorable missions that combine best-in-class storytelling with action gameplay for an all-new open world IP built in Unreal Engine 5. As a Mission Designer, you will collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team and be a hands‑on contributor and implementer of story missions including critical path and side missions alongside single‑player campaign features.

Core Responsibilities

• Own implementation of engaging, diverse, innovative missions within a story‑driven, open‑world game.
• Work with the Lead Mission Designer to develop best practices and robust solutions for faster iteration across the team.
• Challenge the status quo and demonstrate understanding of where open‑world mission design can change and where it’s already working.
• Build brand new, innovative game systems for missions that can help define core features across the rest of the game.
• Leverage the game’s existing open‑world systems and mechanics to create dynamic and unpredictable mission experiences that adapt to player choices and actions.
• Provide feedback to other mission designers to improve the quality of the design and storytelling.
• Create documentation to support missions, mission tools, and game features developed for missions.
• Ability to implement and design changes based on play testing data from both internal and external sources.

Core Qualifications

• 1‑2+ years of experience building mission content, ideally within an open‑world game.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Innovative thinker with creative problem‑solving skills who can thrive in a collaborative team environment.
• High‑quality portfolio showcasing previous scripting, encounter or mission design work in games.
• Strong understanding of storytelling and narrative design.

Plus If…

• Experience building game‑wide systems or features.
• Experience with level design, blockout or world‑building.
• Experience in UE4 or UE5.
• Experience working with co‑development partners.
• Experience working on an open world title.

Description

• Full time job with benefits
• Role is on‑site in Santa Monica, CA
• Office is located near downtown Santa Monica – near metro and freeways.

The base pay range for this position is $100,000 to $115,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including vacation time, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) matching to regular full‑time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.