Senior Combat Designer: Enemy AI & Gameplay Architect

NAUGHTY DOG, LLC; Santa Monica (CA); On-site; USD 145,100 - 181,400; Full time

Job summary

Naughty Dog, LLC seeks an experienced Combat Designer to own enemy archetypes and drive gameplay systems from Santa Monica studio. You will design, implement, and mentor while collaborating with AI, animation, and design teams to deliver memorable combat experiences.

With 5+ years in action-adventure or shooter combat design and at least one shipped title, you will code theories into behavior trees or equivalent tools, leverage Unreal Engine or Unity, and communicate clearly across disciplines.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in combat design and/or technical design for action games.
• At least one shipped title as a combat designer or similar role.
• Experience with behavior trees or NPC AI concepts preferred.
• Strong coding ability; CS degree preferred though not required.
• Proficient in Unreal Engine or Unity for combat implementation.

Responsibilities

• Pitch, design, implement, and own enemy NPC archetypes.
• Work with AI programmers to develop NPC tech and AI behaviors.
• Collaborate with animators on locomotion, melee moves, and combat systems.
• Mentor junior designers and contribute to team growth.
• Write and maintain documentation detailing enemy archetypes' core vision.

Skills

Combat design

Leadership

Mentoring

Communication

Team collaboration

Education

Computer Science degree

Tools

Unreal Engine

Unity

C#

Lua

Visual Scripting

Job description

Naughty Dog, LLC seeks an experienced Combat Designer to own enemy archetypes and drive gameplay systems from Santa Monica studio. You will design, implement, and mentor while collaborating with AI, animation, and design teams to deliver memorable combat experiences.

With 5+ years in action-adventure or shooter combat design and at least one shipped title, you will code theories into behavior trees or equivalent tools, leverage Unreal Engine or Unity, and communicate clearly across disciplines.