Senior Director, Design

Epic Games; Cary (NC); On-site; USD 300,000 - 470,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage for you and dependors

Dental

Vision care

Long Term Disability

Life Insurance

401k with match

Mental health program

Unlimited PTO

Sick time

Sabbatical after 7 years

Job summary

Epic Games seeks a Senior Director of Design for Fortnite to lead a multidisciplinary team from ideation to ship, guiding gameplay and modes with a clear vision and priority setting.

You will collaborate with senior leaders to align the game's design with Epic’s goals while maintaining high quality and player focus across seasons and modes.

Qualifications

• Experience leading game teams from a director or senior design leadership role.
• Strong background in large-scale game systems and gameplay design.
• Expert-level craft in a creative field relevant to design leadership.
• Deep understanding of how games work, especially fun and immersion.
• Solid knowledge of Battle Royale mechanics and trends.
• Proven ability to work across disciplines and locations.
• Demonstrated mentorship and team development skills.
• Passion for shaping products beyond a single game team.

Responsibilities

• Define vision and business goals for Fortnite seasons with senior leadership.
• Lead and inspire a multidisciplinary design team to deliver features.
• Maintain design quality across the company and roadmap.
• Guide ideation, scheduling, and scope throughout production.
• Translate player data into actionable design goals and priorities.
• Collaborate with product, analytics, production, and HR to staff and plan.
• Foster a culture of curiosity, risk-taking, and independence.

Skills

Leadership experience

Director-level experience

Game design leadership

Battle Royale expertise

Cross-functional collaboration

Mentoring teams

Job description

WHAT MAKES US EPIC?

At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating.

Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development.

DESIGN

What We Do

Put your design skills to work at a cutting-edge company that challenges the norm. From character and level design to competitive gameplay and system design, help shape the future of interactive entertainment at Epic.

What You'll Do

As the Senior Director of Design focusing on Fortnite, you will be responsible for leading and collaborating with a multidisciplinary team of developers to guide Fortnite modes to success from ideation to ship. Working with senior leadership, you will carry the game's vision and Epic’s goals forward while making hard calls on quality and priorities, and, above all, be creatively excited and engaged in creating an unforgettable, fun experience for our players.

In this role, you will

• Collaborate with senior leadership to define a vision and business goals for a season within Fortnite Battle Royale, Reload, and more shooter modes.
• Manage a design team and hone the design craft for Fortnite.
• Hold that design vision across the company with clarity and excitement, and inspire the design team to follow you; uphold Epic’s design and gameplay quality bar
• Oversee design and development from start to finish - From leading ideation with the team and shaping a timeline of engagement across the whole season, to making tough decisions on quality and scope throughout production
• Establish a design roadmap that drives multiple seasons, along with system roadmaps that underpin those seasons.
• Work with Product Managers and Analytics teams to gain insights from player metrics and marketplace data, then translate those insights into actionable goals to improve the player experience; work with Production, discipline leads, and HR to manage staffing, feature scope, production milestones, and hiring
• Be part of a multidisciplinary leadership team - monitoring the culture and performance of the overall Fortnite development organization
• Focus on mentoring and empowering the design team to be independently successful and make solid decisions without your involvement; foster curiosity and healthy risk-taking

What we're looking for

• Experience leading game teams from a director or other high-level design leadership perspective
• Rich background in game systems that operate at scale.
• An expert-level background in a creative craft you can speak to and draw from
• A deep understanding of what makes games tick at all levels, with a particular focus on what makes them fun, immersive experiences
• A keen understanding of what makes the Battle Royale genre work is required
• Passion and excitement for applying yourself to highly complicated problem spaces
• Excellent soft skills; you are able to navigate the day-to-day ups and downs of working with a large team across many disciplines and locations with ease
• An eye and passion for helping to creatively shape a product that goes beyond the game team

If you have a portfolio/reel/website you'd like to share, please hyperlink it to your resume or submit it as an attachment with your application.

EPIC JOB + EPIC BENEFITS = EPIC LIFE

Our intent is to cover all things that are medically necessary and improve the quality of life. We pay 100% of the premiums for both you and your dependents. Our coverage includes Medical, Dental, a Vision HRA, Long Term Disability, Life Insurance & a 401k with competitive match. We also offer a robust mental well-being program through Modern Health, which provides free therapy and coaching for employees & dependents. Throughout the year we celebrate our employees with events and company-wide paid breaks. We offer unlimited PTO and sick time and recognize individuals for 7 years of employment with a paid sabbatical.

Pay Transparency Information

The expected annual base pay range(s) for this position are detailed below. Each base pay range is relevant only for individuals who are residents of or will be expected to work within the specified locale. Compensation varies based on a variety of factors, which include (but aren’t limited to) things such as skills and competencies, qualifications, knowledge, and experience. In addition to base pay, most employees are eligible to participate in Epic’s generous benefit plans and discretionary incentive programs (subject to the terms of those plans or programs).

California Base Pay Range

$318,499 — $467,132 USD

Washington Base Pay Range

$289,544 — $424,665 USD

ABOUT US

Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company. For over 30 years we've been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world-class talent.

Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic!

Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy here.

Note to Recruitment Agencies: Epic does not accept any unsolicited resumes or approaches from any unauthorized third party (including recruitment or placement agencies) (i.e., a third party with whom we do not have a negotiated and validly executed agreement). We will not pay any fees to any unauthorized third party. Further details on these matters can be found here.