Senior Technical Game Designer – UE5

Reval; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A AAA sports game studio is seeking a Senior Technical Game Designer for a new European football game. The ideal candidate will have 5+ years of experience and advanced Unreal Engine 5 skills. Responsibilities include technical design, gameplay feature implementation, and developing design tools. Passion for football and strong collaboration skills are essential. This opportunity is ideal for someone wanting to shape a cutting-edge game within a dynamic team environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience as a Technical Designer, Gameplay Designer, or Systems Designer.
• Advanced Unreal Engine experience; Blueprints required, C++ preferred.
• Strong understanding of gameplay systems and player mechanics.

Responsibilities

• Own technical design and implementation of gameplay features.
• Prototype and ship high-quality gameplay systems using Unreal Engine.
• Develop design tools, workflows, and support documentation.

Skills

Unreal Engine 5

Gameplay Design

Technical Design

C++

Animation systems

Football knowledge

Job description

Senior Technical Game Designer – UE5 (Sports / Action / Simulation Games)

Location: Beverly Hills, CA

This role is posted on behalf of the following client: A AAA sports game studio building a next-generation European football (soccer) experience in Unreal Engine 5. The team is focused on high-fidelity gameplay authenticity, modern animation-driven systems, and scalable tools that enable rapid iteration across design, engineering, AI, and animation. This is an opportunity to help shape a new football franchise from the ground up alongside experienced cross-discipline partners.

Role Overview:

An experienced Senior Technical Game Designer is needed to drive core gameplay systems and tools for a next-generation European football title. This position acts as a key bridge between design and engineering—owning technical design implementation in Unreal Engine 5, building gameplay features and designer‑facing tools, and ensuring football gameplay systems are robust, scalable, performant, and high quality.

What You’ll Do:

• Own technical design and implementation of gameplay features, partnering with gameplay engineering on system architecture, requirements, and long‑term scalability.
• Prototype, iterate, and ship high‑quality gameplay systems using Unreal Engine Blueprints (and C++ when applicable), including profiling, debugging, and optimization across target platforms.
• Develop and improve design tools, workflows, and pipelines that support designers, animators, and live content teams; document systems, best practices, and technical constraints.
• Integrate and tune animation systems (state machines, blendspaces, motion matching, procedural animation) to support authentic player behaviors.
• Collaborate with AI design to improve decision‑making, tactics, team shape, and football intelligence.
• Provide mentorship and technical guidance to other designers, helping teams use UE tools effectively and safely.
• Partner with production and cross‑discipline leads to scope features, plan roadmaps, and ensure delivery quality.

Who You Are:

• 5+ years of experience as a Technical Designer, Gameplay Designer, or Systems Designer, including work on at least one shipped AAA or high‑quality title.
• Advanced Unreal Engine experience (Blueprints required; C++ strongly preferred), with the ability to build prototypes that clearly communicate design intent.
• Strong understanding of gameplay systems, player mechanics, and animation‑driven character behavior, including experience with animation graphs, blend trees, state machines, motion matching, or similar systems.
• Able to debug complex gameplay issues and optimize design implementations for performance and stability.
• Strong cross‑functional communication skills and experience collaborating with engineering, animation, AI, and design partners.
• Passion for European football (soccer) and understanding of core gameplay systems (movement, ball control, tactics, player roles).
• Bonus: Experience on sports titles (especially football/soccer); comfort working directly in Unreal C++; experience building designer‑friendly tools and pipelines; knowledge of football analytics/gameplay modeling (xG, intensity metrics, stamina/fatigue); familiarity with networked gameplay/replication; mentorship or small‑team leadership experience.