Sr. Systems Designer

Game Companies; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 128,000 - 191,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Sick time

Company holidays

Time off to bond with baby

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Disability insurance

401(k)

Job summary

Respawn Entertainment is seeking a Senior Systems Designer to shape progression and player systems for Apex Legends, driving engagement over the long term.

You will collaborate with Design, Product, UX, Engineering, Analytics, and Production to take features from concept to live operation, balancing player needs with production constraints and business considerations.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional game design experience on shipped progression, rewards, economies, engagement loops, or other interconnected game systems.
• Experience working on live-service, multiplayer, or free-to-play games.
• Strong implementation skills including text scripting and ability to create prototypes using in-house tools and platform.
• Experience taking features from concept through implementation and live iteration.
• Ability to break complex systems into clear rules, models, player flows, and requirements.
• Strong analytical skills and comfort using data to inform design decisions.
• Experience collaborating with UX, Engineering, Product, Production, Analytics, and other disciplines.
• Strong verbal communication and written documentation skills with the ability to present design rationale clearly to both development teams and design leadership.
• Ability to balance player needs, design quality, production constraints, and business considerations.

Responsibilities

• Design progression, rewards, mastery, collection, and player engagement systems for Apex Legends using clear system goals, rules, progression curves, reward structures, and player-facing experiences.
• Prototype, implement, tune, and iterate on systems using player feedback, telemetry, and live-service learnings.
• Actively contribute to estimation, scoping and feasibility assessments of designs.
• Partner with UX, Engineering and Technical Design to ensure complex systems are understandable, discoverable, easy to navigate, and scalable.
• Clearly communicate design intent, tradeoffs, and recommendations to partners and design leadership.
• Identify opportunities to improve existing Apex systems based on player needs, data, competitive analysis, and broader live-service trends.
• Contribute to strong systems-design practices across the team.

Skills

Live-service design

Prototyping

Cross-functional collaboration

Data-driven decisions

Text scripting

Job description

Game Design

5+ years

Game Development

Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. Part of a community that connects across the globe. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. A team where everyone makes play happen. Senior Systems Designer – Progression & Player Systems

Founded in 2010 by the original creators of the Call of Duty Franchise, Respawn was created with the philosophy that when talented people have creative freedom, they'll make extraordinary games that achieve the unexpected. From our roots as an indie studio to joining the expansive roster of studios at Electronic Arts, this remains our guiding principle. We truly love what we do and want to share our passion with players worldwide. Our shipped titles include critically acclaimed multi-platform games Apex Legends, Titanfall, Titanfall 2, Star Wars™ Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars™ Jedi: Survivor and Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. Join us for the opportunity to create groundbreaking games with some of the best developer talent in the industry.

Why This Role Matters

Respawn is looking for a Senior Systems Designer to help create and evolve the progression and player systems that shape how players engage with Apex Legends over the long term.

In this highly impactful design role, you will work on systems such as account progression, rewards, mastery, collections, player career, challenges, and other engagement features. You will help define how these systems connect, how they motivate different types of players, and how they create meaningful goals across the Apex experience.

You will collaborate closely with Design, Product Management, UX, Engineering, Analytics, Art, and Production to take features from early concept through implementation, iteration, and live operation.

Responsibilities

• Design progression, rewards, mastery, collection, and player engagement systems for Apex Legends using clear system goals, rules, progression curves, reward structures, and player-facing experiences
• Prototype, implement, tune, and iterate on systems using player feedback, telemetry, and live-service learnings
• Actively contribute to estimation, scoping and feasibility assessments of designs
• Partner with UX, Engineering and Technical Design to ensure complex systems are understandable, discoverable, easy to navigate, and scalable
• Clearly communicate design intent, tradeoffs, and recommendations to partners and design leadership
• Identify opportunities to improve existing Apex systems based on player needs, data, competitive analysis, and broader live-service trends
• Contribute to strong systems-design practices across the team

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional game design experience on shipped progression, rewards, economies, engagement loops, or other interconnected game systems
• Experience working on live-service, multiplayer, or free-to-play games
• Strong implementation skills including text scripting and ability to create prototypes using in-house tools and platform
• Experience taking features from concept through implementation and live iteration
• Ability to break complex systems into clear rules, models, player flows, and requirements
• Strong analytical skills and comfort using data to inform design decisions
• Experience collaborating with UX, Engineering, Product, Production, Analytics, and other disciplines
• Strong verbal communication and written documentation skills with the ability to present design rationale clearly to both development teams and design leadership
• Ability to balance player needs, design quality, production constraints, and business considerations

Nice to Have

• Experience designing account progression, mastery, challenges, collections, ranked systems, Battle Passes, or reward structures.
• Experience with live-service economies, currencies, faucets, sinks, or reward valuation.
• Experience designing onboarding or returning-player experiences.
• Competitive multiplayer and/or FPS experience
• Experience using telemetry, experimentation, or player segmentation to evaluate design performance.
• Familiarity with Apex Legends and its progression, competitive, and live-service ecosystems.

Pay Transparency - North America

Compensation And Benefits

The ranges listed below are what EA in good faith expects to pay applicants for this role in these locations at the time of this posting. If you reside in a different location, a recruiter will advise on the applicable range and benefits. Pay offered will be determined based on a number of relevant business and candidate factors (e.g. education, qualifications, certificates, experience, skills, geographic location, or business needs).

PAY RANGES

* British Columbia (depending on location e.g. Vancouver vs. Victoria) *$114,300 - $156,200 CAD * California (depending on location e.g. Los Angeles vs. San Francisco) *$127,700 - $190,600 USD

Pay is just one part of the overall compensation at EA. In the US, we offer a package of benefits including paid time off (3 weeks per year to start), 80 hours per year of sick time, 16 paid company holidays per year, 10 weeks paid time off to bond with baby, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and other incentive programs.

• paid time off (3 weeks per year to start)
• 80 hours per year of sick time
• 16 paid company holidays per year
• 10 weeks paid time off to bond with baby
• medical/dental/vision insurance
• life insurance
• disability insurance
• 401(k) to regular full-time employees
• Certain roles