Sr. Systems Designer

Electronic Arts; West Chatsworth (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Health insurance

Retirement plan

Job summary

Electronic Arts’ Respawn team is seeking a Senior Systems Designer to shape progression, rewards, and player engagement systems for Apex Legends. You will collaborate with design, product, UX, engineering, analytics, art, and production to take features from concept through live operation.

You will design, prototype, tune, and iterate on systems using telemetry and player feedback, while defining clear rules, progression curves, and player-facing experiences.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional game design on 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

5+ years game design

Live-service experience

Scripting & prototyping

End-to-end feature delivery

Systems design clarity

Data-informed design

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication skills

Balancing constraints

Tools

In-house tools

Job description

Locations: Los Angeles - Chatsworth, California, United States of America

• Los Angeles - Chatsworth
• California
• United States of America

• Vancouver - Great Northern Way
• British Columbia
• Canada

Role ID

216546

Worker Type

Regular Employee

Studio/Department

Work Model

Hybrid

Description & Requirements

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.

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, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, or business needs).

PAY RANGES

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.

For Canada, we offer a package of benefits including vacation (3 weeks per year to start), 10 days per year of sick time, paid top-up to EI/QPIP benefits up to 100% of base salary when you welcome a new child (12 weeks for maternity, and 4 weeks for parental/adoption leave), extended health/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, disability insurance, retirement plan to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and other incentive programs.

About Electronic Arts

We’re proud to have an extensive portfolio of games and experiences, locations around the world, and opportunities across EA. We value adaptability, resilience, creativity, and curiosity. From leadership that brings out your potential, to creating space for learning and experimenting, we empower you to do great work and pursue opportunities for growth.

We adopt a holistic approach to our benefits programs, emphasizing physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support a balanced life. Our packages are tailored to meet local needs and may include healthcare coverage, mental well-being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, complimentary games, and more. We nurture environments where our teams can always bring their best to what they do.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.