Staff Hero Designer

Praxy; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 148,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Top-tier benefits package

Bonus potential

Job summary

Insomniac Games is seeking a Staff Hero Designer to own hero character systems, core combat, traversal, and progression. You will prototype, implement, and iterate hero gameplay with cross-disciplinary partners to deliver polished, world-class moment-to-moment gameplay.

The role requires leadership, strong communication, and the ability to drive quality across multiple pods, while aligning with project goals and creative direction.

Qualifications

• Eight or more years of professional game design experience.
• Proven expertise in creating, tuning, and polishing high-quality player movement, combat, controls, and gameplay balance.
• Deep understanding of 3rd person narrative games and current design craft.
• Strong written, verbal, and visual communication across disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Provide creative leadership for one or more hero/player character systems.
• Prototype, implement, and iterate hero combat and traversal features.
• Collaborate with Gameplay Programmers, Animators, and VFX to realize design vision.
• Maintain clear player system documentation and tutorials as needed.
• Lead cross-disciplinary reviews and ensure alignment with project goals.

Skills

Unreal Engine

Prototyping

Game design

Character systems

Team collaboration

Tools

Unreal Engine

Maya

Job description

# Staff Hero Designer: United States, Remote: Sep 28, 2026: Sep 28, 2026## About the roleWhy Sony Interactive Entertainment?Sony Interactive Entertainment isn’t just the Best Place to Play — it’s also the Best Place to Work. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is the company behind the PlayStation brand. As a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, we’re part of a proud legacy of innovation and excellence. SIE is a dynamic technology company, delivering cutting-edge hardware and network services to more than 100 million people and an entertainment leader, home to some of the most beloved and recognizable intellectual properties (IP) in the world. Our role at SIE is to create and nurture the experiences under the PlayStation brand, a name synonymous with entertainment excellence and creativity.Insomniac Games is looking for a Staff Hero Designer. In this role, the Staff Hero Designer is accountable for the quality and on-time delivery of design and execution for one or more playable characters, including core combat and features like traversal, abilities, non-combat mechanics, camera, and more. Work will require hands-on, technical implementation and tuning for prototyping, iteration, and polish, as well as creative leadership and vision setting for playable characters.The person in this role will drive the creative vision, gameplay design, and execution quality of new playable hero characters and collaborate with our Gameplay Programmers, Animators, VFX Artists, and Character Artists to create world class moment-to-moment gameplay.ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIE S* Creative leadership and primary ownership of player character systems for one or more playable characters. Accountable for the design, prototyping, iteration and polish of hero core combat, as well as features such as movement / traversal, abilities, interactivity, progression, non-combat mechanics, allies, or game balance.* Directly prototypes, implements, and iterates on Hero combat and non-combat gameplay through proprietary internal tools and scripting systems. Brings a focus on innovation, clarity, playability, and presentational polish to hero design work.• Collaborates directly with Gameplay Programming and Animation partners to best leverage skills and creativity across both departments. Fosters a strong environment of creative collaboration across all disciplinesCreative leadership for one or more development pods of cross-discipline contributors. Collaborates with Development Management to plan milestones, set priorities, and coordinate feedback.* Works autonomously to drive quality, iterate, and innovate in service of the project’s creative goals and values. Is proactive about flagging problems, implementing solutions, and responding to feedback to continuously improve Hero gameplay. Drives collaboration with cross-discipline stakeholders for problem solving and alignment.* Collaborates directly with Mission Designers and Combat Designers to integrate and support player work in Missions, encounters, and core combat gameplay.* Works with Systems Designers, Gameplay Programmers, and the UI/UX team to help create compelling long-term gameplay through player progression systems and meaningful player growth.* Collaborates with the Narrative Department, Mission Designers, and Mission Directors to support player-driven storytelling through player mechanics and interactive experiences.* Writes and regularly updates clear player system documentation detailing the scope and feature set for player features. Creates tutorial videos and documentation to support as needed.* Regularly reviews player work in progress, proactively gathers feedback, and drives iteration and quality. Accountable for creative quality of all assigned player work and for ensuring the team is hitting on-screen quality targets for each milestone.* Collaborates with the Combat Director and project Game Director to ensure player design meets the project’s creative and technical goals and reaches Insomniac’s quality standards.* Creates, tracks, and supports player standards and metrics across the whole experience to ensure consistency and quality. Directly supports Mission Design work with metrics as needed.* Runs brainstorms / reviews, creates buy-in and alignment, and champions design vision and values through clear communication and inclusivity.* Drives, documents, and disseminates standards, best practices, and creative process for Hero / player character design work across the studio. Serves as a Design Department subject matter expert in 3rd person player character design within the studio and keeps up with the state of the art across the industry.* Drive innovation and improvement in internal design tools for 3rd person character prototyping, implementation, and iteration.* Reviews and provides feedback on hero character work across the studio. Mentors and coaches other Hero Designers.* Creates a safe, supportive, and creative work environment that exemplifies our studio values.* May take on other gameplay systems design as needed.QUALIFICATIONSExperience:* Eight or more years of professional game design experience, with at least one shipped title as a primary design owner of player combat and / or overall player character systems.* Proven expertise in creating, tuning, and polishing high-quality player movement, combat, controls, and gameplay balance.* Deep expertise in the current state and history of design craft across the games industry, especially 3rd person narrative games.* High proficiency with modern game engines, such as Unreal or proprietary engines. Proven experience in scripting, prototyping, and iterating gameplay systems directly. Experience in 3D layout a plus.* Proven ability to implement, iterate, and tune high-quality game feel matched with polished presentation.* Extremely strong skills in written, verbal, and visual communication across disciplines.Reasoning Skills:Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.Computer Skills:Intermediate knowledge and experience with level editing tools and scripting (Unreal Engine, Unity, or similar editors). Intermediate knowledge of Maya or other major 3D modeling programs. Experience with animation tools or programming languages a plus. Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, Miro, Confluence or equivalent office software.Other Skill s:Individual must have very good interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively with team members and other developers. Strong communication skills including verbal and written skills are required.At SIE, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location.Please note that the base pay range may vary in line with our hybrid working policy and individual base pay will be determined based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.In addition, this role is eligible for SIE’s top-tier benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, matching 401(k), paid time off, wellness program and coveted employee discounts for Sony products. This role also may be eligible for a bonus package. Click here to learn more.This is a flexible role that can be remote, with varying pay ranges based on geographic location. For example, if you are based out of Seattle, the estimated base pay range for this role is listed below.$148,000 — $220,000 USDPlease note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights.Equal Opportunity Statement:Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond.Sony Interactive Entertainment is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.