UI/UX Director

Socket.dev; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision coverage

401(k) + ESPP

Job summary

Zynga seeks a world-class UI/UX Director to lead visual development on a new, unannounced game project. The role blends graphic design, motion graphics, and gameplay UX in a fast-moving, agile environment. You will direct visual style, motion, and team culture while delivering a polished player experience on mobile.

You will guide strategic planning, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and ensure timely delivery of high-quality visuals, with a focus on fun and player engagement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a creative field, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Set the visual style through strong graphic design skills.
• Career & performance management for your direct reports.
• Guide, mentor, and assist with hiring/recruiting of team members.
• Source freelancers and external studios as needed.
• Rapid-prototyping in Figma and in Unity.
• Direct the animation & motion graphics for the player experience.
• Manage UI/UX related issues from both creative and technical standpoints.
• Ensure all released content is consistent and high quality.
• Create Style Guides and contribute to strategic roadmaps.
• Collaborate with Marketing and User Acquisition on material creation.
• Oversee visual and experience development processes.
• Ensure feature estimates are well-scoped and planned.
• Set goals and objectives for your creative team.
• Lead inter-department communications on UX/UI and art.
• Lead critique sessions and disseminate feedback.

Skills

Creative leadership

Mobile game UX/UI

Unity engine

Portfolio of games

EQ & communication

Market awareness

Cross-disciplinary knowledge

Hiring & mentoring

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a creative field

Tools

Unity Engine

Creative Suite

Perforce

JIRA

Job description

Level Up Your Career with Zynga!

At Zynga, we bring people together through the power of play. As a global leader in interactive entertainment and a proud label of Take-Two Interactive, our games have been downloaded over 6 billion times—connecting players in 175+ countries through fun, strategy, and a little friendly competition.

From thrilling casino spins to epic strategy battles, mind-bending puzzles, and social word challenges, our diverse game portfolio has something for everyone. Fan-favorites and latest hits include FarmVille™, Words With Friends™, Zynga Poker™, Game of Thrones Slots Casino™, Wizard of Oz Slots™, Hit it Rich! Slots™, Wonka Slots™, Top Eleven™, Toon Blast™, Empires & Puzzles™, Merge Dragons!™, CSR Racing™, Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells™, Match Factory™, and Color Block Jam™—plus many more!

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in California, our teams span North America, Europe, and Asia, working together to craft unforgettable gaming experiences. Whether you're spinning, strategizing, matching, or competing, Zynga is where fun meets innovation—and where you can take your career to the next level.

Join us and be part of the play!

Position Overview:

Zynga is looking for a world-class UI / UX Director to lead the visual development on an exciting new, unannounced game project. The nature of this project is graphic design heavy and user experience critical. The UI/UX Director will not only set the visual style direction but also directing the motion-graphics and animation to dazzle players in the moment-to-moment experience.

Being a leadership role on a new game project (currently in concept phase), this position demands a comfort with chaos and a passion for iterative problem solving. You will work within a small, agile team and be hands-on with the visual design files and build. As a leader, you will be a key contributor to strategic planning, gameplay discussions, process setting and team culture.

Beyond the ability to meet production deadlines and business goals, this position requires strong instincts around what is fun and a critical eye for the quality of product you are creating.

You are motivated, experienced and talented with graphic design, motion graphics, and have a passion for mobile games. You have an insatiable thirst to learn what our players want, and figure out how to deliver it to them.

What You'll Do:

• Setting the visual style through strong graphic design skills
• Career & performance management for your direct reports
• Guide, mentor, and assist with hiring/recruiting of team members
• Sourcing freelancers and external studios as needed.
• Rapid-prototyping both in Figma and in Unity
• Directing the animation & motion graphics side of the player experience
• Managing UI/UX related issues from both creative and technical standpoints.
• Ensuring all released content is consistent and high quality.
• Style Guides creation
• Collaborative strategic roadmap and development planning
• Collaboration with Marketing and User Acquisition teams around Marketing material creation
• Overseeing visual and experience development processes
• Ensuring feature estimates are accurately scoped and planned.
• Setting goals and objectives for your creative team
• Lead inter-department communications as they relate to UX / UI and art
• Lead both formal and informal critique, and work through leads to disseminate feedback.

What You Bring:

• Bachelor’s in a creative field.
• 5+ years of experience managing a creative team
• Experience in 0 to 1 new game development - at least 1 shipped title
• Extensive mobile development experience
• Strong UX and UI hard skills around creating visuals and flows
• Ability to work directly in the Unity Engine
• Have a comprehensive understanding of multiple creative disciplines and how they function in the gaming pipeline.
• Knowledge of software like Creative Suite, Perforce, JIRA, and other software.
• High level of EQ and communication skills.
• Passionate about games - zynga games, a plus!
• Be well versed in the market and competition.
• Have a high quality portfolio with works that apply.

Bonus Points:

• Creating Motion Graphics & Unity implementation

What we offer:

Zynga offers a world-class benefits package that helps support and balance the needs of our teams. To find out more about our benefits, visit the Zynga Benefits site

The pay range for this position in California at the start of employment is expected to be between $160,000 to $200,000 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.

The pay range for this position in Toronto at the start of employment is expected to be between $150,000 to $180,000 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.

The pay range for this position in Illinois at the start of employment is expected to be between $155,000 to $185,000 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.

Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards and eligibility to participate in our 401(K) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program.

Regular, full-time employees are also eligible for a range of benefits at the Company, including: medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance coverage; 14 paid holidays per calendar year; paid vacation time per calendar year (ranging from 15 to 25 days) or eligibility to participate in the Company’s discretionary time off program; up to 10 paid sick days per calendar year; paid parental and compassionate leave; wellbeing programs for mental health and other wellness support; family planning support through Maven; commuter benefits; and reimbursements for fitness-related expenses. The use of Artificial Intelligence is not being used to screen candidates. The position is for an existing vacancy.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, which means we are committed to creating and celebrating diverse thoughts, cultures, and backgrounds throughout our organization. Employment with us is based on substantive ability, objective qualifications, and work ethic – not an individual’s race, creed, color, religion, sex or gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, alienage or citizenship status, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, status as a victim of domestic violence or sex offenses, reproductive health decision, or any other characteristics protected by applicable law.

As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to providing the necessary support and accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities, health conditions, or impairments (subject to any local qualifying requirements) to ensure their full participation in the job application or interview process. Please contact us at [e-mail] to request any accommodations or for support related to your application for an open position.

Please be aware that Zynga does not conduct job interviews or make job offers over third-party messaging apps such as Telegram, WhatsApp, or others. Zynga also does not engage in any financial exchanges during the recruitment or onboarding process, and will never ask a candidate for their personal or financial information over an app or other unofficial chat channel. Any attempt to do so may be the result of a scam or phishing attack, and you should not engage. Zynga’s in-house recruitment team will only contact individuals through their official Company email addresses (i.e., via a zynga.com, take2games.com, naturalmotion.com, smallgiantgames.com, themavens.com, gram.gs email domain).