World Systems Design Director - Remote (US)

Scopely; United States; Remote; USD 164,000 - 247,000; Full time

Job summary

Scopely is seeking a Design Director, World Systems to lead the design of procedural worlds for a major title in Culver City or remote within the US. You will own world generation systems, guide a team of designers, and partner with Tools, Art, UX, and engineering to deliver a cohesive player experience.

You bring 5+ years leading large-scale world design, a strong sense of pacing and density, and hands-on experience with procedural generation and Unity.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of game design leadership on large-scale worlds.
• 5+ years leading level/world design or encounter placement.
• Shipping worlds combining authored and generated content.
• Minimum 10 years working on shipped game products.
• Experience iterating ideas in early development in a collaborative environment.
• Strong instincts for gameplay pacing, density, traversal, and sightlines.
• Experience partnering with tools or engineering on world-building frameworks.
• Ability to define and ensure standards of design documentation.

Responsibilities

• Own the player experience of generated worlds and raise it to a standard that feels authored, readable, and worth exploring.
• Define how diverse world elements compose into a cohesive whole rather than a pile of systems.
• Establish and enforce world-design standards for density, pacing, traversal distances, sightlines, landmarking, and POI placement.
• Partner with the Tools team to specify generation frameworks, authoring workflows, and tuning levers designers use to tune procedural output.
• Work end-to-end in an iterative process from earliest concepts through directing designers in implementation and live iteration.
• Bring a strong level-design sensibility to procedural space: how far players walk, what they see, when the world breathes, and when it demands attention.
• Follow a design-thinking methodology to understand player needs and business goals.
• Understand our audience deeply, and formulate world solutions for different player segments.
• Closely partner with Creative Director, UX Director, Director of Product, Technical Director, and Content / Adventure leadership.
• Envision and direct world-generation designs that sustain a large live-operated game with scalable quality.
• Understand game engine and performance boundaries, and propose creative solutions within them.
• Prototype world behaviors early with Art, UX, Tools, and Engineering to sense density and pacing.
• Manage the design of multiple world systems and oversee development of others.

Skills

World design leadership

Procedural generation

Level design

Team leadership

Gameplay pacing

World-building frameworks

Cross-functional collaboration

Unity

Tools

Unity

World generation tools

Prototyping

Job description

Scopely is seeking a Design Director, World Systems to lead the design of procedural worlds for a major title in Culver City or remote within the US. You will own world generation systems, guide a team of designers, and partner with Tools, Art, UX, and engineering to deliver a cohesive player experience.

You bring 5+ years leading large-scale world design, a strong sense of pacing and density, and hands-on experience with procedural generation and Unity.