Lead Designer

Spark is looking for an experienced Lead Designer to join us in making a breakout hit based on an established console franchise. This is an opportunity for you to have a hand in creating a bold new take on 3rd Person Action/Horror. The Lead Designer must own the quality and goals of the design department and lead the group to accomplish their goals. The ideal candidate is an outstanding designer with thorough knowledge of game design theory and tools pipelines, possessing strong leadership skills, production-sensibilities, and the talent to produce and implement the highest quality work. If you possess the skills, personality and leadership abilities to lead a team of bad-asses to take over the industry, we may have a job for you.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Game Director to develop design goals and assets that fulfill the requirements of the project’s game and visual design.
• Work with all departments on the scheduling and integration of the Game Design, as well as game feature development goals and execution.
• Lead the implementation, iteration, and evolution of the game/level design from early planning stages to final release.
• Lead the department to deliver work on-time within a tight schedule, while working closely with the level design, artist, animation, and programming team members. Drive the department to consistently meet project deadlines in a timely manner without compromising game design integrity.
• Mentor the design team members, and set best practices in accordance with the Game Director’s expectations.
• Work collaboratively with all levels of the development team, including active participation in Spark’s agile-development process. Cultivate a positive team dynamic, and exhibit a professional attitude by demonstrating a good balance between creativity and practical flexibility.

Requirements

• Lead Designer experience on current generation product.
• Minimum of 5 years as a level designer on current generation and previous generation consoles.
• Level editor experience using Unreal Editor, Hammer, Radiant, or other 3D package. Familiarity with one or more gameplay scripting or programming languages.
• Strong sense of story and narrative techniques as they pertain to the gaming medium.
• Strong knowledge base of animation and engineering feature requirements in relation to design goals.
• Excellent communication, time-management and organizational skills. A strong ability to work across multiple disciplines to gather feedback and address cross-functional issues. Penchant for practical innovation and the ability to bring new ideas to the table.
• Passionate player of games with an ability to analyze competitive products for their strengths and weaknesses.

Preferred Skills

• Third-person action combat or horror level design experience. Experience designing 3rd person action combat tactics and weapons.
• Unreal 3 level building and scripting experience on a least one shipped console product. Thorough knowledge of Kismet and familiarity with Matinee.
• Experience working in an Agile/Scrum development environment.

• Applicants must be able to work at our Sherman Oaks, California studios.
• Email only. No visits or phone calls, please.
• The Subject line of your email must reference the job title and your name, like this: Lead Designer: Last name, First name
• Include your resume as an email attachment, preferably as a PDF or in Word 2003 or later format. Include links to online portfolio if applicable.
• Make sure your resume also includes your name, address, phone, and email.
• Send email to des-jobC3423@sparkunlimited.com

 

Download Spark Non-Disclosure Agreement