Senior Combat Designer

Spark is looking for a senior combat designer for a 3rd Person Action/Adventure sequel in a high-profile science fiction franchise currently greenlit for full production development for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC markets.    The Senior Combat Designer will be responsible for collaborating on developing game design systems, AI behaviors, player mechanics, and game balancing, tuning and timing for a third-person action shooter on current-gen consoles.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Design Lead on game design systems and generate documentation to clearly communicate ideas and goals to team and publisher.
• Spearhead and deliver work on time within a tight schedule, while working closely with the level design, artist, animation, and engineering team members.
• Demonstrate initiative as a senior member of the department, mentor other design team members, and set examples of best practices in accordance with design lead's expectations.
• Work with animators to tighten low-level mechanical tuning and timing.
• Cultivate a positive team dynamic, and exhibit a professional attitude by demonstrating a good balance between creativity and practical flexibility.  
  

Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years as a combat designer, or similar role, on current generation and previous generation consoles.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills – a strong ability to work across multiple disciplines to gather feedback and address cross-functional design 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.
• Third-person action shooter experience with player mechanics and AI behaviors.
• Understanding action shooter combat tactics and weapons.
  

Preferred Skills

• Familiarity with Maya.
• Experience working in an Agile/Scrum development environment.
• Unreal 3 level building and scripting experience on a least one shipped console product. Thorough knowledge of Kismet and familiarity with Matinee.
• Strong sense of story and narrative techniques as they pertain to the gaming medium.
  

• Applicants must be able to work at our Sherman Oaks, California studio.
• Email only. No visits or phone calls please.
• The Subject line of your email must reference the job title and your name, like this: Senior Combat 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-jobB1361@sparkunlimited.com

*principle applications only.  no recruitment firms please.

 

Download Spark Non-Disclosure Agreement