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Design: Lead World Designer

Unknown Worlds is seeking an accomplished lead world designer to work on the next game in the Subnautica series. Our ideal candidate is skilled at level creation in Unreal Engine 5 and has a passion for storytelling through world building. They are someone with a deep understanding of level design principles and practices and adept at fostering tight collaboration on larger cross discipline teams. We are looking for a balance of technical expertise and aesthetic composition skills.

This is a remote position on a fully remote team.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the world development effort collaborating closely with gameplay, art, and narrative stakeholders.
• Develop, document and maintain the level design pipeline and workflows for the game.
• Lead and manage a team of level designers, providing guidance, mentorship, and feedback to ensure high-quality work.
• Collaborate closely with the art team to identify needed assets for worldbuilding.
• Conduct regular reviews and playtests to gather feedback, iterate on designs, and maintain a high level of quality throughout the development process.
• Stay updated on industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies related to open world game design, and apply this knowledge to enhance our projects.
• Identify and champion tools requests and pipeline improvements for the team.

Qualifications

• Experience creating streaming open world environments with an eye towards gameplay design and progression in open world games..
• 5+ years of level design experience in the games industry with at least one shipped title in a design leadership role.
• Proficiency in creating environments in Unreal 5, including landscape creation, prop placement and foliage painting.
• Deep understanding of level design principles and best practices.
• Aesthetic eye capable of creating stunning environments.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Self-motivated, highly organized and self managing. Comfortable working in a remote environment across multiple time zones.

Preferences

• Knowledge of UE5 Blueprints.
• Experience with procedural generation techniques and tools.
• Knowledge of 3D modeling and texturing software such as Maya, Blender, or Substance Painter.