This job might no longer be available.

Design Manager

We are looking for a Design Craft Manager with experience in managing people and enabling our amazing staff to thrive and develop in their careers.

The purpose of the Design Craft Manager is to provide lateral support outside the game team hierarchy, focused on growing individuals long term. Our Design Craft Managers are responsible for building and sustaining a strong and versatile production force, so that Kabam can build any game and service that we decide to pursue. A Design Craft Manager works with recruiting, building, coaching and mentoring individuals, both on a personal and a craft level.

They work close to the game teams to understand the project needs, challenges and possibilities. The Design Craft Managers will find synergies, enable collaboration, nurture personal growth, craft specialization and career development. Each Design Craft Manager is responsible for multiple individuals spread across the team. They act as an executive extension of the Design leadership and studio management.

Within MCoC The Design Craft Manager will help shape, drive and uphold the creative vision of the product. They are responsible for maintaining a high bar of quality across the design function and supporting the growth of individual’s skills to raise that bar.

Who you are

• A senior individual with work experience and a solid, reliable and down-to-earth person.
• You have deep experience in game development and multiple years of experience with game design. This background is essential in order to evaluate and challenge game designers in a healthy and constructive way.
• You have strong soft skills; including listening, coaching, mentoring, explaining, etc.
• You are competent with structure and order. Documentation and clear planning is important.

What you will be doing

• Communicating information from and to studio management.
• Staying informed and up-to-date with project goals, status and team health.
• Ensure the vision of MCoC is upheld and on trackWork with Design Leads to shape and evolve the product vision as required
• Drive quality within the design function and keep designers accountable
• Support and coach individuals. Manage long term goals and career. Work with the area leads to help build long term career plans for specialists.
• Staffing and recruitment support for all field specialisms
• Coaching and mentoring the content team to be stronger and more versatile, to enable efficient and healthy production.
• Career planning on a individual and craft level
• Performance reviews and salary discussions.
• Studio wide training.
• MCoC Design Team events and morale building
• Interviews and onboarding of new hires.
• You will report directly to the Design Director.

How you impact the team

• Free up the current Lead to focus on product level vision and franchise expansion
• Deliver on many career planning and development initiatives we have failed to do
• Reduce line-management load on Design Leads where requested
• Manage Studio Design initiatives like the Friday Design Umbrella and cross team communication
• Create regular, organised, and funded design team bonding events
• Provide support to leads with individuals that may need more guidance, training or direction
• Help chase and champion tooling and process improvements across BCG and Quest

Qualifications

• 8-10+ years in the video game industry, with ideally 3+ years of experience in a people management, people training, and hiring capacity
• Your career aspirations lean heavily toward nurturing and mentoring design teams, developing talent, career planning, refining process, and removing inefficiencies.
• Strong fundamental video game design experience in areas such as core gameplay design, systems design, economy design, or level design, etc.
• F2P mobile experience is nice to have, but console/PC game design or board game design experience candidates are also welcome.

Together, we can create and support some of the best games ever made and continue to entertain the world!

Kabam is a world leader of developing entertaining, immersive, and highly social multiplayer games for mobile devices. They merge consumer behaviour with the art of game design to create experiences that are enjoyed by millions of players across the globe. Each game has raised the benchmark in mobile gaming, bringing high-quality graphics, next-generation technology and revolutionary gameplay to the console in every player’s pocket.

Kabam has partnered with leading entertainment brands like Disney, Hasbro and Universal to create mobile games based on some of the world’s most iconic franchises.

Founded in 2006, Kabam has studios and offices in Vancouver, Montreal, Charlottetown, San Francisco and Austin. Kabam is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Netmarble Games.

Kabam is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and equitable workplace, and inclusive environment for all existing and potential employees. Employment decisions are based on candidate qualifications and business need, not race, color, ancestry, place of origin, age, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, political belief, religion, creed, marital or family status, medical condition, genetic information, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, prior criminal conviction or any other protected class in accordance with federal, state or provincial and local laws and ordinances. Accommodations will be provided as requested by candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.