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Director of Design - Star Wars IP

At NaturalMotion, we make games that wow people. We innovate to create experiences that previously were impossible and that would not exist without us. We take pride in making titles that reach a large audience and in creating communities that last. In 2018 & 2019, NaturalMotion Studios were named one of the Best Places to Work in the UK games industry by gamesindustry.biz.

One Team: Three Epic Games.

NaturalMotion’s Action Strategy Group is a BAFTA-nominated team developing an exciting new Star Wars™ game and running live operations on Dawn of Titans and Star Wars™: Commander.

The team have a tight-knit, sociable culture and a strong team identity whilst demonstrating all the benefits that come from being part of NaturalMotion and Zynga. The team create world-leading, action strategy titles on a foundation of trust and camaraderie, with weekly team show and tells, frequent social events and kudos sharing on our ‘Awesome Wall’.

Job Purpose

We are seeking a Design Director to join our Action Strategy team. You will play a pivotal role in the creation of a blockbuster new mobile game. You will report directly to the Creative Director. You will drive the design of a brand new game, bringing creativity, vision, market knowledge, design experience and a collaborative working style to become a key design leader in a brand new team.

Key Roles & Responsibilities

• Have a clear and concise communication style, able to easily share and evangelise the product vision, design approaches and requirements to team members, product owners, senior management and other relevant key partners.
• Create the right level of documentation, presentations and visual tools to convey key concepts, mechanics and systems.
• Developing systems and behaviours for core gameplay, retention, and social game features that monetise, engage and motivate players through amazing game experiences and highly enjoyable progression.
• Tune game and monetization features, and the overall freemium game economy to maximise the player experience and revenue potential.
• Keen interest in the current market and what players want. Observing / analysing user testing and analytics to recommend design solutions and improve or fix design features during the life of the product as a service.
• You will lead design reviews / evaluations on a regular basis. Respond to emergent QA and design issues and problems in development. You will these are addressed to meet product goals and release plans
• Post-launch, you will define features spanning several months with a clear understanding of impact on key KPI’s, working closely with the team to get them smoothly into content releases that drive value to the player.
• You will support and be supported by your fellow team members, giving them the insights of your expertise and benefitting from an open environment in which everyone can contribute thoughts and ideas to produce the highest quality experience for our players.

Required Experience & Skills

• A seasoned game design lead, with experience leading a design team, directing work and mentoring / coaching staff.
• Understand that we can only create outstanding games as a team and have the experience and energy to together turn visions into fully developed game mechanics.
• Have a strong attention to detail and understand the importance of balance and strong system design.
• Great experience at writing design specifications and building playable prototypes.
• Hands-on experience managing the design of a live game.
• F2P design expert, and know how to integrate both a fun user experience and effective monetization strategy into a product

Desirable Experience & Skills

• A deep understanding of Star Wars
• Shipped a successful strategy game and have hands-on experience of developing a battle game populated with fun vehicles, units and troops

What do we offer?

• Competitive salary, discretionary annual bonus scheme and Zynga stock allowance
• Contributory pension scheme
• 25 days holiday, plus public holidays and Christmas shutdown
• Private medical care and healthcare cash plan
• Life insurance and critical illness insurance
• Discounted gym membership and free weekly yoga class
• Flexible working hours
• Free fruit, snacks & soft drinks provided daily, as well as free lunch on Fridays
• Annual season ticket loan and cycle to work scheme
• Summer and Christmas parties and Happy Hour every Friday

NaturalMotion is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, pregnancy, marital status or veteran status.

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