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Lead Designer - Casual Mobile Games

Kwalee is one of the world’s leading multiplatform game publishers and developers, with well over 750 million downloads worldwide for mobile hits such as Draw It, Teacher Simulator, Let’s Be Cops 3D, Airport Security and Makeover Studio 3D. Alongside this, we also have a growing PC and Console team of incredible pedigree that is on the hunt for great new titles to join TENS!, Eternal Hope, Die by the Blade and Scathe.

We have a team of talented people collaborating daily between our studios in Leamington Spa, Bangalore and Beijing, or on a remote basis from Turkey, Brazil, the Philippines and many more places, and we’ve recently acquired our first external studio, TicTales which is based in France. We have a truly global team making games for a global audience. And it’s paying off: Kwalee has been recognised with the Best Large Studio and Best Leadership awards from TIGA (The Independent Game Developers’ Association) and our games have been downloaded in every country on earth!

Founded in 2011 by David Darling CBE, a key architect of the UK games industry who previously co-founded and led Codemasters for many years, our team also includes legends such as Andrew Graham (creator of Micro Machines series) and Jason Falcus (programmer of classics including NBA Jam) alongside a growing and diverse team of global gaming experts. Everyone contributes creatively to Kwalee’s success, with all employees eligible to pitch their own game ideas on Creative Wednesdays, and we’re proud to have built our success on this inclusive principle. Could your idea be the next global hit?

What’s the job?

As a Lead Designer you ’ll work closely with every department to craft new games and be the driving force behind ensuring its that sticky game our players love. You will need to be a big picture thinker who also cares about the details and able to switch between the two as needed..

What you tell your friends you do

“My mission is that you enjoy our games so much that you won’t be able to stop playing!”

What you will really be doing

• Working closely with the Product Manager to help turn a game vision into a reality by understanding who the target audience is, what excites them and how we create a suite of features and content within games that appeal to these players.
• Setting the design vision and quality level for the game and seeing that implemented from feature designs through to UX implementation with a focus on strong player engagement.
• Working with Economy Designers to seamlessly weave IAP opportunities into your designs and ensuring that both spender and non-spender players can still enjoy the products.
• Be data and feedback driven, evolving and adapting games design based on play testing, feedback and live metrics.
• Establish the working design principles and processes for your games and mentoring a team of designers covering general game design, economy design and level design.
• Coordinate with development, art, analytics, QA and other cross functional depts to ensure the overall goals of the project are aligned and well understood.
• Analysis of emerging F2P gameplay & monetisation trends and each games key competitors.

How you will be doing this

• You’ll be part of an agile, multidisciplinary and creative team and work closely with them to ensure the best results.
• You'll think creatively and be motivated by challenges and constantly striving for the best.
• You’ll work with cutting edge technology, if you need software or hardware to get the job done efficiently, you can get it.

Team

Our talented team is our signature. We have a highly creative atmosphere with more than 150 staff where you’ll have the opportunity to contribute daily to important decisions. You’ll work within an extremely experienced, passionate and diverse team, including David Darling and the creator of the Micro Machines video games.

Skills and requirements

• A minimum of 5 years experience in a game design role and 1 F2P mobile title shipped at a Senior or Lead level.
• Experience working with user centric designs taking into consideration who the player is, their motivations, their expectations and the overall usability of a game.
• Team management experience working with different design disciplines including Level Design, Economy Design and Live Ops Design.
• Working knowledge of the Unity engine and comfortable working in the engine.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to distill ideas down into specifications, ready for estimation.
• Knowledge on the topic of mobile free-to-play game monetisation and able to work with the Product Manager to find the right balances for our users.
• Knowledge of mobile game market, trends, competition, platforms and app stores.
• Absolute passion for playing and making video games, especially mobile games.
• Able to engage with others to challenge their ideas, provide constructive feedback and be able to have your own assumptions challenged in turn
• Positive attitude, self driven and able to work alone or as part of a team.

Desirable

• Creative writing skills both to help the game but also reporting and selling the vision.
• Coding / prototyping skills in Engine or using design aids such as Adobe XD for UX or Machinations for Economy.
• Experience of mobile game live ops, A/B testing and telemetry.

We offer

• We want everyone involved in our games to share our success, that’s why we have a generous team profit sharing scheme from day 1 of employment

• Creative Wednesdays! (Design and make your own games every Wednesday)

• Great work-life balance with flexible working hours
• Quarterly team building days - work hard, play hard!
• Monthly employee awards

Our philosophy

We firmly believe in creativity and innovation and that a fundamental requirement for a successful and happy company is having the right mix of individuals. With the right people in the right environment anything and everything is possible.

Kwalee makes games to bring people, their stories, and their interests together. As an employer, we’re dedicated to making sure that everyone can thrive within our team by welcoming and supporting people of all ages, races, colours, beliefs, sexual orientations, genders and circumstances. With the inclusion of diverse voices in our teams, we bring plenty to the table that’s fresh, fun and exciting; it makes for a better environment and helps us to create better games for everyone! This is how we move forward as a company – because these voices are the difference that make all the difference.