Lead Designer

Lead Designer - Berlin or Helsinki

We are Neon Koi. We are a PlayStation Studio. Our mission is to make mobile action games with epic stories that foster lasting connections with players around the world. Our aim is to amass a stellar portfolio over the next decade by focusing on building highly collaborative, experienced and empowered teams in Helsinki & Berlin.

We offer you the chance to join a rapidly growing international team of passionate and talented game makers, just like yourself. As a young company, you, as an early employee, will have a genuine opportunity to contribute significantly to the culture and operations.

Neon Koi is formerly known as Savage Game Studios.

Why do our people love it here?

Our team can be summed up as being hungry, humble, and people-smart. We genuinely love what we do and aim high. To succeed as a diverse international team spread across two locations (Helsinki & Berlin), effective collaboration and communication are key. While we are all talented individuals, the sweetest achievement is succeeding together as a team.

Fair Play - To us, fairness stands for treating people justly, and not letting your personal feelings bias your decisions about them. We strive to preserve a culture, which doesn’t have glass ceilings or hidden decision-making processes. A transparent culture where teams can thrive and get rewarded for the work they put in and the results they achieve.

When people don’t play by the rules, we act swiftly. At the same time, we reward individuals and teams who embrace our values.

Powerful Together - We believe that excellence is reached by effective team collaboration and ongoing, open feedback.

We are constantly curious to learn from each other. Understanding and hearing each others’ perspectives enables us to make the best decisions. We get inspired by each other to strive for higher standards and ultimately become a better version of ourselves.

You can rely on each other when facing difficult challenges. We encourage everyone to speak up, ask for help and bring up hard conversations. Most importantly, we put a lot of effort into hiring the right people who enjoy spending time with each other.

Players First - We work for the players. Understanding them at deeper levels than just demographics is crucial for our success.

We’re player informed. Ultimately we, and not our players, are responsible for making the right decisions for our games. We realize that what players want and what they need may often differ.

We’re committed to creating a diverse team. If you feel that you might be interested in the role, even if you don’t hit 100% of the criteria, please don’t let that put you off. Get in touch with us. We believe in passion and potential.

The Role

As the Lead Designer, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the design team and design of our upcoming game. You will lead a team of passionate and skilled game designers, guiding them through the development process. Your creativity, strategic thinking, and technical expertise will be instrumental in delivering a high-quality game.

This role can be based in Helsinki or Berlin.

Responsibilities

• Lead brainstorming sessions and collaborate with the wider game team to generate designs.
• Develop and communicate a clear, cohesive design vision that aligns with the overall game vision.
• Provide direction and mentorship to a team of designers.
• Oversee and guide the design process, ensuring that each element contributes to the game vision.
• Create and maintain design documents.
• Communicate designs and decisions to cross-functional teams, fostering alignment and collaboration.
• Lead the development of prototypes, validating and iterating on designs.
• Collaborate closely with the development team to implement, test, and refine features and content throughout development.
• With the Product team, conduct player research and analyze feedback, informing design decisions to enhance the player experience.
• Stay informed of industry trends and competitor games, ensuring the game remains innovative and competitive.
• Work closely with QA teams to identify and address design-related issues, ensuring a polished and bug-free experience.
  

Requirements

• 8+ years of design experience, including 3+ years in a managerial role.
• In-depth understanding of action games and comprehensive knowledge across all stages of live game development and operations.
• Proven track record of successfully shipping at least one action game.
• Demonstrates excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Combines a creative mindset with strong analytical abilities.
• Collaborative nature with a commitment to delivering exceptional leadership experiences to the team.
  

The ideal candidate will also have

• A passion for game design and possesses a deep love for video games.

Why join us?

Although we’re a new company, we’re committed to making this a great place to work, so this is only the beginning of our benefits:

• Annual bonus
• Lunch benefits
• Budget towards commuting costs
• Fitness benefits
• Home internet / mobile phone plan
• Educational budget: for language learning, self-training, attending conferences, buying games and books etc
• Financial and practical assistance with relocation through our relocation partner and a relocation budget
• Twice yearly off-sites
• PBG - Pizza, beer and games on the last Friday of every month
• 30 days holiday plus additional days for Wellness and between Christmas and New Year
• Access to PlayStation products and games