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Lead Technical Game Designer (Apex Legends)

Electronic Arts
Los Angeles California United States
3 years ago
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We’re looking for a highly skilled Lead Technical Game Designer who will lead the effort of developing gameplay and systems for Apex Legends . You will oversee the design of different aspects of the game from paper to final stages of polish, facilitating communication across disciplines to ensure the vision is understood and delivered upon. As a lead you will also directly manage a team of designers, developing their skill sets and supporting their career paths. We’re imagining a creative leader who is passionate about developing exciting and deep experiences, who can invent and deliver, and who values fun gameplay as much as we do.

What’s it like to be a Lead Game Designer at Respawn?

- Creative Influence - You will have the opportunity to evangelize the vision for new gameplay features and work closely with other talented developers to deliver compelling mechanics and systems that our players will love to play. As a lead designer you will have direct influence on the shape of the game and a voice when it comes to making the best game possible. As a lead game designer, you will have the opportunity to provide influence and leadership – both within the design team and across development. You will help provide vision and guidance when it comes to encouraging a culture of excellence and further developing the quality of our game. As part of a lean, focused team you will have the opportunity to shine here.

- Leading a Team - You will lead a team of designers to push boundaries and explore new gameplay in Apex Legends. As a people manager you will dev elop and mentor your team members, create opportunities for challenge and growth, as well as nurture an inclusive, positive team environment. You will help establish the quality bar, vision, and best practices for your team in order to develop a creatively exciting game. You will serve as a coach and advisor, provide constructive feedback, develop goals, manage performance, and follow through with meaningful conversations such as monthly one-on-ones and quarterly check ins.

- Collaboration - You will have the opportunity to evangelize the vision for features and work closely with other talented developers to deliver compelling gameplay that our players will love to play. You will advocate for your team’s best interests while also considering the impact on and priorities of other groups. Making games is a group effort and you will work closely with other talented departments that are experts in what they do. Teamwork is very important to our success.

- Feel - Our studio puts a big emphasis on fun gameplay. We want responsive, immersive gameplay that just feels right. Every detail matters - whether it’s the way a player experiences traversing across a cliffside, the way a weapon feels amazing to use, the way embodying a character can make a player feel powerful and smart, to how an astonishing gameplay moment can leave a player breathless; it’s all crafted with purpose. All disciplines in game development are accountable to the gameplay a player experiences - and as a Lead Designer you will be a key influencer in ensuring our game feels good and is fun to play.

- Values - As a lead you will help set an example of and nurture good designer and team values, best practices, and processes. You will seek opportunities to make improvements and iterate for the best outcome possible. We also hold all team members to a high standard of good conduct and nurture an inclusive environment that values positive teamwork.

What do we look for in Lead Game Designer candidates?

- Relevant Design Sensibilities and Insight - In this role you will be able to leverage your strong understanding of developing exciting gameplay. You have demonstrated innovation and creativity while also ensuring solid gameplay balance. When we meet you, we’d love for you to be able to articulate why you made the decisions you’ve made in your own designs - what worked well, what you would change in hindsight, and what you learned. We also value your ability to analyze and break down, from a designer’s perspective, the aspects that work well or don’t work well in games you’ve played and why. We also want to hear about challenges and wins you’ve experienced while leading the work of others.

- You Have Accomplishments You Are Proud Of - You have experience making a significant impact and you have made achievements that you feel good about. Ideally your accomplishments include developing hands on gameplay/game design received well by players, directing the work of others to help bring out the best in their work, and solving team and individual issues as a people manager. You have also likely had failures that you’ve learned from, which have helped you course correct or make better decisions in the future. Your experience matters but so does your potential, and you will be able to leverage what you are proud of in your past and create new accomplishments with us.

- Passion - We look for developers at all levels who are highly passionate. The ideal candidate is passionate about our game and can develop and maintain a deep understanding of gameplay, world/lore, current Legends, future goals, and how these intersect and relate to one another.. Our team is constantly sharing inspiration and working to raise the quality bar. No one is phoning it in here – our team loves what they do and it shows in their work.

- Teamplayer – You will be working closely with other leads and developers across all disciplines. We look for leaders who demonstrate a willingness to keep an open mind to team members’ ideas, incorporating suggestions to tailor your work towards what’s best for the game.

Ideally, you also will have...

5+ years of relevant, professional game design experience with at least one shipped title.

The ability to inspire and motivate through vision, leadership, communication, and delivery.

Experience leading and managing people.

Ability to guide a design team’s work to meet AAA quality.

Good taste and a strong sense of player perspective..

Experience in rapid prototyping to test feasibility of concepts.

Ability to pitch game design concepts in a clear, detailed manner, through strong written and verbal skills.

Deep player expertise in one or more game genres.

A positive, solution-oriented attitude and passion about the play experience, with a wealth of knowledge across a wide range of games.

If this opportunity sounds like a great fit for you, please submit your resume and portfolio and we will get back to you once we have reviewed.

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