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Mission Designer

Would you like to work on some of the biggest franchises in gaming? Certain Affinity, the largest independent video game developer in Austin, Texas, has opened a location in Toronto, Canada and we’re looking for exceptionally talented people to join us. Our Toronto studio will collaborate with our Austin location, and together we’ll be co-developing AAA FPS games and creating our own compelling new IP.

As a Mission Designer at Certain Affinity, you are responsible for the design and implementation of missions, objectives, and encounters in a third-person action game. Your range of skills encompasses both the creative and technical worlds, allowing you to successfully arrange and balance the flow, rhythm, and tension of a mission, as well as the objectives presented to the players and their associated enemy encounters.

If you have experience creating missions, objective, and encounters, are eager to have an impact and are open to new challenges, we’d like to hear from you.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement missions, objectives, and encounters in a third person action game
• Ensure that narrative context is properly delivered via the missions
• Work with level designers to ensure spaces can accommodate all required objectives
• Collaborate with the development team to brainstorm creative ways to implement and showcase the game’s core mechanics through the level and mission design
• Collaborate with a cross-discipline narrative team to ensure the local and overarching narrative is being advanced in the levels and missions
• Assist the Lead Mission Designer in reviewing levels and missions
• Help drive playtests to gather critical level and mission feedback from players and develop a plan of action to address issues
• Work on original and licensed properties, coordinating with teams and licensors to ensure brand consistency and presentation that reflects the licensors’ needs

Requirements

• At least three years of experience as a mission designer
• Shipped at least one AAA Action PC or console title as a mission designer
• A thorough grasp of good level design principles (difficulty, risk, and reward, pacing, tension, etc.)
• Proven ability of supporting narrative through the level and mission design
• Ability to use world building tools such as UnrealEd, Radiant, Max and/or Maya
• Experience with advanced scripting or coding
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and methodology
• Ability to collaborate with cross-discipline teams including art, audio, engineering, and narrative
• Highly self-motivated and able to self-manage
• Thrives in a highly iterative, highly collaborative environment
• Exceptionally detail-oriented and well-organized, with strong multitasking skills; able to juggle multiple projects and management all at once
• Creative individual with a thirst for innovation
• A desire to work in a diverse and inclusive environment
• Passion for video games

Extra Credit

• Experience developing for Xbox One or PS4