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Senior Level Designer (Encounters)
2 years ago
Would you like to work on some of the greatest franchises in gaming history? What about working on our new original IP? Certain Affinity is the largest independent developer in Texas, based out of Austin, and we have a growing presence in Toronto, Canada. Our culture reflects the values and the vibrant nature of the cities we call home. This includes a commitment to evolution, diversity, excellence, and work-life balance. We are also excited to be the latest recipient of the Canadian Studio of the Year award. We're best known for co-developing numerous AAA FPS games, though now we are creating compelling new games of our own. We're always on the lookout for amazing talent to join our team.
As a Sr. Level Designer (Encounters) at Certain Affinity, you are responsible for melding visually stunning layouts with challenging enemies to create compelling and engaging activities for the player. Your skills encompass both the creative and technical elements of design, allowing you to create a wide variety of activities, including encounters, events, puzzles, objectives, and missions.
If you have experience, are eager to have an impact, and are open to new challenges, we’d like to hear from you.
Responsibilities
- Deliver interesting and varied activities for both First Person and Third Person Shooters
- Drive the design and implementation of game levels, creating objectives, challenges, puzzles, and events that fit within game spaces.
- Collaborate with other teams – Environment, AI, narrative, character, system designers – to meld all their best content together into a holistic and engaging experience
- Brainstorm creative ways to implement and showcase the game’s core mechanics
- Work with the narrative team, engineers, cinematic artists, and writers to ensure the local and overarching narrative is being advanced in the levels and missions
- Assist the Lead Level Designer in reviewing levels and activities
- Help drive playtests to gather critical feedback on encounters from players and develop a plan of action to address issues
- Work with art to create and modify play spaces
- 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 five years of experience as a Level, World, Activities, Mission, or Encounter designer
- Shipped at least one AAA Action PC or console title in a relevant role
- A thorough grasp of good level design principles (difficulty, risk, reward, pacing, tension, etc.)
- Proven ability to support narrative through level and mission design
- Ability to use world-building tools such as UnrealEd, Radiant, Max, and/or Maya
- Experience with advanced scripting of visual scripting such as Blueprint
- 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
- Passionate about gaming and game development
- A desire to work and support a diverse and inclusive environment
Extra Credit
- FPS or 3rd Person Shooter Experience
- Experience developing for Xbox One or PS4
Certain Affinity is authorized to do business in many, but not all, of the states in the US and the Canadian provinces. If you are not located in or able to work from a state where Certain Affinity is registered, you may not be eligible for employment as a fully remote employee. Please speak with your recruiter to learn more about where we are registered. Certain Affinity or its partners or affiliates run background checks on candidates or employees with the written authorization from the candidates or employees. These may be done for the purposes of offering employment or determining eligibility to work on a specific project. Multiple searches may be required.
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