This job might no longer be available.

Senior Level Designer

ABOUT SPLASH DAMAGE

We believe that games play better with friends. For more than 20 years, we’ve been creating team-based multiplayer experiences that have entertained tens of millions of players all over the world and forged countless new friendships along the way.

Our studio culture is rooted in our open, friendly, and collaborative environment. Our games are made by people from all over the world, from our entry-level Fresh Talent hires to industry veterans, and we believe that fostering that diverse culture is the best way to build both our games and our studio. We have won numerous awards, including a ‘World-Class’ accreditation by Best Companies and being named one of the UK’s 100 Best Large Companies to work for.

Our offices are based in Bromley, UK.

We offer a comprehensive benefits package for you and your family, including:

• Substantial performance-related pay system on top of your basic compensation, along with enhanced pension contributions and our life assurance scheme
• Bespoke VISA and relocation packages for you and your family, with support from our team throughout the whole process
• 20 days of holiday (5 weeks), plus our annual studio closure between Christmas and New Year’s and a week in the summer.
• Private Medical and Dental Cover for you and your family, along with a 24/7 digital GP service
• Extensive Mental Health support, with Line Manager Mental Health training, a group of Mental Health First-Aiders, and on-site or remote counselling
• Our bespoke Learning and Development course framework to help you grow as an employee, manager, and leader
• Industry-leading fully paid 30 weeks maternity leave & 10 weeks paternity leave

As Splash Damage’s Senior Level Designer, you will be responsible for owning multiple levels from concept to completion. Along with other Design leads, you’ll help establish core Level Design pillars, set benchmarks for quality and ensure the game vision is upheld, maintaining constant alignment across all disciplines.

You will have a thorough understanding of the core gameplay mechanics and how the levels will deliver/showcase them, considering project goals, and the target demographic. You will need to maintain up to date Level Design documentation, ensuring Level Design guidelines, best practises and metrics are thoroughly documented.

You will regularly review feedback from playtests, enabling the team to drive quality in all areas of the game. You will know where to prioritise focus when iterating upon your layouts, ensuring the game’s needs are always met.

You will manage, mentor & coach Junior & Regular Level Designers. You will verify task estimates provided by junior staff and in turn work with your lead to give your own accurate estimates for work as well as logging work in management software. You will provide input to Production / Management on project schedules throughout development to prioritise tasks / workload for the developers responsible for their assigned feature-set, in alignment with the product vision. You will articulate the impact of changes to the level design to the developers on your team.

• A deep understanding of level design principles including; flow, game balance, visual language, architectural composition, sign-posting, combat and encounter design, delivery / support of game mechanics, on-boarding, difficulty tuning and pacing.
• Significant experience working in a senior position and at least one shipped first/third person shooter or action title
• The ability to work collaboratively with other disciplines and experience of being a key part of a leadership group
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Experience of prototyping maps and gameplay mechanics using Unreal, Unity, or similar
• Experience writing high quality and thorough design documentation including diagram and flow-chart creation

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience in designing and implementing narrative driven missions
• Experience with designing and scripting enemy encounters
• Knowledge of gameplay event scripting and entity setup
• Experience of being the flag-bearer / champion for a product including giving presentations to press and at conferences / events
• Experience running the live phase of a game as a service, including using telemetry / metrics to inform design and content decisions

Splash Damage is an equal opportunity employer. We believe our teams create better work when they have a range of perspectives to draw from, and we are committed to creating an inclusive working environment that celebrates diversity.