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Senior Systems Designer - Call of Duty

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Job Title: Senior Systems Designer – Call of Duty – Activision Central Studios

Reporting to: Design Director

Department: Central Design

Location: Santa Monica, CA

Your Platform

Founded in 1979, Activision has continuously disrupted the world of entertainment as a leader in the videogame industry. With a history of delivering iconic game changers -- like Pitfall ® , Tony Hawk ®, Guitar Hero ®, Crash Bandicoot™, Skylanders ™ and Call of Duty ® -- our obsession is delighting our players around the globe. Focused and committed to innovation, we consistently deliver the most beloved, engaging and successful entertainment.

And while we have world-class franchises, infrastructure and resources, our success comes from a passionate, talented and diverse team of people producing greatness together. So, if you’re interested in our biggest priority, it’s our people.

We’re currently driving the next era for our company and community by creating amazing experiences for fans and continuing to make Activision an inclusive place where everyone can thrive.

Join us, make history. To learn more, check us out at www.activision.com, www.activisiongamesblog.com or @Activision on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Your Mission

Activision is looking for a Senior Systems Designer to join Activision’s Central Design team, focused on the Call of Duty franchise. Ideal candidates will have in-depth systems design experience as well as broad experience with proven skills in multiple areas of game design.

This position will be responsible for providing expert systems design guidance specifically for the Call of Duty franchise. Working directly with the Activision Central Design team, the role will focus on supporting each studio’s metagame, challenge, and progression systems. Candidates will be required to demonstrate proven success in complex systems design on AAA products including XP and leveling conventions, challenge and engagement systems, reward systems, and connection to monetization systems. Knowledge and experience working with UX teams to deliver systems design is required.

The Senior Systems Designer must be an excellent and persuasive communicator, capable of dealing with a wide variety of internal and external partners. They must have deep experience with hands-in game development. Documentation skills are critical, along with the ability to create and tune systems using science, user testing, analytics and instinct as guides. They must be comfortable with all degrees of ownership, from personally designing features to providing high-level feedback. The Senior Systems Designer must thrive in a challenging and high stakes environment. A passion for games new and old is a pre-requisite, along with a deep understanding of what makes great games tick and how to articulate that to others. Successful candidates will be expected to be experts in all major industry systems conventions and able to reverse engineer and document competitive titles to identify best practices.

• Will report directly to the Design Director in Activision’s Central Design team
• Consult on multiple Activision Call of Duty projects, focusing on systems design
• Review and provide verbal/written feedback on design documents and work-in-progress builds
• When required, work directly with dev teams to provide feedback and design support
• Partner with User Research to provide support and analysis on testing results
• Contribute design solutions in the form of high level pitches or low-level designs as needed
• Act as a design evangelist for Central Studios by generating game breakdowns, best practices docs, and keeping a finger on the pulse of the industry

Player Profile

• University/College Degree OR respectable body of professional work experience
• 5+ years acting as a systems designer in the AAA console/PC games industry
• 3+ titles shipped as a systems designer on a dev or publishing team
• 3+ design areas with demonstrated competency and direct applied experience from the following - UX Design, Level Design, Narrative Design, Mission Design, Systems Design, Core Gameplay Design, Multiplayer Design
• Egoless personality, who can communicate effectively at all levels of the organization
• Expert with high and low-level documentation (PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Visio, etc.)
• Passion for Call of Duty, with understanding of the franchise’s progression and reward systems
• Avid gamer (especially online) with a broad range of game experience and a passion for games
• Programming/scripting experience a plus
• Visual skills a plus (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.)

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty ®, World of Warcraft® , Overwatch ®, Diablo ®, Candy Crush ™ and Bubble Witch ™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovate worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

Activision is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.