Senior Game Designer (Level)

This is a hybrid position based at our studio in Santa Monica, CA.

For nearly 40 years, Naughty Dog has been crafting best-selling, critically acclaimed games that constantly push the boundaries of narrative, gameplay, and technology. Naughty Dog recently released The Last of Us Part II Remastered as well as a current generation remake of The Last of Us Part I for the PS5. We're also proud to say that The Last of Us Parts I and II are now available for the first time on PC. Currently, we’re busy at the kennel working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and we’d love to find talented individuals to join us. 

Naughty Dog games have long been lauded for their evocative, character-driven stories and attention to detail. We are committed to innovation within our games and as such have curated some of the top creative and technically innovative minds in the industry. We welcome diverse candidates and believe that a broad range of cultural and life experiences contribute to the overall well-being and success of the studio and the titles we craft together. 

What you will do:

• Design high quality layouts for your levels, blocking out simplified geometry to create engaging environments
• Develop level composition, architectural concepts, and create evocative shapes in collaboration with the art department
• Create scenarios, place game objects, and implement level progression using game editor tools
• Produce and maintain documentation that establishes the core concepts of your level
• Drive communication and collaboration for spaces you design as well as other parts of the game, ensuring communication across disciplines and meeting deadlines
• Effective and respectful communicator and collaborator, both with other designers and members of other departments
• Coordinate extensive playtesting, reviews, and iteration
• Additional Responsibilities may be assigned as needed

What skills you will use:

• 5 years of industry experience in Level Design for games
• Experience blocking out environments for games using 3D software packages such as Maya, Unreal Editor or otherwise, that exemplify understanding of level design fundamentals
• Experience using a game editor such as Unreal Editor and scripting/programming using a language such as C#, Lua, Python, Visual Scripting
• Welcomes feedback on their work and embraces the “let’s try it” mentality.
• Proficient and effective communication skills
• Welcomes criticism and has experience collaborating as part of a team, innovating without losing sight of the gameplay vision
• Understanding the single player gaming landscape
• Maintains knowledge of the broader gaming landscape trends
• Strong leadership and mentoring skills
• Experience working on action-adventure games, 3rd person or 1st person
• Understanding of narrative concepts and/or experience in writing, film, or theater
• Understanding of art composition, architectural concepts, and an ability to create evocative shapes
• 2+ shipped games in the role

As a part of the Naughty Dog application process, candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete a design test.