[Vector North] Lead Level Designer

Responsibilities

Our Lead Level Designer identifies, proposes, and oversees the creation/iteration of levels that express the high-level direction of the game.

Someone in this role is able to take a hands-on role in development, as well as nurture and lead a team of Level Designers to design, prototype, iterate, and polish levels. 

Build a Team

• Help to recruit and lead a team of creative and technical experts within the Level Design team.
• Cooperate with project leadership to foster a development culture that reflects our values.
• Mentor, appraise, and facilitate the professional growth of team members.

Lead Level Design

• Define and communicate the Level Design needs of the project.
• Establish and guard standards and consistency of Level Design execution.
• Provide ongoing informal guidance across the Level Design team, and help review the overall state at key intervals.

Liaise with Art, World, and Design 

• Cooperate with Art and World stakeholders to help develop and maintain a consistent visual language.
• Cooperate with Game Design stakeholders to help refine a Game Direction that reflects the Creative Vision.
• Cooperate with Narrative Design stakeholders to enhance the game narrative.

Monitor Technical Quality

• Cooperate with Tech stakeholders to help establish performance and stability standards.
• Establish, communicate, and guard production pipelines/requirements within the Level Design team.
• Provide ongoing informal guidance and maintain technical standards within the Level Design team.

Enable Progress

• Cooperate with Production stakeholders to define and deploy effective workflows, tools, and best practices.
• Support members of the Level Design team to estimate, plan, monitor, and effectively prioritize tasks.
• Identify, communicate, and manage risks and issues.

Attributes

As a Lead Level Designer of a new IP and growing studio, this role demands the ability to draw upon prior experiences with full-cycle level creation, prototyping, and driving iteration as well as a readiness to take on new challenges. It requires individual-level design expertise, but also the capacity to lead, mentor, and empower the specialist team members.

Required

• Several years of the games industry in Level Design / Design / Art or other relevant experience.
• Shipped titles as Lead Level Designer or Senior Level Designer (or Environment / Technical Art equivalent roles).
• Experience developing large-scale / open-world / sandbox games.
• Experience developing a multiplayer game.
• Experience developing with Unreal.
• Up-to-date knowledge of trends in Level Design production methodologies and tools.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Proficiency in verbal and written English.

Nice to Have

• AAA/console game development experience.
• Experience with two or more domains (ie Level Design, Design, Environment Art, Tech Art, Concept Art, etc.).
• Experience leading a team.
• Experience recruiting and growing new teams and projects.
• Experience creating original IP.
• Experience working in a hybrid/remote environment.
• Experience creating, commissioning, and critiquing concept art.
• Experience with live-ops / games-as-a-service.
• Keen understanding of User Generated Content.
• Familiarity with procedural content-authoring technologies.
• Proficiency in documentation and communication.
• Familiarity with cooperating with outsourcing partners.
• Bachelor's Degree (or equivalent formal qualification) in a relevant field.
• Working knowledge of Atlassian software development or other collaboration tools.
• Experience working in diverse, multinational teams.
• Practical experience using a variety of modern game engines and tools.

We welcome all applications!

We are proud to have such a multicultural environment and we strive to create a safe, inclusive, and harmonious atmosphere for everyone to thrive in. We invite applications from all genders, sexual orientations, races, colors, religions, and ages.

If this sounds like a good fit for your skills and experience, then apply right away!