This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Staff Hero Designer based in United States.
Responsibilities
Lead the creative vision, design, and execution quality of one or more playable hero characters for an upcoming game project.
Own core combat, traversal, abilities, controls, camera, and other player-facing mechanics from early prototypes through final polish.
Combine hands-on technical implementation with creative leadership, iteration, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Work closely with Gameplay Programmers, Animators, VFX Artists, Character Artists, Mission Designers, Narrative, and other development partners.
Help establish standards, mentor other designers, and influence the quality and consistency of third-person player experiences.
Prototype, implement, tune, and iterate hero combat and non-combat gameplay using internal tools and scripting systems.
Provide creative direction for development pods and collaborate with development leadership to establish milestones, priorities, feedback cycles, and execution plans.
Partner closely with Gameplay Programming and Animation while collaborating with VFX, Character Art, Mission Design, Systems Design, UI/UX, Narrative, and other disciplines.
Work with Mission and Combat Designers to integrate player mechanics into missions, encounters, and core combat systems.
Collaborate with Systems Designers, Gameplay Programmers, and UI/UX partners to support progression systems, meaningful player growth, and long-term gameplay engagement.
Work with Narrative, Mission Designers, and Mission Directors to support player-driven storytelling through mechanics and interactive experiences.
Regularly review work in progress, gather feedback, identify problems, drive solutions, and ensure assigned player features meet creative and technical quality targets at each milestone.
Create and maintain clear documentation covering player systems, features, standards, metrics, best practices, tutorials, and creative processes.
Drive improvements to internal tools used for third-person character prototyping, implementation, and iteration.
Review hero character work across the studio, mentor and coach other Hero Designers, and serve as a subject-matter expert in third-person player character design.
Lead brainstorms and reviews, communicate design intent clearly, build cross-functional alignment, and champion inclusive collaboration and strong design values.
Stay current with the evolution of game-design craft and third-person narrative gameplay.
Take on other gameplay systems design responsibilities when needed.
Requirements
8+ years of professional game-design experience, including at least one shipped title where you were a primary design owner for player combat and/or overall player character systems.
Proven ability to create, tune, and polish high-quality player movement, combat, controls, game feel, and gameplay balance.
Deep knowledge of the history and current state of game-design craft, particularly within third-person narrative games.
High proficiency with modern game engines such as Unreal, Unity, or proprietary engines, with demonstrated experience directly scripting, prototyping, implementing, and iterating gameplay systems.
Experience with 3D layout is a plus, along with intermediate knowledge of level-editing tools and 3D modeling software such as Maya or comparable applications.
Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, Miro, Confluence, or equivalent productivity and collaboration tools. Experience with animation tools or programming languages is an advantage.
Strong practical reasoning skills and the ability to work effectively with varied and complex situations where standardized solutions may not exist.
Excellent written, verbal, and visual communication skills.
Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional contributors, provide constructive feedback, mentor designers, and establish alignment around creative and technical goals.
Highly self-driven and comfortable taking ownership, identifying problems proactively, implementing solutions, and adapting to feedback.
Strong creative instincts combined with technical depth, attention to detail, and a passion for highly polished player experiences.