Shipped at least one AAA shooter title in an Advanced Level Designer role or higher
Experience leading a quality-driven team
Strong grasp of level design principles like pacing and tension
Proven ability to support narrative through level design
Proficient with world-building tools such as UnrealEd, Radiant, Max, or Maya
Strong layout skills for building and owning game spaces
Experience in encounter design and advanced mission scripting
Responsibilities
Drive the development of intricate game levels for a high-profile AAA shooter
Ensure seamless integration of levels and gameplay loops for optimal player experience
Define and uphold quality standards for game space flow
Collaborate with teams to creatively implement core mechanics through level design
Lead the design process for objectives, challenges, and events within game spaces
Work with narrative and mission teams to ensure cohesive storytelling in levels
Assist in reviewing levels and providing feedback to project leads
Facilitate playtests to gather player feedback and address issues
Document and communicate best practices for level design
Benefits
Collaborative and innovative work environment
Opportunity to shape the studio's level design program
Engagement with high-profile AAA projects
Support for professional growth and development
Access to cutting-edge tools and technologies
Full Job Description
Principal Level Designer
As Principal Level Designer at Certain Affinity, you are responsible for creating, implementing and bringing innovative ideas to the levels for AAA projects. You will work extensively with the mission, gameplay and world teams to develop requirements for in-game spaces. Your wide range of skills encompasses both the creative and technical worlds, allowing you to successfully arrange and balance the flow of game spaces so that players, AI, and mission systems have cohesive experience. You will be a subject matter expert for all things level design, helping to shape the studio's level design program and sharing your expertise with the rest of the design team.
If you have extensive experience creating and owning maps and mission designs, establishing design standards, considerable implementation experience, are eager to have an impact, motivated to support the needs of both development teams and external partners, and are open to new challenges, we'd like to hear from you. Responsibilities:
Driving the development of intricate game levels for a high-profile AAA shooter
Ensure the convergence of levels and gameplay loops to eliminate friction for the player experience
Define and drive quality with regards to the flow of created game spaces
Collaborate with the development team to brainstorm creative ways to implement and showcase the game's core mechanics through level design
Drive the design and creative process for game levels, working with other teams to create objectives, challenges, puzzles, and events that fit within game spaces
Collaborate with the narrative and mission team of designers, engineers, cinematic artists, and writers to ensure the local and overarching narrative is being told in the levels
Assist the Lead Game Designer in reviewing levels, as well as full builds of the game and providing weekly feedback to the project leads and development team
Help drive playtests to gather critical level feedback from players and develop a plan of action to address issues
Build, document and communicate best practices for the studio's level design department
Requirements
At least twelve years of experience as a level designer
Shipped at least one AAA Shooter PC or console title in a an Advanced Level Designer role or higher
Experience leading and supporting a quality-driven team
A thorough grasp of good level design principles (difficulty, risk, and reward, pacing, tension, etc.)
Proven ability of supporting narrative through level design
Ability to use world building tools such as UnrealEd, Radiant, Max and/or Maya
Strong layout skills - building and owning spaces from the ground up, working with art and gameplay teams to bring them through production
Experience in encounter design and scripting
Experience with advanced mission scripting or coding
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and methodology
Ability to collaborate with cross-discipline teams including art, audio, engineering, and narrative
Thrives in a highly iterative, highly collaborative environment
Passionate about gaming and game development!
Extra Credit
Shipped at least one AAA game in Unreal Engine
Bachelor's (BA) degree from an accredited four-year college or university or equivalent experience in design, game development, or architecture
