Blackbird Interactive is looking for a Senior Systems Designer to join on a sci-fi, first-person action game built in Unreal 5. The game is heavily systems-driven, and uses a blend of hand-authored and procedural content, with deep immersion, emergent gameplay, and an emphasis on narrative. As a Senior Systems Designer, you are responsible for the design, tuning and maintenance of many important, complex systems, from core gameplay to economy and progression systems, with the goal of delivering a more dynamic player experience. You are a key bridge between Design and the Art and Code disciplines. You are also responsible for designing both features and dev-facing tools for use in Unreal. You care about shaping an engaging player experience and bringing together a blend of creative and technical skills and experience. Responsibilities • Design, prototype and implement complex gameplay systems and tools, in collaboration with the other Designers, Artists and Programmers • Provide team-facing documentation to inform and guide the work of downstream groups • Provide creative and technical feedback on the work of other Designers • Understand, interpret and execute on creative direction, in alignment with project goals • Act as a technical expert on key features and participate in data debugging • Guide the technical work of others and ensure that content creation follows documented best practices • Help test new tools / features before distribution to the rest of the team • Participate in planning a roadmap to completion for the systems for which youre responsible • Mentor designers and promote good design principles across the team Requirements • Minimum 6 years in technical design or systems design • Demonstrate fundamental knowledge of game design processes and skills investigating in-game issues • At least two shipped titles • Experience with Unreal 5 and Blueprints • Self-direction and a proven ability to thrive in a highly technical environment Pluses • Experience with other areas of design (level design, UX/UI, encounter scripting, etc.) • Experience playing modern first person games, including genres like Immersive Sim or Action-RPG • Experience or knowledge of 2D / 3D software • Experience with a variety of game engines • Experience with version control software $104,000 - $114,000 a year