The Lead Encounter Designer will lead and manage a team of designers who are responsible for creating high-quality, engaging raid, dungeon, and open world encounter content in World of Warcraft. You will represent a growing Encounter Design team in cross-functional collaboration with other teams at our Boston studio. The ideal candidate is an empathetic communicator with excellent critical thinking and analytical skills as well as a strong aesthetic for creating engaging content.
This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Boston, MA.
In this role you will:
Ensure dungeon and raid gameplay, as well as open world encounters meet the World of Warcraft quality and standards
Manage and provide guidance in the encounter design and implementation process.
Be a driving force in creating a welcoming and respectful atmosphere for collaboration, communication, and creativity, with an emphasis on the values of diversity and inclusion.
Translate game concepts into specific raids, dungeons, and other encounters, including creative design, technical details, balance and polish.
Work closely with the production team to maintain timelines, meet deadlines, and to work through encounter design revisions as needed.
Coordinate with the environment art, level design, and narrative teams to design cohesive encounters based on story and environmental details.
Work with department manager on career and performance development for the encounter designers
Work with tools team to help prioritize tool requests from the encounters team
Requirements
6+ years of professional games industry experience preferred
1+ year of experience managing at least 2 direct reports
Previously shipped MMO or open-world game titles
Strong familiarity with best practices in encounter design, environmental storytelling, content delivery and live games
Experience with documentation and production pipelines on medium to large teams.
Ability to identify, mentor, and grow talent with an emphasis on building a diverse and inclusive team
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Required Application Materials
Resume
Cover Letter, though not required is highly encouraged and would include:
Why you are interested in working at Blizzard
What games you are currently playing
We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.
Accommodation Request: We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to [email protected]. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.
Our World
At Blizzard Entertainment, we pour our hearts and souls into everything we create. Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft, we’ve been creating genre-defining games for millions of players around the world for more than 30 years. We’re on a quest: bring our dreams to life and craft the most epic entertainment experiences…ever. Hard work, iteration and polish go into the Blizzard “secret recipe,” but the most important ingredients come from talented people who share our vision. If that sounds like you, join us.
The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.
Rewards
We provide a comprehensive benefits package to promote health and wellness along with financial security. Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers benefits including:
Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance;
401(k) with Company match
Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
Wellness program, free and discounted games, and voluntary supplemental life;
If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.
Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting our benefits page.
In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $80,800.00 - $149,400.00 Annual. This base pay range is for the U.S. and is not applicable to locations outside of the U.S. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed.
