As a leading mobile games developer, Jam City is looking to “level up” our talent. We’re searching for innovators who consider themselves dynamic, collaborative, and thrive in a fast-paced environment.
PERKS & BENEFITS
- Unlimited Vacation, Paid Sick Days & Holidays
- 100% Employee Covered Medical, Dental, Vision Plan Base Plan
- Life Insurance, 401k, Flexible Spending Accounts, Commuter Benefits & More
- Catered Lunches & Well-stocked Kitchens
- Yoga & Wellness Activities
- Happy Hours
- Company Events
ABOUT THE ROLE
We are seeking a Senior Game Designer to create and balance exciting character abilities in our #1 hit mobile puzzle game Disney Emoji Blitz. This opportunity celebrates both left- and right-brain thinking as you design emoji power-ups and drive them through the creation process to achieve both delightful storytelling and balanced gameplay. You will communicate with team members from art, animation, engineering, production and audio, conducting playtests and development iterations to reach our high quality bar.
**Qualified applicants will be expected to complete a Game Design test.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Oversee and direct implementation of every character through launch.
- Manage multiple Game Designers working on power ups, providing them key feedback to ensure power ups hit all quality requirements.
- Lead, observe, and analyze playtests on Emoji character power ups to enact effective, balanced, in-scope iterations.
- Work closely with animators to ensure the intended story of each power-up is effectively translated into gameplay.
- Analyze and tune live Emoji characters, utilizing game economy data and device gameplay.
- Work with external partners that support the content development.
- Iterate designs to hone in on the most intuitive version of every power-up.
- Innovate new design space to continually refresh options for new power-ups.
- Vigilantly update documentation and communicate character status to teammates.
- Write spirited character descriptions in Disney Emoji Blitz’s bubbly tone.
- Direct sound designers to authentically bring Disney Emoji characters to life.
- Input and adjust character data to communicate with game systems and live-ops.
- Design and provide feedback on other new game features.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Serious passion for games—you are a gamer and have been for years.
- Love of all things Disney, Pixar, and Star Wars.
- At least 2 years of work experience designing mobile free-to-play (F2P) puzzle games, with at least one shipped F2P title.
- 6+ years of game industry design experience.
- Deep understanding of arcade/puzzle game mechanics.
- Experience with live operations content and planning.
- Thorough understanding of games' commercial appeal, including outside your personal gamer demographic.
- Demonstrated success at communicating your designs and vision to colleagues from different professional backgrounds.
NICE TO HAVE
- Character abstraction experience—you can take a unit or class type and translate it into a set of game mechanics in any environment.
- Unity experience.
- Management experience.
- Sound design experience.
- Agile and Scrum process experience.
OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUITY, DIVERSITY, & INCLUSION
We believe in creating games that unite people across the world and that showcase our commitment to providing an environment that is both inclusive and diverse for our players and employees. We strive to create a workforce that is reflective of our global player community as we know that we are stronger and better when we play together. To help promote an inclusive culture, we celebrate the visible and invisible diversity of our Jam Citizens through initiatives including Employee Resource Groups, cultural events, trainings, speaker series, and more.
Jam City is an equal opportunity employer. We enthusiastically accept our responsibility to make employment decisions without regard to race, age, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, ancestry, religion, ethnicity, marital, or domestic partnerships status, disability, genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing), predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, veteran status, domestic violence victim status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expressions, or any other classification protected by federal, state, and local laws. Our management is committed to following this policy with respect to hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, recruiting, pay, and other forms of compensation, training, and general treatment during employment.
ABOUT JAM CITY
Jam City is an award-winning mobile entertainment studio providing unique and deeply engaging games that appeal to a broad, global audience.
Led by CEO Chris DeWolfe, former MySpace co-founder and CEO, and COO Josh Yguado, former 20th Century Fox executive, Jam City is the creative powerhouse behind some of the highest-grossing and most enduring mobile games. Jam City’s global franchise Cookie Jam has generated more than half a billion dollars, and Panda Pop has more than 120 million downloads to date.
The company also is the go-to studio for Hollywood, having developed immersive, narrative-rich mobile games around iconic entertainment brands. The company’s popular RPG game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery was the #1 game in more than 40 countries at its launch in April 2018.
Jam City has nine studios located in Los Angeles (HQ), Berlin, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Burbank, Cedar Falls, San Diego, San Francisco, and Toronto.