This job listing expired on May 1, 2024
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Smoking Gun Interactive, a Keywords Studio, is an industry-leading game development studio founded in 2007 by award-winning industry veterans. SGI is fearless in creating IP and boldly partners with renowned brands to develop a wide range of world-class, immersive titles and interactive experiences that resonate with strategy gamers worldwide and entertain millions of casual players every day.

Job Purpose

As a Design Director with Smoking Gun Interactive (SGI), you’re a talented and passionate natural leader with at least five years of industry experience in game design leadership. You have a strong understanding of game mechanics and design philosophies to communicate a clear vision for the project. You will provide mentorship and support to the Lead Designers to ensure a positive culture among the design team and project. You are a flexible and collaborative individual who is excited about motivating a multi-disciplinary team to achieve excellent results.

Requirements

In this role, you will:

  • Collaborate with the Creative Director to deliver and drive a cohesive vision for the projects.

  • Work with production to ensure the vision is achievable within the project constraints.

  • Be a key champion of the game vision to the team/s and clients.

  • Build strong creative game designs that are original and imaginative.

  • Work with Creative Director and other Leads on product pitches.

  • Mentor and support to Lead Designers and design team members in developing designs, tuning features to create engaging player experiences.

  • Work with lead designers to help delegate tasks among the design teams and give feedback for improvement to align with high quality of work being delivered.

  • Act as a regular liaison and provide guidance to other discipline teams to ensure the game features being developed will bring the project vision to life.

  • Oversee or own the analysis of game KPI's, user testing, and market trends.

  • Be a main conduit of design discussions between the clients and SGI.

  • Mentor the design team and help manage conflicts that arise to promote a positive working culture.

  • Be able and willing to lead the design of a game team for any product.

To be successful in this role, you must have:

  • 5+ years experience in a Design Leadership role on mobile, PC or console products.

  • Shipped at least three titles in a Design Leadership role.

  • Taken games all the way from initial concept to live operations.

  • Experience with both Premium and Freemium game mechanics, KPI’s, and monetization strategies.

  • Proven track record of bringing out the true potential of their design team.

  • Experience in live tuning, scripting and tools of multiple game engines.

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, able to communicate ideas clearly.

  • Strong critical thinking and problem solving skills.

  • Ability to accept and provide direction, work well under pressure, and handle multiple tasks.

  • A naturally self-driven demeanor, taking initiative when needed – demonstrated ability to work independently.

  • Willingness to push the envelope and innovate within game parameters.

  • Experience with Word, Excel, Photoshop.

  • A positive attitude and a great team-player.

It would also be helpful if you had:

  • Direct experience creating, and tuning strategy titles.

  • Multi-platform development experience (ideally, with various mobile platforms).

  • A bachelor’s degree.

Benefits

  • 10 days vacation leave

  • 5 paid days personal leave

  • 7 paid sick days

  • Life Insurance & Accidental Death & Dismemberment

  • Dependent Life Insurance

  • Long Term Disability (LTD)

  • Extended Healthcare Benefit

  • Dental Care

  • Hybrid working

  • Training & Development

Salary Range: $120,000 CAD - $150,000 CAD