We build ground-breaking games and content for some of the world’s biggest publishers including Microsoft, Sony, Apple and Sega. Sheffield is our largest studio and headquarters, situated just north-east of the city centre, where we’ve built and contributed to some of the world’s best-loved game franchises.

It’s an exciting time to be part of Sumo, winners of the Develop: Star Awards 2019 Best Studio and GI Biz 2020 Best Places to Work; big things are on the horizon and we want you to be part of our continued journey. Join us!

The role @ Sumo

We are looking for a talented Game Designer to join the team at Sumo Digital Sheffield. This is an exciting opportunity for a Designer who is passionate about creating engaging game mechanics and owning them through the project’s lifecycle. The ideal candidate will have an instinctive sense of ‘fun’, and the confidence to champion their ideas to the whole team.

Within this role you will:

Strive for quality and innovation while adhering to the core vision of the game
End to end feature ownership; from inception through to game release
Form goals and success metrics for each feature you own and implement
Create high level presentation materials for pitching concepts to product stakeholders
Produce low level specifications for feature costing and production schematics
Ability to solve problems using game design knowledge and experience
Design and model complex game systems based on high-level concepts
Implement the feature design using industry-standard and in-house tools
Review and adjust designs based on user testing and telemetry data
Mentor junior design team members and communicate the feature across the wider team

You need to have:

Proven track record of designing AAA games from product inception through to release
Ability to evangelise features you own to multi-discipline teams and across the organisation
Understanding of a product’s user base and player behaviours
Experience in designing and balancing complex systems for AAA games
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Organisational and workload management skills are essential for success
Empathise with different disciplines to form aligned and sympathetic concept

It will be an advantage if you have:

Shipped a AAA title using UE3/4
Knowledge of UE4 Blueprint Scripting
Led by player centric design
A background in game theory and the science behind the design

What We Offer:

Annual Bonus
Share Incentive Plan
Competitive Pension
Flexible Working
27 Days Holiday, including your birthday. A duvet day and Christmas
5 Learning Days
Access to 4,000 Udemy Courses
Game & Book Libraries
Wrap Parties
Alternative Travel Prize Draw
The Sumo GameJam
Big Family Events
Studio clubs, inc. running, board games, film…
Life Drawing
Yoga Classes
Free fruit and drinks
Employee Referral Bonus
Career Development
Competitive Mat/Paternity & Adoption
Employee Assistance Programme
Life Assurance 4x Salary
Income Protection of 75%
Relocation Support to the UK
Visa Sponsorship

Where do we stand on diversity?

At Sumo Digital, we know that diversity and inclusivity will make our teams (and the amazing work that they do) better! We encourage and welcome ALL applications.

More About The Sumo Sheffield Studio:

Our environment is relaxed, friendly and built upon the basis of every team member having the opportunity to shine and have a realisable input into the games we create. We are a very happy ship with lots of incredibly nice people that partake in shared interest groups, lunchtime clubs, charity fundraising events and lots of socialising.

We are proud to be located in Sheffield, just off J34 of the M1 offering easy road and rail access from Leeds, Manchester and the Midlands. Sheffield itself enjoys wealth of facilities including world class sporting facilities, stunning theatres and galleries, the National Video Game Museum, shopping, restaurants and incredible parks and green spaces - all on the doorstep of the beautiful Peak District National Park. We love it here.