At Wizards of the Coast, we connect people around the world through play and imagination. From our genre defining games like Magic: The Gathering® and Dungeons & Dragons® to our growing multiverse, we continue to innovate and build new ways to foster friendship and connection. That’s where you come in!
In this role, you will lead all aspects of the R&D design effort for a quarter of the Magic TCG’s worldwide revenue. Your vision will be critical to the delivery of our award-winning card set releases. You'll not only build aligning strategy for multiple teams to deliver industry-leading products and experiences, but you'll also incorporate the needs of other departments into the process. When uncertainty arises, the Principal Product Designer will arbitrate a solution between the teams and lead the execution of vital changes.
What You'll Do:
- Lead all aspects of execution of a Magic block or specialty product, including product and player experience, at the company level from inception planning and design, into release and retrospective.
- Unify strategic direction with input from multiple executive sources. Arbitrate design and production challenges between R&D design teams, between R&D design and quality control, and between R&D and other departments. Communicate decisions, strategies, and options to all areas of the company. Deliver final design document.
- Participate in all aspects of Magic product design and user experience brand strategy; provide counsel to Senior Director, Executive and Vice President R&D. Support the Senior Director to develop strategic direction for individual supplemental product including product design and marketing connections for both face-to-face and digital gaming to grow the Magic brand. Direct team leads managing these processes.
- Foster positive team relationships with Franchise Marketing, Play Studio, Digital Game Development, Production, and Sales team. Collaborate in design of campaigns, products, and play experiences and creation of business deliverables to ensure on-time, on-budget delivery at highest quality.
- Partner with Operations Director, Design Architects, managers, and Senior Management to allocate R&D design resources to all projects.
- Lead discussions on product development in order to solicit feedback and gain approval from senior leadership in Magic R&D on a regular basis.
- Provides leadership to multiple teams as well as manager and director-level staff who run Magic.
What You'll Bring:
- Ability to play Magic at a high level. In-depth knowledge of Magic rules, environments, characters, worlds, and customer segments.
- Creative, brand-centric, customer-focused thinking coupled with reasoned judgment. Champion risk-taking and innovation while applying that judgment.
- Ability to build strategic and tactical plans in a highly sophisticated, constantly evolving environment to make delivering results a top priority without compromising team harmony. Ability to manage multiple large projects simultaneously. You love to solve problems!
- Understanding of Wizards' business practices, P&L, and sales strategies and results.
- Build and nurture positive relationships and trust through personal accountability, passion, and diplomacy.
- Strong communication skills.
We are an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer
The above is intended to describe the general content of and the requirements for satisfactory performance in this position. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of the duties, responsibilities, or requirements of the position.
We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. If you are selected to move forward in our application process and need to request an accommodation, please let your recruiter or coordinator know.
