Lead Mission Designer - Software

Job Description

Your Mission

Your mission is to create, implement, and refine highly cinematic, player-first experiences that will be enjoyed by millions of gamers worldwide. Supporting the Lead Campaign Designer, you will lead a small team of level designers and gameplay scripters, taking ownership of tasks, proactively solving challenges, and delivering high-quality work on schedule.

Thriving in a dynamic and often ambiguous environment is essential. This role requires agility and flexibility, as you'll collaborate closely with a variety of internal and external partners. Through prototyping, iteration, and a commitment to high-quality standards, you'll craft engaging and rewarding player experiences.

This position demands a balance of creativity, technical expertise, leadership, and a deep understanding of player motivations to develop unforgettable in-game moments. Above all, we seek an innovative and dedicated designer who will help bring our single-player campaign to life-setting a new standard for excellence in the competitive AAA FPS space.

This role is expected to be a hybrid position based out of our home studio in Middleton, WI.

What you bring to the table

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:
• Mission Design
• Help define the vision and structure of missions, ensuring their alignment with the overall narrative, mechanics, and pacing of the game.
• From inception to ship, oversee the design of compelling mission goals, challenges, and objectives that enhance player engagement and progression.
• Collaborate with designers, writers, artists, and engineers to deliver cohesive storytelling throughout assigned missions.
• Leadership
• When needed, lead and mentor a small team of level designers and scripters providing guidance, feedback, and 1 on 1 meetings to ensure high-quality work.
• Establish workflows and best practices to maintain consistent high quality across the mission, helping your team members develop their skills and make meaningful contributions.
• Collaboration with Cross-disciplinary teams
• Work closely with the Creative Director, level designers, narrative teams, gameplay engineers, AI engineers, and gameplay scripters to ensure missions function as intended and align with the broader game world.
• Regularly communicate with the Creative Director, Lead Campaign Designer and production team to manage expectations, timelines, and deliverables.
• Prototyping and Iteration
• Develop and test mission and gameplay prototypes to evaluate player experience and balance.
• Analyze playtest feedback to refine mission pacing, difficulty, and overall player satisfaction, ensuring that missions support diverse playstyles and offer rewarding experiences.
• Tools and Documentation
• Create and maintain design documentation, including mission briefs, flowcharts, and implementation guidelines.
• Work in a C-style scripting language to create engaging, fun, unique, and highly polished moments.
• Quality Control and Polish
• Ensure missions meet the highest standards of quality, from gameplay balance and narrative consistency to technical performance.
• Collaborate with internal and external teams to resolve mission-related bugs, overseeing the final polish to ensure a consistent immersive and satisfying player experience.
• Stakeholder Communication
• Act as the primary point of contact for mission design, presenting progress and challenges to key stakeholders, such as creative directors and partner studios.
• Align mission design goals with the creative vision and player expectations, balancing creativity with technical expertise to craft memorable in-game experiences.

Minimum Requirements

Experience
• 5+ years in the games industry working in design capacity.
• Lead and team management experience.
• 2+ shipped titles in the AAA console / PC space.
• Solid experience with programming/scripting languages.
• Prior experience working on a AAA first-person shooter.

Knowledge & Skills
• Strong understanding of geometry building, flow, and layout.
• Ability to build compelling gameplay spaces in a level editor (Unreal, Radiant etc)
• Solid understanding of modern single-player design with ability to clearly discuss trends.
• Expertise writing high and low-level documentation (PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Visio, etc.).
• Understanding of the previous Call of Duty campaigns current and past, both Black Ops and Modern Warfare.

Key Attributes
• Passionate and egoless attitude that welcomes feedback and criticism, and enjoys working in a collaborative, iterative, and agile process.
• Ability to lead by example.
• Impressive communication skills.
• Passion for games with a desire to make an impact at an industry level.
• Strong problem-solving skills.

Extra Points

Experience
• Experience with visual software like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.

Knowledge & Skills
• Profound understanding of the Call of Duty franchise.
• Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the FPS games space.

Your Platform

Founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel in Middleton, Wisconsin, Raven Software began as a small studio focused on crafting fantasy and role-playing games. Since then, our award-winning portfolio has grown to include beloved titles such as Hexen, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and - for the past 15 years - major contributions to the critically acclaimed Call of Duty® franchise. As the lead developers behind Call of Duty: Warzone and the force behind the campaigns of the Black Ops series, most recently Black Ops 6, we have established ourselves as a key player in shaping the FPS genre and pushing the boundaries of what games can achieve.
Our motto, ''Our Work Speaks For Us,'' symbolizes the dedication and passion that drives everything we do. We've built a team rooted in respect, collaboration, and a shared focus on what's best for the game. We prioritize ambition balanced with care, direct communication, and a culture free of egos. By fostering innovation and owning our mistakes, we continually push boundaries to create unforgettable games for our players. As a studio located in Middleton - a suburb of Madison consistently ranked among the best places to live - we offer a thriving, supportive environment paired with exceptional quality of life .

As we grow and enter the next chapter of our journey, we're looking for talented individuals eager to pave new ground in our industry. If you're ready to work with a world-class team, we'd love to hear from you.

Job Opportunities: https://careers.ravensoftware.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/raven-software/
Our World

At Activision, we strive to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment. We're driven by our mission to deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot™, Tony Hawk's™ Pro Skater™, and Guitar Hero®. As a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products, our ''press start'' is simple: delight hundreds of millions of players around the world with innovative, fun, thrilling, and engaging entertainment experiences.

We're not just looking back at our decades-long legacy; we're forging

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Jobcode: Reference SBJ-eoxz80-3-140-250-157-42 in your application.