Lead Game Designer

Job Description

Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services worldwide. More than 19,000 talents with a wide range of expertise are committed to enrich players' lives with original and memorable entertainment experiences.

Established in 2006, Ubisoft Sofia has grown to a world-class AAA game dev studio. Throughout the years, it has released more than 20 titles, ranging from small casual to big open-world games, and covering a wide range of platforms & technologies. The studio has brought its expertise and creativity into brands such as Tom Clancy's®, Prince of Persia®, and Assassin's Creed®.

For more than ten years now, Ubisoft Sofia has been a key contributor to the Assassin's Creed franchise, taking a significant part in the development of AC Black Flag, AC Origins, and AC Valhalla. Ubisoft Sofia made its mark as a lead studio in the creation of AC Liberation, AC Rogue, and the mythological expansion of AC Origins ''The Curse of the Pharaohs''. Following this success, Ubisoft Sofia contributed as a co-dev studio to the creation of Tom Clancy's The Division 2 and led the production of its second episode ''Pentagon, The Last Castle'' in 2019. The latest achievements of the teams in Sofia are the creation of the most ambitious expansion in the Assassin's Creed franchise history – AC Valhalla ''Dawn of Ragnarök'', released in March 2022 and Assassin's Creed Mirage, released in October 2023. Currently the teams at Sofia are hard at work in the development of Assassin's Creed Shadows.

At Ubisoft, you can come as you are. We embrace diversity in all its forms. We're committed to fostering a work environment that is inclusive and respectful of all differences.
Our worlds are infinite. Choose your path and create the unknown.

Job Description

Your role

As a Lead Game Designer, you will use your extensive experience in designing AAA open world games to manage, supervise and mentor the game designers on your team. You will work closely with the game and creative directors, and actively participate in the development of the game design from initial documentation, through implementation and iterations to final tweaks and balancing. Using your expertise, you will define how to create and maintain excellent design documents and enforce best practices. You will be responsible for setting a high standard for your team and lead by example.
*Please, note that our Studio is based in Sofia and in terms of our hybrid model of work, working within the Bulgarian boundaries would be required.

Your daily adventure

ENSURE THAT DESIGN DOCUMENTS ARE CLEAR AND UNDERSTANDABLE

For all team members

ROUTINELY GIVE VISIBILITY

To everyone regarding the work and progress of the game design team

Promptly communicate any decisions taken by game design across production teams

Ensure a strong alignment between game designers and other job families

REVIEW AND GIVE FEEDBACK ON THE WORK OF YOUR TEAM

To ensure an excellent quality of the game design

EVANGELIZE THE GAME VISION TO MEMBERS OF THE GAME DESIGN TEAM

And communicate to them the objectives and high-level project information

THINK ABOUT GAME DESIGN FROM A PLAYER-EXPERIENCE POINT OF VIEW

And design for player satisfaction and enjoyment

IDENTIFY KEY FEATURES AND SYSTEMS TO BE PROTOTYPED, DRIVE AND FOLLOW-UP
On the prototypes (both digital and paper based) with other game designers, programmers, and other job families

IDENTIFY WHEN A SYSTEM OR FEATURE NEEDS PLAYTESTING, PREPARE IT AND ANALYZE THEIR RESULTS

Be solution-oriented to the encountered problems

ASSESS THE WORKLOAD VS. PRODUCTION CAPACITY, PLAN, SET PRIORITIES AND FOLLOW-UP
On the work of the game design team

WITH THE ASSOCIATE PRODUCER, DETERMINE THE SCHEDULES AND VACATION TIMES
Of team members

MENTOR AND COACH GAME DESIGNERS

To improve their skills

SUPPORT CAREER ADVANCEMENT AND SUGGEST DEVELOPMENT

And interpersonal skills training and techniques sessions to team members

PARTICIPATE IN THE SELECTION
Of team members
OVERSEE AND IMPLEMENT THE NECESSARY ADJUSTMENTS

To ensure that the game design team meets expectations

Carry out performance follow ups and assessments

PROACTIVELY CREATE A WORK ENVIRONMENT THAT IS MOTIVATING FOR TEAM MEMBERS

Which fosters development and creation, and promotes collaboration between your team and all other production job families - including programmers, animators, level & quest designers

Qualifications

Your skills

EXPERIENCE

Solid experience (4+ years) as a Senior or Lead game designer

Experience working as a Senior or Lead game designer on at least one Console AAA Open World title, from beginning to end

Experience supervising a game design team and managing performance is a significant asset

Experience in designing gameplay systems for Open World games

Experience in creating documentation that effectively conveys the design to all teams in production

KNOWLEDGE

Excellent knowledge of industry trends regarding gameplay mechanics, quality benchmarks and player expectations
ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS

Excellent ability to organize and structure his/her own work and that of the team (generate tasks, follow ups, control, schedule)

STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE

Critical thinking, curiosity, resourcefulness, and plenty of flexibility

Solution oriented, autonomous and able to drive decisions

COMMUNICATION SKLLS

Excellent mentorship, communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills

Ability to work as part of a team

GAME CULTURE

Loves playing a variety of different games, and ability to perform analysis on their game design

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-gx4kvj-13-58-53-112-42 in your application.