Lead Mission Designer

Description

Lead Designer, Missions

From the moment we plugged in our first PC in October ’94, Monolith has been obsessed with combining stunning visuals, inventive narratives and cutting-edge technology to bring a distinctive gaming experience to both PC and console.  Starting with our first PC game, the terrifying, first-person action game Blood, straight through to our upcoming third-person action game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, our passion for storytelling and dedication to creating unique gaming experiences continues to drive us to bring immersive gaming experiences to our fans. 

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a next-generation, third-person action game set in Middle-earth that explores an original story of vengeance and redemption.  Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is in development for PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, the Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC.

Monolith Productions seeks a Lead Mission Designer who will be responsible for working with the development team, with a focus on the design, implementation, and scripting of Missions. You will work with the team to ensure the creation of detailed mission / narrative structure, and compelling paper designs for objectives and encounters that fit within that structure. You will create examples of these designs to set the standards for the rest of the design team, through the use of proprietary and 3rd party tools. The Lead Mission Designer is responsible for collaborating with the rest of the design team, artists, and engineers to ensure their missions are fun, interesting, and performant. The Lead Designer also works with the QA and Playtest groups throughout development to address critical feedback and make sure their levels play and perform as intended.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work with the Design team to concept and implement compelling missions using proprietary Monolith tools and industry standard software. 
  
• Mentor the design team focusing on mission / quest scripting, providing regular feedback on their work. Assist Production with performance reviews.
  
• Work closely with QA and Consumer playtest groups to identify and resolve level design / Gameplay issues.
  
• Create and maintain living design documentation that keeps pace with the project's progress and accurately conveys all necessary information to Design, Art, and Engineering. 
  
• Own the definition and documentation of work flow, standards and best practices of mission/quest scripting for the Design team.
  
• Deconstruct competitive product and summarize to design group.
  

JOB REQUIREMENTS 

• Associate degree or equivalent job experience preferred.
  
• 8+ years of game design experience required.
  
• Shipped at least 3 console/PC titles as a designer or equivalent, with at least one of those being in the 3rd person action 3rd person action/adventure genre.
  
• Familiarity with a variety of level editors and scripting languages required.
  
• Open World mission design experience preferred.
  
• Comprehensive knowledge of game design principles, the computer gaming industry and its products. 
  
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work collaboratively with programmers, artists, and other designers. 
  
• Experience managing small design team with their day to day tasks preferred.
  
• Professional experience working within level design on a large-scale project. 
  
• Effectively work under the pressure of competing demands and short time lines.
  
• Willing to commit to the team in terms of time & effort given.

The Warner Bros. Entertainment Group of Companies is an equal opportunity employer and considers all candidates for employment regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, marital status, military or veteran's status (including protected veterans, as may be required by federal law), sexual orientation or any other category protected by law.