Senior Systems Designer (12-month contract)

Blackbird Interactive is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent game studio where the best talent in the industry can find long-term careers to help grow their abilities while working on a wide range of projects, which encompass world-class IPs as well as our own creations across multiple genres. Our studio operates as a remote-first workplace, offering flexible work arrangements. PLEASE NOTE: At this time, we are only able to hire candidates who are legally eligible to work in Canada and reside within Canada. Blackbird Interactive is looking for a Senior Systems Designer to join on a sci-fi, first-person action game built in Unreal 5. The game is heavily systems-driven, and uses a blend of hand-authored and procedural content, with deep immersion, emergent gameplay, and an emphasis on narrative. As a Senior Systems Designer, you are responsible for the design, tuning and maintenance of many important, complex systems, from core gameplay to economy and progression systems, with the goal of delivering a more dynamic player experience. You are a key bridge between Design and the Art and Code disciplines. You are also responsible for designing both features and dev-facing tools for use in Unreal. You care about shaping an engaging player experience and bringing together a blend of creative and technical skills and experience. Responsibilities Design, prototype and implement complex gameplay systems and tools, in collaboration with the other Designers, Artists and Programmers Provide team-facing documentation to inform and guide the work of downstream groups Provide creative and technical feedback on the work of other Designers Understand, interpret and execute on creative direction, in alignment with project goals Act as a technical expert on key features and participate in data debugging Guide the technical work of others and ensure that content creation follows documented best practices Help test new tools / features before distribution to the rest of the team Participate in planning a roadmap to completion for the systems for which you’re responsible Mentor designers and promote good design principles across the team Requirements Minimum 6 years in technical design or systems design Demonstrate fundamental knowledge of game design processes and skills investigating in-game issues At least two shipped titles Experience with Unreal 5 and Blueprints Self-direction and a proven ability to thrive in a highly technical environment Pluses Experience with other areas of design (level design, UX/UI, encounter scripting, etc.) Experience playing modern first person games, including genres like Immersive Sim or Action-RPG Experience or knowledge of 2D / 3D software Experience with a variety of game engines Experience with version control software