Senior Technical Designer (Contract)

At ArenaNet, we’ve always believed that games are art. They have the power to communicate ideas and tell stories. They can change the way we think, reflect our cultures, and move us. As the developer of the award-winning Guild Wars game series, we’re proud to share our passion for the online worlds we’ve created with over 21 million players worldwide. ArenaNet develops and publishes games for every kind of person, which means our games need to be built by every kind of person. We believe the best experiences come from working together, celebrating differences, and helping each of our team members shine. We are looking for a highly skilled and experienced Technical Designer to serve as a force multiplier on Guild Wars 3. Our technical designers build prototypes, systems, and workflows that empower the entire team to deliver high-quality, scalable player experiences. This is a senior role where you’ll solve complex technical challenges and shape the way our project expands. WHAT YOU'LL DO Collaborate – Partner with design leadership, engineers, and artists to evolve the project’s design, ensuring creative intent is preserved while meeting technical constraints. Prototype – Sprint ahead of production teams to explore new ideas, rapidly producing disposable prototypes that test gameplay approaches and find the fun before full production. Plan – Translate designs into detailed technical plans, designing workflows and pipelines that scale across content teams and multiple releases. Guide – Help the design team grow their technical skills; provide support on complex implementations, debugging, and system integration while fully documenting features as they come online. Multiply – Identify repetitive or bottlenecked tasks and build tools or automation that free the team to iterate faster and reduce mistakes. Lead – Define and enforce project-wide technical standards (naming conventions, file structures, data validation) to keep pipelines stable, maintainable, and efficient. Resolve – Take ownership of high-impact technical issues, working across disciplines to identify root causes, implement fixes, and validate solutions. Pursue – Proactively identify technical risks, develop mitigation strategies, and communicate the plans and outcomes to leadership, stakeholders, and the team. WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL 5+ years of experience in professional game development, with significant technical design responsibilities. Shipped at least one AAA or large-scale online title as a technical designer or equivalent role. Strong proficiency in scripting and programming within Unreal Engine 5. Experience with C++ in a game development context. Familiarity with UMG and building UI within Unreal Engine. Demonstrated experience building scalable, data-driven systems and pipelines. Excellent collaboration and communication skills across disciplines. PLUSES Experience in an additional discipline such as art, engineering, or production. Experience with the Unreal Engine Gameplay Ability System. Experience designing and working with state trees, especially in Unreal Engine 5. Experience building pipelines that support multi-year live service operations. Strong visual communication skills (presentations, videos, charts, diagrams). Experience designing procedural systems, AI, or systemic gameplay. This is a 1+ year contract. This role is remote-friendly, but we are currently prioritizing candidates who are local to the Bellevue, WA area and open to occasional onsite collaboration. Pay Range: $60.08 - $93.09 This is an hourly contract role with overtime pay when applicable. While we share the full range for transparency, typical offers fall between the minimum and midpoint. The role is benefits-eligible through our third-party employer, including medical, dental, vision, 401(k), and flexible/dependent care accounts. Applications will be accepted until Monday, August 31st by 10am PT. If the deadline is extended, the posting will be updated accordingly. If the position is filled before this date, the posting will be removed. Don’t meet every single requirement on this job post? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At ArenaNet, we believe diversity in culture, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and backgrounds make us a better team – we celebrate it. So, if you’re excited about this role, but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification listed, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.