Senior Lead Systems Designer - Raven - Middleton, WI

Job Title:

Senior Lead Systems Designer - Raven - Middleton, WI

Requisition ID:

R028217

Job Description:

Your Mission

As a Senior Lead Systems Designer, you will lead the design, implementation, and refinement of gameplay systems enjoyed by millions of players worldwide in Call of Duty: Warzone. Reporting to the Design Director, you will provide strategic and day-to-day leadership for a team of systems designers while taking direct responsibility for their professional development, performance, and career growth.

You will establish a clear quality bar, create an environment of accountability and collaboration, and help each direct report build the skills, experience, and confidence needed to advance in their career. This includes setting clear expectations, providing regular feedback and coaching, identifying development opportunities, and supporting designers in taking on increasing levels of ownership.

Success in this role requires the ability to lead through ambiguity, make sound decisions, and provide clarity in a fast-paced development environment. You must be agile and adaptable, working effectively with internal and external partners while maintaining a consistent focus on quality, player experience, and team health.

We are looking for a self-sufficient leader who takes ownership, proactively solves challenges, and consistently delivers high-quality work on time. Above all, we seek an innovative and dedicated systems design leader who can elevate both the Warzone player experience and the systems design team.

This role is based in our Middleton, WI office and follows an onsite work schedule of four days per week. Work arrangements may change at the company's discretion to meet business needs.

What You Bring to the Table

Priorities can change quickly in a live service environment. This role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

Systems Design Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of systems designers through regular one-on-ones, goal setting, performance feedback, career discussions, and development planning.
• Establish clear expectations for ownership, communication, quality, and delivery.
• Define individual development plans that align each designer’s career goals with the needs of the team and the product.
• Provide ongoing coaching, actionable feedback, and advocacy to help direct reports grow their skills and progress in their careers.
• Identify opportunities for team members to expand their scope, lead initiatives, collaborate across disciplines, and build new areas of expertise.
• Support performance management by addressing challenges early, documenting expectations, and partnering with leadership and HR when appropriate.
• Build a culture of accountability, psychological safety, continuous learning, and shared ownership.
• Establish workflows, review practices, and design standards that help the team consistently produce high-quality work.
• Help define the vision, structure, and goals of proposed gameplay systems, ensuring alignment with the overall player experience, mechanics, pacing, and product strategy.
• Oversee the design and delivery of compelling gameplay systems from initial concept through implementation, launch, and live support.
• Serve as a senior individual contributor when needed, providing hands-on design direction and helping close critical gaps.

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

• Collaborate with the Creative Director, designers, engineers, artists, producers, animators, QA, analytics, and external development partners to deliver world-class game systems.
• Set clear expectations with cross-functional partners and ensure that design needs, risks, and dependencies are communicated early.
• Regularly communicate with the Creative Director and production regarding priorities, timelines, team capacity, risks, and deliverables.
• Represent the systems design team in cross-functional meetings and ensure decisions are clearly communicated back to the team.
• Build strong working relationships across disciplines and partner studios while advocating for the needs of the team and the player.

Prototyping and Implementation

• Develop and test systems prototypes to evaluate player experience, engagement, balance, and feasibility.
• Use scripting and development tools to create, iterate, and balance gameplay mechanics and systems.
• Analyze player feedback, playtest results, telemetry, and live-service data to refine systems and improve player satisfaction.
• Ensure systems support diverse playstyles and provide meaningful, rewarding experiences.
• Independently implement high-level direction when needed and guide other designers through implementation challenges.
• Clearly and effectively pitch designs and features using presentations, prototypes, visualizations, and other multimedia tools.
• Encourage direct reports to prototype, test, and learn through hands-on iteration.

Tools and Documentation

• Create and maintain high- and low-level design documentation, including systems briefs, feature specifications, flowcharts, tuning documentation, and implementation guidelines.
• Establish documentation standards that improve clarity, alignment, and team efficiency.
• Collaborate with designers, engineers, and partner teams to bring gameplay logic to life through development tools and scripting systems.
• Play in-progress builds and provide concise, prioritized feedback to internal development teams, user-testing teams, and external partners.
• Teach and reinforce strong documentation, presentation, and communication practices across the systems design team.

Quality Control and Polish

• Ensure systems meet high standards for gameplay quality, balance, usability, technical performance, and player value.
• Establish effective review and quality-assurance practices for the systems team.
• Identify risks early and ensure appropriate testing, validation, and follow-through before launch.
• Collaborate with internal and external teams to resolve systems-related bugs and oversee final polish.
• Hold the team accountable for delivering complete, well-tested, and player-focused work.
• Promote a continuous improvement mindset by using post-launch analysis, retrospectives, and lessons learned to improve future development.

Minimum Requirements

Experience

• 10+ years of professional experience in game development, including significant experience in systems design.
• Proven experience leading, mentoring, or managing other designers.
• Demonstrated experience providing career coaching, performance feedback, goal setting, and development support for direct reports.
• Proven implementation experience with programming or scripting languages.
• Prior experience working on a games-as-a-service product.
• Professional experience developing first-person shooter games.
• Experience owning features or systems from concept through implementation, launch, and live support.

Knowledge and Skills

• Strong understanding of Call of Duty: Warzone, including its systems, modes, progression, and gameplay loops.
• Deep understanding of systems design principles and the ability to discuss modern design trends and player expectations.
• Comprehensive understanding of the game development process across design, engineering, art, production, QA, analytics, and user research.
• Ability to establish direction, make decisions, and provide clarity in ambiguous situations.
• Expertise in creating high- and low-level design documentation using tools such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Visio, or equivalent software.
• Strong understanding of team leadership, coaching, feedback, performance management, and career development.
• Ability to balance hands-on design contribution with effective leadership of a team and its individual contributors.

Key Attributes

• Passionate, collaborative, and egoless approach that welcomes feedback and supports an iterative development process.
• Ability to lead by example and establish trust with direct reports and cross-functional partners.
• Strong communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
• Consistent bias toward action, ownership, and follow-through.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Ability to give clear, actionable feedback while maintaining empathy and respect.
• Commitment to developing people and creating opportunities for others to succeed.
• Hunger for gaming, especially online games—with a broad range of game experience.
• Ability to maintain high standards while adapting to changing priorities and constraints.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience

• Experience leading systems design teams on a large-scale live-service game.
• Experience managing designers at multiple career levels.
• Experience creating or maintaining career frameworks, competency expectations, development plans, or mentorship programs.
• Experience working with player data, telemetry, experimentation, or live-service performance metrics.
• Experience with visual design software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, or equivalent tools.
• Experience working across multiple studios or with external development partners.

Knowledge and Skills

• Extensive knowledge of the free-to-play games space.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the first-person shooter genre.
• Strong understanding of progression, economy, engagement, retention, monetization, live operations, and competitive systems.
• Familiarity with player research, usability testing, analytics, and data-informed design.
• Ability to translate broad product goals into clear team priorities and actionable design direction.

Your Platform

Here at Raven, we pride ourselves on our unique vision for the industry that continues to inspire us after more than 30 years. We developed a team that cares about one another, our games, and our players. We treat each other with respect. We bring no egos. We focus on what is best for the game. We hire spectacular peers. We own our mistakes. As we enter the next exciting chapter of our story, we are looking for people to grow with us. If you want to work with a world-class team, on exciting new projects, then apply today! We look forward to hearing from you.

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 ahead to keep advancing gameplay with some of the most popular titles and sophisticated technology in the world. We have bold ambitions to create the most inclusive company as we know our success comes from the passionate, creative, and diverse teams within our organization.

We’re in the business of delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for our player community to enjoy. And our future opportunities have never been greater — this could be your opportunity to level up.

Ready to Activate Your Future?

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $119,280.00 - $220,700.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.

About Us

Activision Blizzard, Inc. is the world’s largest interactive entertainment company, with operations across North America, Europe, and Asia. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Skylanders®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™, and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

We’re proud to be recognized as one of FORTUNE’s "100 Best Companies To Work For®” for five consecutive years and have earned a spot on FORTUNE’s “Most Admired Companies,” and “Future 50” lists. Our 10,000+ global employees are some of the best and brightest talents across entertainment, media, and technology.

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