Job Title

Blackbird Interactive is a creativefueled, futuredriven, independent game studio where the best talent in the industry can find longterm careers to help grow their abilities while working on a wide range of projects, which encompass worldclass IPs as well as our own creations across multiple genres. In 2022, we announced that our studio is implementing a fourday work week as well as supporting instudio, remote within Canada, and hybrid work arrangements as permanent options to our employees. Blackbird Interactive is looking for an experienced Design Lead to help shape and deliver highquality gameplay experiences within an established science fiction universe. This role focuses on guiding a team of designers as they build compelling systems, content, and momenttomoment gameplay that support exploration, player agency, and longterm engagement. Youll work closely with design leadership, production, art, and engineering to translate creative vision into clear design goals, while mentoring and supporting a team of designers through implementation, iteration, and polish. This role blends handson design sensibility with people leadership, owning quality, consistency, and cohesion across features while helping designers grow their craft. If you enjoy leading teams, solving complex design problems, and bringing ambitious scifi worlds to life through play, this role could be a great fit! Responsibilities Work closely with project leadership and our publishing partner to understand, reinforce, and help execute the established creative vision across gameplay systems and features Lead and support a team of designers in the implementation, tuning, balancing, and polish of gameplay features, with a focus on delivering a cohesive, highquality player experience Provide clear guidance, feedback, and mentorship to designers, helping them translate highlevel direction into effective, shippable designs while supporting professional growth Collaborate closely with engineering to implement gameplay systems and tools that support design goals, scalability, and efficient iteration Partner with art and audio teams to ensure gameplay systems are readable, expressive, and aligned with the intended player experience, reinforcing design intent through presentation Communicate design goals, constraints, and priorities clearly across disciplines, ensuring teams remain aligned as features evolve. Identify execution risks, design gaps, or dependency issues early, working with production to adjust scope, sequencing, or implementation plans as needed Contribute handson to the implementation of gameplay content and systems as needed, helping unblock the team, prototype solutions, or carry features through critical phases of development Requirements At least 10 years of experience contributing to game development, including at least 5 in a design leadership or senior design role supporting team execution Experience shipping at least one largescale game, ideally with actionoriented or systemsdriven gameplay Strong understanding of core gameplay execution, including player controls, camera behavior, combat or interaction systems, and momenttomoment game feel Demonstrated ability to support, mentor, and review the work of other designers, improving consistency and quality across a team Comfort operating in a technical, fastmoving production environment, balancing quality, scope, and schedule Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across design, engineering, art, audio, and production Ability and willingness to implement gameplay content directly, using inengine tools and workflows to prototype, iterate, and polish features alongside the team Pluses Interest in science fiction games and worlds, particularly those emphasizing exploration, scale, and systemic gameplay A strong instinct for playercentric execution, including clarity, responsiveness, and usability Passion for delivering polished, highquality gameplay systems that hold up over long play sessions Appreciation for how design intent, systems, and presentation come together in shipped content Enjoyment of collaborative problemsolving and helping teams iterate toward better outcomes #J-18808-Ljbffr