Senior Level Designer

JobsCloseBy Editorial Insights

2K's Sports Lab in Vancouver is seeking a Senior Level Designer to lead player-first world building, blending Unreal level design with experiential design and close collaboration with art, tech, and narrative teams. You will help define the world vision with the Design and Art Directors, create playable blockouts, iterate from greybox to final geometry, hook quest objectives to global systems, script triggers with Blueprints and Sequencer while leading a cross-disciplinary team of artists, engineers and animators. Requirements: 5+ years in AAA level design, strong Unreal world-building, out-of-engine experiential design, leadership, collaboration and a true sports passion; in your portfolio, showcase UE level blocks, experiential design, leadership, and narrative integration. Pay CAD 75,700 to 112,060; onsite/hybrid in BC; apply via 2K.com; accommodations available.

Who We Are

Founded in 2023, 2K Sports Lab is the newest stand alone studio at 2K looking to push game development boundaries to bring 2K's next groundbreaking sports franchise to life. We're building a world-class team at our new Vancouver, BC location where our goal is to deliver an exceptional experience through bold ideas, technical excellence, and creative collaboration. We're seeking passionate and driven professionals across all areas of game development to help shape this ambitious vision. If you’re interested in tackling unique challenges and think you have what it takes to level up our team, we encourage you to apply!

What We Need

Our studio is looking for a Senior Level Designer to drive the creation of a player-centric game world. We are looking for someone with experience in UE level design, but who also has experience and passion for experiential design, and who can collaborate with our art team to ensure that we deliver the strongest player experience possible.  

In this role, you will partner with the Design Director and Art Director to set a vision for our world and partner with production, art and tech peers to lead a team to deliver against that vision.

You and your production partner will creatively lead a team of artists, engineers and animators to build our world. Your role will be split between ‘out-of-engine’ experiential design and using your ‘in-engine’ level design skills during prototyping and when needed in order to deliver on the vision.

What You’ll Do

• Acquire an intimate knowledge of our target player and our product goals and competitive landscape
• Work with the Design Director and Art Director to define the vision for the world
• Collaborate with the QA team to drive testing of the game experience and drive external testing as needed to revise plans to drive execution
• Create playable blockouts (greyboxing) of large-scale open-world zones, focusing on landmark readability, navigation flow, and gameplay spaces
• Quickly iterate on level layouts based on playtest feedback, moving efficiently from low-fidelity blockouts to final geometry without losing the core experience
• Collaborate with Artists, Engineers, Animators, Project Management and Technical partners to ensure the level design.
• Use Unreal’s debugging tools to diagnose logic errors, collision issues, and streaming glitches within specific sectors of the map
• Hook up quest objectives to global game systems (UI trackers, save/load states, and reputation systems) ensuring a seamless player experience
• Collaborate with Narrative Designers to script dialogue triggers, cutscenes, and environmental storytelling elements directly into the level using Blueprints and Sequencer
• Use your level design skills to augment the teams capacity in this area, especially during prototyping
• Exemplify WGLL by being keen and able to be in engine in order to deliver the strongest possible experience

What Will Make You A Great Fit

• 5 years experience in Level Design in AAA Gaming space
• Experience level designing high quality worlds, in Unreal, that are both believable and fun
• Experience in experiential design (out of engine)
• Experience leading a team 
• Experience collaborating with Artists, Animation SEs and Animators 
• Appetite for taking on  ‘Product Owner’ responsibilities 
• Positive, ‘can do’, proactive and ‘hands-on’ attitude 
• Passion for Sports and Sports Video Games

The pay range for this position in British Columbia at the start of employment is expected to be between CAD $$75,700 and CAD $112,060 per year. However, actual pay offered is based on market location and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations. If hired, the company reserves the right to modify base pay (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation or benefit program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities are provided  suitable accommodations to enjoy equal employment opportunities, including the ability to participate in the job application or interview process,. Please contact us if you need an accommodation as part of your application process or otherwise have questions about the Company’s accommodation policy and review process.

Please note that 2K Games and its studios never uses instant messaging apps or personal email accounts to contact prospective employees or conduct interviews and when emailing, only use 2K.com accounts.

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