Senior Technical Designer, Enemies & Combat

Sony Bend Studio, renowned creator of Days Gone, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and Syphon Filter, is seeking outstanding talent to join our passionate and creative team in crafting our next high-profile AAA title.

We are seeking a hands-on Senior Technical Designer that can design and implement gameplay mechanics at a high level of quality with a focus on enemies and combat. This is a significant role on our team with the opportunity to have a major impact on both the project and our Technical Game Design discipline.

Responsibilities:

• Guide and implement technical gameplay features and systems through the development process: ideation, proof of concept, prototyping, development, iteration, finalizing, and post-launch game support.
• Architect and implement gameplay-oriented tools, workflows, and pipelines used by our entire game design team.
• Establish and maintain development pipelines that improve our ability to make great games.
• Develop expert knowledge of tools built in C++ and visual scripting.
• Adhere to coding standards set forth by the engineering department and participate in the code review process.
• Own and contribute to game designs as needed.
• Write game feature specifications and technical design documents.
• Create in-engine gameplay mechanics, characters, attacks, and abilities.
• Set up and tune enemy animations.
• Hone final gameplay implementation according to defined quality standards.
• Communicate and collaborate with team members across a diverse range of disciplines.
• Assist the Lead Technical Designer in improving quality and efficiency by defining, communicating, and improving best practices for implementation.  
• Serve as a strong quality advocate and mentor for the team, crafting content that exemplifies AAA quality and help others on the team achieve exceptional results.

Requirements:

• Experience in at least one AAA Game Engine. Bonus for experience with custom engines or a variety of game development tools.
• Game design process knowledge including (but not limited to) level design, AI, player control, user interface, technical art, combat, character design, and pacing.
• Advanced knowledge of C++ (preferred) or related languages (e.g., C#, Python).
• Possess working knowledge of Maya (or similar 3D package), including an understanding of rigging, modeling, and animation features.
• Good error checking and debugging skills, and experience optimizing code for performance and memory.
• Ability to self-organize and communicate across disciplines while upholding core studio values and proactively seeking out and resolving bottlenecks.
• Strong time management and prioritization skills. Ability to handle competing hands-on development and design team support priorities.  
• Familiar with Agile, Lean, and Scrum methodologies as they pertain to game development.
• Experience with using version control systems such as Perforce, Git or Subversion.
• Experience with networking principles and systems that include multiplayer gameplay mechanics, replication, and other online implementation considerations.
• Knowledge of mathematics relevant to game development (vector, geometry, calculus and Newtonian physics) is a plus.
• 4+ years of experience in a game production environment.

We are building a design culture that values trust, inclusivity, collaboration, innovation, growth mindset, and sustainability. If you have the skills we are looking for and are passionate about creating incredible experiences for both our players and the people on your team, we'd love to hear from you. Please submit your resume and portfolio.