Lead Game Designer, Wordscapes

PeopleFun is an award-winning creator of mobile games for players across the globe. We are part of AppLovin, a publicly traded company, with world-class projects, resources, and infrastructure. PeopleFun is a Dallas-based game studio founded and led by game industry veterans, where game developers thrive on collaboration, creativity, teamwork, and fun. Our games are played by over 25 million players each month, and we have a number of exciting mobile games in development to fuel the future growth of PeopleFun.
We believe in bringing People together through Fun by creating the best in class social features and communities in our games that enables our players to engage deeply with other players. Secondly we endeavor to bring our studio teammates together by creating the very best game teams that foster healthy collaboration, incredible productivity, and life-long professional relationships.
Candidates who reside or will reside in the following locations are eligible for this role: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington State.
Job Summary
PeopleFun is seeking a Lead Game Designer to spearhead design efforts on our flagship title, Wordscapes. Reporting to the Wordscapes business GM, this role will sit at the forefront of the mobile word game category, and be focused on growing the vibrant Wordscapes player community (4+ million DAU) by designing high quality, innovative features & live ops services.

Responsibilities

• Develop and champion a consistent design vision for Wordscapes.
• Stay updated on free-to-play game design best practices.
• Actively partner with the team leads and GM to determine business & community goals, while designing corresponding features.
• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of two existing game designers, ensuring the delivery of high-quality work.
• Analyze data, player feedback, and user insights to refine and improve game designs that will drive and balance impactful business results and player satisfaction.
• Facilitate brainstorming sessions with the team to generate new ideas and solutions.
• Document new features for communication & maintenance purposes.
• Collaborate with User Experience to design & execute playtests of new features
• Be an advocate for the player and optimal gameplay experience.
• Design & create functional and satisfying UX flows.
• Guide accepted designs from concept through final in-game implementation, iterating in response to data & product insights.
• Capable of managing and tuning game economy and balance with both existing and new features, ensuring seamless integration and an eye for sustainability.
• Hire, train, and mentor junior game designers should team expansion be necessary.
• Foster an inclusive culture for idea-sharing.

Requirements

• 8+ years of professional experience in game design; with 5+ years within the mobile-casual, Free to Play (F2P) genre. 
• 3+ years experience in a design leadership role including managing/mentoring junior designers.
• Demonstrated professional understanding of Unity and version control.
• Demonstrated ability to design & launch successful features within a live, mobile game environment.
• High degree of ownership and accountability of game feature quality and good design.
• Motivated and passionate about mobile game development.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency in Jira, Confluence, Slack, and Google suite (specifically Drive and Sheets).
• Advanced Excel/Google Sheets skills are a plus.
• Prior experience and interest in designing puzzles for a casual audience, & especially word games &  puzzles.
• Experience writing basic SQL is a plus.

PeopleFun provides a competitive total compensation package with a pay for performance rewards approach. The expected base pay range for this [CA based or North America based] position is $120,000-$175,000. Base compensation at PeopleFun is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Depending on the position offered, equity, sign-on payments, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical and other benefits.
BenefitsMedical/Dental/Vision Insurance Performance Bonuses401K Match Policy Flexible PTO PolicyWellness Stipend Free Lunch each FridayGenerous Parental Leave & Family-Friendly CultureAnnual Credits for Professional Development & In-App Purchases 
PeopleFun is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about EEO rights as an applicant here. Apply