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Full Time Job

Lead Technical UI Designer

Sledgehammer Games

Toronto, ON 11-16-2022
 
  • Paid
  • Full Time
  • Senior (5-10 years) Experience
Job Description
Your Platform

Sledgehammer Games, award winning developer of several titles for the Call of Duty franchise, is looking for passionate developers to join us as members of our SHG Canada team. This group will partner with our global teams in California, Australia and the UK, and also with other studios under the Activision umbrella in the creation of epic content for some of the biggest games in the world. This is an opportunity to work with a talented AAA team and lead a group of skilled technical UI designers. Join us on our quest to maintain and improve a healthy and inspiring studio culture!

The studio is navigating their 2nd decade of game development, focused on constant evolution, innovation and qualified risk-taking – which are some of the most rewarding aspects of game development. With extraordinary content production and engineering teams, we've been able to achieve some of the highest-quality game execution of any studio in the industry. We love what we do and work hard to make sure that each new game we make is even better than the last. Creativity is key, and we're looking for dedicated game developers for our exciting new projects.

Sledgehammer Games is wholly owned by Activision. To learn more about our studio, please visit us at www.sledgehammergames.com or search for Sledgehammer Games on your favorite social media platform. Want to hear what it's like at the studio directly from current employees? Check out our #LifeatSHG developer profiles: https://youtu.be/12DUBszg-w4

Your Mission

As Lead Technical UI Designer, you will be leading a team that's the vital connection between UI art, UX design and engineering. Through outstanding communication and organizing skills you will facilitate problem-solving between your team and different departments/studios while fostering new ideas and improved processes to build user interfaces for extraordinary games. You should have strong technical skills, including experience with scripting languages and game engines and should be comfortable learning as you work on new systems and tools. You should be able to absorb a large scripting base quickly and use that knowledge to advise and empower other designers. You should also be able to support the UI art team with your technical knowledge and ensure art integration fidelity. The ideal candidate should be an empathetic leader who not only enjoys challenges & enables collaboration, but also takes an active interest in the professional development of their technical UI designers.

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

Responsibilities:
• Empower a team of technical UI designers to implement compelling UI systems while collaborating with UI/UX designers, engineers, and UI artists
• Manage the day-to-day by creating tasks (JIRA), priorities, risks, progress, stand-ups, and other line management tools/processes
• Represent the technical UI design team in cross-studio and discipline communications
• Work with producers and senior management to align the UI technical design team's tasks
• Ensure a cohesive, polished Franchise UI direction in collaboration with engineers, senior UI engineering and art/design managers, directors, and external studio stakeholders
• Validate that UI implementation meets UI visual and functional intentions, as well as effectively and efficiently utilizes functionality provided by engineering
• Tackle complicated problems creatively while considering design needs versus production realities
• Facilitate UI implementation reviews and constructive feedback sessions
• Organize retrospectives, build reviews and other UI professional activities
• Act autonomously to track down issues or improvement areas and support the team in finding solutions to complex issues
• Promote and plan training opportunities
• Promote a team culture of collaboration, innovation, empathy, and work-life balance
• Mentor and support the professional development of team members
• Assist with recruitment and interviews

Player Profile
• 7+ years of industry experience working in UI/UX for games, in any combination of the following fields:
• UI art/design with a focus on integration
• UI technical art
• UI scripting/development
• UI engineering with an art background or keen interest in art/design
• 2+ years of leadership experience in a cross-functional team environment
• Passion for UI/UX overall
• Experience with different scripting languages such as Python, Java, C#, Lua
• Proficiency with JIRA, Confluence
• Ability to read and understand C++
• Solid understanding of user experience, best practices, ergonomic UI principles
• Expert knowledge of game user interface patterns across mobile, console and PC platforms
• Strong ability to analyze UI designs, break down requirements, identify dependencies and put together a plan of action
• Understanding of imp4rlementation processes and optimization practices
• Strong core communication skills which foster a creative environment centered around collaboration, innovation, and empathy
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, time management, and mentoring capabilities

Extra Credit
• A technical degree or work experience in a technical design role
• Familiarity with Figma, Miro
• Knowledge of the Call of Duty franchise

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.

Your Platform

We're headquartered in Santa Monica, California, housing multiple teams across many disciplines of Marketing, PR, Sales, Supply Chain and other corporate functions such as HR, IT, Legal, Facilities and Finance. Santa Monica is the nerve center of our company, where the best ideas combine with unrivalled rigor to create the biggest and best entertainment experiences in the world.
Our World

The video game 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.

#textio

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-d999q4-3-147-72-11-42 in your application.

Company Profile
Sledgehammer Games

Activision Blizzard, Inc. is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment.