Design Director

Job Description

For the past 20 years Monolith Productions has been obsessed with delivering a unique gaming experience for our fans. Starting with Blood, our very first title – all the way to our most recent offering, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, we are constantly pushing the envelope to combine innovative gameplay, inventive narratives, cutting edge tech & AI, and stunning visuals. We are challenging ourselves even further to ensure that our next project is going to be our best yet. That's where you come in – for us to achieve that, we need the best and brightest talent the industry has to offer. Help us create our next AAA title.

The Design Director is responsible for coordinating designs across disciplines (narrative, missions, character, systems, combat, movement, world, and platform) to craft a holistic product in the vision of the Creative Director. They guide Lead Designers to create systems and content that will fit into the overall game in terms of target IP, genre, scope, quality bar, post-release content support, and our focus on unique innovations (and by virtue of this process, also help cut away systems and content that do not achieve these goals). The Design Director is responsible for communicating design requirements to other disciplines (art, audio, engineering, test, usability), and also embracing the requirements those teams have of the design group. The Design Director works closely with the Design Manager to identify design team needs in the realms of hiring, training, promotions, support resources, and conflict resolution. The Design Director should set an example to other designers and leads, mentoring and leading by example whenever possible. The Design Director should encourage a culture of diversity, collaboration, communication, accountability, and integrity.

The Daily
• Review content with all design groups and outside stakeholders to ensure alignment and push towards our quality benchmarks. Review the game's progress and identify areas of opportunity and risk.
• Document product plans, including designs for high-level systems, backlogs for future work, and deliverable definitions
• Support production, test, and usability with the information they need to support the design group.

The Essentials
• Game design/production experience.
• Vision/direction experience.
• Multiple shipped titles in a leadership role, preferring at least one AAA title.

Knowledge/Skills
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work collaboratively across disciplines.
• Comprehensive knowledge of game design principles, the game industry, and its products.
• Fluency in all aspects of game design and production.
• Strong leadership skills, especially giving clear feedback and direction.
• Ability to work effectively with people of a wide array of personalities and backgrounds.
• Advanced expertise with appropriate tools, such as MS Office, Confluence, Jira, etc.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-rjm5n0-3-137-218-230-42 in your application.