Social scientist Jobs in Eugene, OR

Description

Pipeworks Studios is seeking a skilled Technical Designer II to join a large-scale multiplayer experience with deep social and community-driven systems. You’ll help design, implement, and refine features that connect players—such as matchmaking, parties, and progression loops—while collaborating closely with both Pipeworks and partner teams.

This is a highly collaborative role where you’ll bridge design and engineering to bring robust social systems to life in a live, evolving environment.

This is a full-time temporary role with extension or conversion to full-time regular employment possible after 6 months.

Our studio is based in Eugene, Oregon. This role can work fully remote, hybrid, or in-office.

Day To Day

Responsibilities

• Plan, design, and implement engaging social systems that promote player connection and long-term engagement.
• Build and iterate on system logic, scripting, and data setups within proprietary tools and technology.
• Collaborate with engineering to define requirements, debug issues, and maintain tool and content stability.
• Partner with UX and design leads to ensure consistent standards for matchmaking, progression, and player-to-player interactions.
• Tune gameplay and social loops to balance usability, reward, and engagement.
• Participate in playtests and integrate feedback from partner and internal teams.
• Create and maintain clear, actionable documentation for features, systems, and tools.
• Contribute to workflow and tooling improvements supporting the broader design team.
• Communicate clearly across disciplines and time zones to align technical and creative goals.

Skills Knowledge and Expertise

Must Haves

• C++ proficiency; comfortable completing a basic coding test.
• Professional experience as a systems or technical designer on a multiplayer or live-service title.
• Design experience with player-facing social systems such as friends, parties, matchmaking, and shared progression to enable the design and creation of sustainable social systems with long-term player engagement in mind.
• Technical experience writing text-based scripts to manage game systems (scripting in a Lua, Python, or similar language).
• Excellent cross-discipline communication skills, especially with engineering and UX.
• Familiarity with version control and collaboration tools (e.g., Perforce, Jira, Confluence).

Nice-To-Have Skills

• Experience developing or tuning live-service systems, events, or seasonal content.
• Exposure to analytics or telemetry workflows for player engagement and community health.
• Experience supporting or extending proprietary tools and pipelines.
• Hey Background in game engineering or scripting-heavy design roles.

Education & Experience

• 5+ years of relevant professional experience in game or technical design.
• At least one shipped title in a technical design capacity where they acted as a lead or principal for a feature, system, or tool
• Experience collaborating on live or multiplayer projects preferred.
• Comfortable working within embedded partner teams and proprietary toolsets.

What We Can Offer You

A Flexible Working Environment
Almost all of our roles allow for your choice of work location. We're happy to support our team no matter where they prefer to work: remote, in office, or hybrid.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, and Vision
• 401K with employer match
• Employer Paid Life Insurance Policy
• Generous Paid Time Off
• 20 Paid Company Holidays
• Relocation
• Paid Parental Leave
• Employee Assistance Program
• Fitness Club Discounts
• Sports Team Sponsorship
• Annual Company Events
• Project Wrap Parties

A Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Pipeworks Studios recognizes the importance of creating an environment where all of our employees feel included and empowered to bring ideas to the the table. We value each employee's unique experiences and perspectives and recognize that it is both the smart and right thing to foster diversity, equity and inclusion within our organization.

By diversifying our workforce, increasing equity, and ensuring that our individual differences are valued, we are better able to deliver an experience that reflects, inspires, and connects with our audience... because games are for everyone!

Pipeworks provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, citizenship status, disability, or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws.

Go to Pipeworks.com to see some of our continued efforts and our latest Diversity Report.

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every one of the qualifications in a job description. Our top priority is finding the best candidate for the job and if you are interested in the position, we would encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you meet every one of the qualifications above.

While you may not know us, you certainly know our clients: Microsoft, Sony, Activision, Electronic Arts, and many more. Since 1999, Pipeworks has been helping define what’s next in real-world interactions by creating innovative, best-selling, cross-platform live games for top-tier publishers and properties.

We believe that games have the ability to transform the world outside the realm of traditional consumer games and that our people are the catalyst for making this vision a reality. In the center of our universe lies our people, players, and a deep-rooted passion for games that has created several multi-million dollar best-sellers, compelling original concepts, and a disruptive imagination that continues to explore how games can transform industries outside our own. We are seeking exceptionally talented and entrepreneurial game creators as we lead into the future of digital entertainment.

What products, ideas, dreams, and change will you help us create?