Gamecompanies is hiring : Senior Staff Level Designer Los Angeles (USA) Santa Mon

PlayStation isn’t just the Best Place to Play — it’s also the Best Place to Work. Today, we’re recognized as a global leader in entertainment producing The PlayStation family of products and services including PlayStation5, PlayStation4, PlayStationVR, PlayStationPlus, acclaimed PlayStation software titles from PlayStation Studios, and more.

PlayStation also strives to create an inclusive environment that empowers employees and embraces diversity. We welcome and encourage everyone who has a passion and curiosity for innovation, technology, and play to explore our open positions and join our growing global team.

The PlayStation brand falls under Sony Interactive Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.

Join the award-winning team that created God of War

Santa Monica Studio is seeking a quality-obsessed Senior Level Designer for the development of a new unannounced title! You will be designing and implementing gameplay, taking direction from the Lead Level Designers and Project Directors.

As a Sr Level Designer, you are a master collaborator capable of exciting and energizing those around you. You demonstrate an ability to take a level design from concept, through all development stages, to completion, including planning, 2D and 3D layout, event scripting, encounter design, and a strong sense of pacing. You naturally work across all disciplines and are a hub for activity. You are able to partner closely with our producers as well as clearly communicate across the team and drive toward quality.

You feel an inherent responsibility for player immersion and fun, channeling your time and talents into realizing incredibly memorable experiences.

Responsibilities

Work with the Lead Level Designers and Design Directors to ensure that the levels reach threshold for quality and fun that we expect for our games

Building 3D layout such as blockmesh and world authoring

Scripting events and interactions

Creating level flow that emphasizes Encounter, Puzzle, Exploration and Narrative pacing

Communicating the level’s design by : leading design discussion and reviews, participating in and / or leading level-production related meetings

Contributing toward establishing standards, conventions, and metrics that help guide the team toward quality and consistency

Providing in-house staff education on technical level design issues, tools use, and the best implementation practices

Forming positive working relationships and demonstrate design process with other Designers, Design Director, Game Director, Design Manager, Art Director, Lead Artist, Lead Programmer, Lead Animator, etc.

Requirements

Advanced game design knowledge (both practical and theoretical) that explains the 'why' and intent behind your designs

A deep understanding of how to design and build environments that support combat, traversal, puzzles, and narrative

Ego-less collaboration skills used to rally teammates around work tasks and creative challenges

Comprehensive knowledge of Maya, engine / editor tools, or other 3D world building software to create level geometry

Experience creating puzzles in the God of War style

Experience prototyping gameplay mechanics

Experience creating pitch documents and paper maps using PowerPoint, Illustrator, and Miro

Experience with visual scripting

Experience with text-based workflows, such as tweak files

Preferred Experience

10+ years of professional experience in game development, with 5+ years in Level Design specific role

Full development cycle experience for 2+ published AAA titles

Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about how we process your personal information, and your data protection rights.

At SIE, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location.

Please note that the base pay range may vary in line with our hybrid working policy and individual base pay will be determined based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.

In addition, this role is eligible for SIE’s top-tier benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, matching 401(k), paid time off, wellness program and coveted employee discounts for Sony products. This role also may be eligible for a bonus package. Click here to learn more.

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below.

$145,100 - $217,700 USD

Equal Opportunity Statement :

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond.

PlayStation is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.

About the company

A Santa Monica based Sony-owned developer, mostly known for developing the God of War franchise.

Santa Monica Studio was formed in 1999 as a Santa Monica-based branch of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide - a group of video game developers all owned by SCEI. As such, the studio was founded on the promise of " creating the most immersive, enjoyable, compelling and playable experiences for the PlayStation consumer" according to the official website.

#J-18808-Ljbffr