Lead Game Designer, Pokémon GO

Niantic Labs, creator of Ingress and Pokémon GO, is seeking a Lead Game Designer to help build compelling gameplay experiences that delight and engage our players. We’re a fast-moving, multi-disciplinary team of software developers and creative professionals based in San Francisco, Seattle and Tokyo. You will be responsible for developing and maintaining best practices for crafting systems for new features as well as leveraging content for our live game, utilizing your experience to provide creative guidance to a team of designers.

Responsibilities

• Develop workflows for efficient development of game system concepts and content production and utilization.
• Develop, document and maintain best practices across the Pokemon Go Game Design team.
• Create one page designs and drafts as well as provide oversight to the design review process.
• Contribute to roadmap planning by collaboratively identifying and pitching new game systems, content, feature improvements and new ways to utilize content to keep the game fresh and engaging for players.
• Collaborate with the Creative Director to design and optimize features and experiences that further the overall strategic vision of the product.
• Partner with the Game Design Manager and collaborate with other Art and Design leadership as well as build consensus with cross functional leaders across Product and Engineering. Develop relationships to support shared understanding of goals, expectations, design approach and creative problem solving.
• Collaborate with IP holders to ensure brand integrity.
• Be available for on-call troubleshooting for game configuration issues and live events.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5-7 years as a senior or lead game designer, in PC, console or mobile game development.
• Minimum 3 years designing and managing content for live services.
• Extensive game development and content creation experience, completing implementation from concept to delivery.
• Extensive experience with game balance and pacing in a free-to-play economic model.
• Expertise with spreadsheets and in manipulating, summarizing, and maintaining large data sets.
• Proficiency in Unity game development.
• Excellent verbal and written communication.
• Excellent problem solving and troubleshooting skills.
• Passion for video games; an avid gamer with a solid understanding of mobile games.
• Strong knowledge base of Pokémon GO and the general Pokémon franchise.
• Have worked on a high profile game with a significant amount of daily active users.

Plus If...

• Experience with AR games or features.
• Experience with prototyping data models.
• Proficiency in scripting or tools writing.
• Experience in other related fields such as user interface design, art, programming or sound.

Join the Niantic team!

Niantic is the world’s leading AR technology company, sparking creative and engaging journeys in the real world. Our products inspire outdoor exploration, exercise, and meaningful social interaction.

Originally formed at Google in 2011, we became an independent company in 2015 with a strong group of investors including Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, and Alsop Louie Partners. Our current consumer titles include pioneering global-control game Ingress, record-breaking AR game Pokémon GO, and Pikmin Bloom. In November 2021, we launched our developer platform, Lightship, enabling creators to build immersive AR experiences around the globe.

Niantic is an Equal Opportunity employer. We believe that cultivating a workplace where our people are supported and included is essential to creating great products our community will love. Our mission emphasizes seeking and hiring diverse voices, including those who are traditionally underrepresented in the technology industry, and we consider this to be one of the most important values we hold close.

We're a hard-working, fun, and exciting group who value intellectual curiosity and a passion for problem-solving! We have growing offices located in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Bellevue, Los Angeles, New York, London, Tokyo, Hamburg, and Zurich.