Design

Overview

We are hiring an Encounter Designer to build interactive combat experiences that engage solo and small groups of players within Elder Scrolls Online. Our ideal candidate is passionate about storytelling in a multiplayer environment and finding new ways to delight and terrify players of all skill levels.

Responsibilities

• Design and populate encounters in the Elder Scrolls Online ranging from solo quest encounters and delves to multiplayer group bosses
• Script AI combat behaviors and abilities in our proprietary toolset
• Stage monsters in new and interesting environments with an eye toward visual
  storytelling
• Communicate regularly with artists, writers, designers, and engineers

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience
• Excellent storytelling and visual composition skills
• Experience playing massively multiplayer online games
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Familiarity with Microsoft Excel or other data management software
• Motivated and organized, with strong attention to detail

Preferred Skills

• Photoshop or other image editing software experience
• Programming or scripting experience
• Demonstrable mod experience
• Animation background
• Familiarity with a wide range of Games
• Familiarity with ESO

Overview

ZeniMax Online Studios is seeking a Lead Technical Designer to join our studio for the development of our next AAA game. This is a chance to join an experienced group of developers in pre-production for a new IP.

This role will architect and implement gameplay systems and mechanics, and hone them to industry-leading quality. Aside from designing technically complex gameplay systems, a developer in this role will collaborate closely with project engineers, artists, animators, and other designers to bring gameplay to life.

The preferred location for this role is Hunt Valley, MD, Austin, TX, or Madison, WI. Will consider remote.

Responsibilities

• Oversee a tech design team, their mentorship & direction of their efforts
• Design and create modular gameplay components which will be used to propagate gameplay features throughout the world
• Write scripts utilizing component API to facilitate gameplay implementation in an entity component system (ECS) based engine
• Collaborate with feature teams on the designs of systems and mechanics with a focus on usability and implementation approach
• Help establish script implementation standards and best practices
• Work with engineers on expanding the capabilities of the scripting system
• Contribute and maintain script utilities to facilitate content building
• Provide strong direction for user workflows and usability in tools and pipeline development
• Advocate for tech design as a critical role in game development

Qualifications

• 5+ years related experience 
• Deep experience in programming or scripting systems
• Solid gameplay design fundamentals with an understanding of what makes gameplay fun
• Ability to work collaboratively in a cross-discipline development environment
• Familiarity with the many types of assets from which a game is built
• Comfortable with a development schedule that is playtest-driven and focused on iteration and polish
• Strong understanding of the discrete elements game systems are built from, and the ability to problem solve both holistically and on a per-component basis
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills required
• An online portfolio which clearly demonstrates relevant work experience

Preferred Skills

• Experience developing Open World games
• Familiarity with third-person action or roleplaying games
• Familiarity with Entity Component System (ECS) architectures
• Experience in animation, UI programming, creating or using shaders, or FX systems
• Strong public speaking skills

Overview

ZeniMax Online Studios is seeking a Principal Level Designer to join our studio for the development of our next AAA game. This is a chance to join an experienced group of developers in pre-production for a new IP.

A developer in this role serves as an important part of the Level Design team with a focus on owning a key Open World location, driving its layout, combat encounter design, and scripting. This role will work closely with Level Artists and Gameplay Systems team members in creating enticing locations that are fun to explore, packed with thrilling gameplay, challenging combat, and memorable player experiences. A key part of this role involves designing the workflow and establishing best practices for open world creation on a new, industry-leading engine.

The preferred location for this role is Hunt Valley, MD, Austin, TX, or Madison, WI. Will consider remote.

Responsibilities

• Help drive vision on a large area in Level Design; build consensus on that vision across disciplines
• Support the leadership team in establishing and role modeling positive processes
• Define quality standards for the team through hands-on execution and documentation
• Dedicated mentoring of more junior members of the team
• Partner with Level Artists in creating layered environments packed with exploration and combat
• Script and implement key moments within these spaces
• Craft memorable combat encounters and work with Combat Systems Designers in honing these experiences to perfection
• Create fun gameplay spaces focused on the game’s core mechanics
• Help determine the optimal workflow for content creation
• Work with the tools team to identify the ideal toolset with which to create content

Qualifications

• 5+ years of level design experience
• Broad gameplay design knowledge
• Ability to drive collaboration and consensus across multiple disciplines
• Strong organization, verbal, and written communication skills
• Deeply creative with a great sense of what makes gameplay fun
• Excellent sense of gameplay pacing
• Excellent level design skills
• Good grasp of scripting or coding
• Experience with combat encounter design in a AAA game
• Comfortable with a development schedule that is playtest-driven and focused on iteration and polish
• Strong understanding of the discrete elements game levels and combat experiences are built from and the ability to problem solve both holistically and on a per-component basis

Preferred Skills

• Experience developing Open World games
• Combat systems design experience for third or first person games
• Background in architecture or paper/board game design

Overview

Zenimax Online Studios is seeking a Principal Narrative Designer to join our studio for the development of our next AAA game. This is a chance to join an experienced group of developers in pre-production for a new IP.

The preferred location for this role is Hunt Valley, MD, Austin, TX, or Madison, WI. Will consider remote.

Responsibilities

• Work with the Narrative team and other disciplines to create compelling characters, stories, and locations in the game environment
• Help develop the history and world of a new IP
  
• Write and iterate on compelling dialogue for characters
  
• Write and edit compelling quest, lore, and story text
  
• Write in-game backstories for the world, its locations, and its inhabitants
  
• Complete all work to required specifications and quality by established deadlines
  
• Quickly master the proprietary, in-game writing/editing tool
  
• Assist the Associate Narrative Director with team leadership and organization
  
• Provide constructive, actionable feedback on others’ work
  
• Guide and mentor Narrative team members
  
• Serve as an ambassador for the Narrative vision and overall project
  
• Perform other narrative design duties assigned by the Associate Narrative Director
  

Qualifications

• Demonstrable and strong skills as a writer and editor
• 5+ years of writing and/or narrative design experience
• Outstanding written and verbal communications skills
• Excellent narrative and dialogue writing skills
• Strong ability to collaborate and thrive as part of a creative team
• Ability to work independently in a highly confidential environment
• A passion for games and crafting compelling stories
• Plays and understands modern video games
• Experience writing branching dialogue is highly desired

Overview

ZeniMax Online Studios is looking for a Senior Content Designer to work with the content, world building, animation, audio, and gameplay teams to provide fun and well-conceived stories/locations for players to experience. This position will work on creating content in specific environments to create a fun and exciting game experience for the Elder Scrolls Online RPG. The qualified candidate is ready to step into mentorship or leadership roles as necessary, and take on additional responsibilities that extend throughout and beyond the Content department.

Responsibilities

• Learn to work in our proprietary toolset and become proficient quickly
• Attend and absorb content training activities as available
• Help determine/run content training activities for the department
• Work with other team members to support the design of content throughout a release, often mentoring less senior team members
• Pitch, share, and comment on content design ideas and designs-in-progress
• Take responsibility for high-profile content or content support for wide-ranging elements of the game (including supporting new systems, Main Story quests, and other new content)
• Design and script innovative quests/gameplay for ESO, with a focus on storytelling and pacing
• Pitch and collaborate on innovations to ESO’s content and storytelling with other team members, with an eye toward continual improvement in the game and content
• Collaborate with other teams and departments (Encounter, Fiction, Animation, FX, etc.) to develop content and new assets for the game
• Execute other game designs and design revisions when necessary
• Implement revisions based on feedback and bugs

Qualifications

• Minimum five years professional experience in content design, preferably in the MMO or multiplayer space
• Experience designing, building, and populating game levels
• Strong sense of the 3D game space and game flow
• Excellent communication and documentation skills
• Strong organizational skills, the ability to multi-task, and a keen attention to detail
• Experience working with multi-disciplinary teams and an understanding of content creation pipelines and tools
• Demonstrates high standards of excellence in work
• Experience playing MMOs

Preferred Skills

• Leadership or Mentorship experience a plus
• Scripting or programming interactivity
• Non-content game design experience (level design, encounter design, fiction writing, etc.)
• Work on non-MMO or multiplayer games
• Work on non-computer games (tabletop RPGs, card games, board games, etc.)

Overview

ZeniMax Online Studios is seeking a Senior Multiplayer Systems Designer to join our studio for the development of our next AAA game. This is a chance to join an experienced group of developers in pre-production for a major new IP. The Senior Multiplayer Systems Designer works under the Multiplayer Lead and works with the rest of the project team to support the creation and maintenance of multiplayer mechanics, systems, and social features. They are responsible for systems that will create a positive and engaging multiplayer experience with the aim of positive engagement and long-term retention. They will aid in facilitating social interactions between players, while adhering to team values and best practices.

The preferred location for this role is Madison, WI, Hunt Valley, MD, or Austin, TX. Will consider remote.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain documentation for new and existing multiplayer systems
• Develop expertise on all in-game systems behavior and interdependencies including proprietary toolsets
• Work with other design leads in developing holistic multiplayer gameplay aimed at making the multiplayer experience a value add for players
• Function effectively as a multiplayer representative in collaborative, cross-disciplinary feature development teams
• Utilize business intelligence reporting to drive data informed insights into multiplayer behavior
• Provide, receive, and integrate feedback on areas of responsibility related to multiplayer
• Performing research and comparative analysis on other multiplayer games
• Other duties assigned by the Multiplayer Lead, Experience Director, and Creative Director

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience developing or maintaining systems in a shipped or live multiplayer game
• Technical writing familiarity with close attention to detail
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Strong collaborative approach to Design

Overview

ZeniMax Online Studios is seeking a Senior Product Manager to help drive the development of our next AAA PC/Console project. This is a chance to join an experienced team of veteran developers in pre-production as we create an ambitious new IP.

As a Senior Product Manager, you will be the product specialist across multiple feature teams, where you will partner with Design and UX to define and steer systems, economies, and rewards that compose the game’s monetization and retention loops. You will be expected to engender trust & ownership across the project, for which you will foster a data-informed culture by leading efforts from development through to LiveOps that raise player lifetime value.

This position reports to the Product Management Lead for the new IP.

The preferred location for this role is Hunt Valley, MD, Austin, TX, or Madison, WI. Will consider remote. Please apply for more information.

Responsibilities

• Equipped with a deep bench of data-informed best practices, contribute goals and acceptance criteria on feature teams to align game design with product KPIs
• Ensure features are developed for LiveOps by working across Design, Engineering, and Business Intelligence to define data-driven flexibility, instrumentation, and telemetry
• Lead the definition of initial strategies, tactics, and tuning that will set features up for success at launch
• Define and execute performance measurement plans for beta and for launch
• Lead feature teams in LiveOps, which includes driving analytics & reporting to understand performance, testing hypotheses for improvement, building A/B experiments where appropriate, and aligning stakeholders to prioritize, develop, and launch the next iteration
• Ideate, define, propose, and drive new initiatives to improve product KPIs across (re)acquisition, retention, and monetization
• As a product performance expert, play a key role in revenue forecasting initiatives

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience as a game product manager with a track record of improving player lifetime value in fast-paced LiveOps environments
• A keen student of live games with a seasoned palette for data-informed best practices across different audiences, genres, and platforms
• Strong business/quantitative acumen with a natural analytical mindset; able to break down complex questions, identify & clarify key details, and methodically problem solve towards a desired goal
• Adept at creating teardowns of game loops & economies to convey how and why they affect product KPIs
• Experience modeling game economies that underpin strong player retention
• Experience with hypothesis testing, including defining & interpreting A/B tests
• Self-starter who has a strong bias for action and for iterating beyond 0 to 1; excels with increasing ownership, accountability, and autonomy
• A team player with the communication and interpersonal skills to engender trust and influence across creative, technical, and business stakeholders
• Strong player empathy, which always guides your judgement
• Passion for high quality PC/Console games and for the craft of making them

Preferred Skills

• Experience with launching games and building LiveOps environments defined by rapid iteration
• Experience with live games across both mobile & PC/Console
• Working knowledge of SQL with experience getting hands-on with analytics
• MBA or a bachelor’s degree in a quantitative discipline, such as Economics, Mathematics, Computer Science, or similar

Overview

ZeniMax Online Studios is seeking a Senior Progression Designer to join our studio for the development of our next AAA game. This is a chance to join an experienced group of developers in pre-production for a major new IP.

This role will serve under the Lead Monetization Designer to build progression and gameplay systems and hone them to industry-leading quality. A developer in this role will collaborate with leads and developers across all development disciplines in creating progression components for the game’s many features.

Responsibilities

• Work with the Lead MTX Designer in shaping the vision for progression across the product’s many features
• Work with other design leads in developing holistic gameplay and progression systems aimed at a compelling engagement
• Work to integrate progression features into game lore
• Help grow the progression discipline. Mentor new hires in their career development
• Design, create, and maintain documentation for progression systems and mechanics
• Collaborate with all development disciplines to bring gameplay systems from early vision to industry-shaping final implementation

Qualifications

• Deeply creative with a great sense of what makes gameplay fun
• Expert understanding of progression and engagement features
• Ability to work collaboratively in a cross-discipline development environment
• Expert proficiency integrating imagery and text to deliver thorough, easy to understand design documents
• Strong understanding of the discrete elements game systems are built from, and the ability to problem solve both holistically and on a per-component basis
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English required

Preferred Skills

• Experience developing Open World games
• Experience designing gameplay features
• Experience in industrial or product design
• Strong public speaking skills
• Leadership and mentoring experience

Overview

ZeniMax Online Studios is seeking a Senior Social Designer to join our studio for the development of our next AAA game. This is a chance to join an experienced group of developers in pre-production for a major new IP.

The Senior Social Designer works under the Multiplayer Lead and works with the rest of the project team to support the creation and maintenance of social features, systems, and integration with multiplayer gameplay. They are responsible for features that will create a positive and engaging social experience. Their aim is to create a benevolent environment and interactive features that lead to a healthy social community, while adhering to team values and best practices.

The preferred location for this role is Hunt Valley, MD, Austin, TX, or Madison, WI. Will consider remote.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain documentation for new and existing social systems and features
• Develop expertise on all in-game social systems behavior and interdependencies including proprietary toolsets
• Work with other design leads in developing holistic social gameplay aimed at creating a benevolent environment that is a value add for the multiplayer experience
• Function effectively as a Social Gameplay representative in collaborative, cross-disciplinary feature development teams
• Utilize user research findings to drive informed insights into social behavior
• Work with partner teams in UX, Player Engagement, and Retention to develop and iterate on social designs
• Provide, receive, and integrate feedback on areas of responsibility related to social experiences
• Perform research and comparative analysis on social features and systems in other multiplayer games
• Other duties assigned by the Multiplayer Lead, Experience Director, and Creative Director

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience developing or maintaining systems in a shipped or live multiplayer game
  
• Extensive experience in multiplayer games with a focus on social features
  
• Technical writing familiarity with strong communication skills
  
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
  
• Strong collaborative approach to Design

Preferred Skills

• Familiar with Microsoft and Atlassian suite of developer tools
  
• Familiar with Agile development methodology and experience with Product Ownership
  
• Viewable portfolio of previous work
  
• Background in Psychology or Social Sciences

Overview

ZeniMax Online Studios is seeking a Senior Technical Designer to join our studio for the development of our next AAA game. This is a chance to join an experienced group of developers in pre-production for a new IP. This role will work closely with technical leads to help determine scripting and content authoring workflows with the intention of supporting a live service game. Aside from building foundational gameplay elements, a developer in this position will be a role model for how to build content using nascent tools and pipelines.

The preferred location for this role is Hunt Valley, MD, Austin, TX, or Madison, WI. Will consider remote.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with feature teams on designs of systems and mechanics with a focus on implementation approach
• Prototype modular gameplay pieces to be used to propagate gameplay features throughout the world
• Evaluate production content authoring workflows for usability and extensibility
• Provide direction for tools and pipeline development as an advocate for end-users

Qualifications

• Deep experience working with scripting environments and suites
• Broad hands-on experience implementing gameplay elements and game content
• Experience evaluating tools and workflows with end-users in mind
• Ability to work collaboratively in a cross-discipline development environment
• Strong verbal and written communication skills

Preferred Skills

• Familiarity with programming languages and environments
• Experience working in popular industry content editors (Unity, Unreal)
• Experience developing a live service and/or open-world game
• Experience working with nascent toolsets
• Wide experience working with various areas of design, including combat, narrative, and level design

Overview

ZeniMax Online Studios is seeking a Technical Designer to join our studio for the development of our next AAA game. This is a chance to join an experienced group of developers in pre-production for a new IP. This role will work closely with technical leads to help determine scripting and content authoring workflows with the intention of supporting a live service game. Aside from building foundational gameplay elements, a developer in this position will provide support to a multitude of feature teams on how to build content using nascent tools and pipelines.

The preferred location for this role is Hunt Valley, MD, Austin, TX, or Madison, WI. Will consider remote work.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with feature teams on designs of systems and mechanics with a focus on implementation approach
• Prototype modular gameplay pieces to be used to propagate gameplay features throughout the world
• Provide support in determining usability and extensibility of production content workflows

Qualifications

• Experience working with scripting environments and suites
• Hands-on experience implementing gameplay elements and game content
• Ability to work collaboratively in a cross-discipline development environment
• Strong verbal and written communication skills

Preferred Skills

• Familiarity with programming languages and environments
• Experience working in popular industry content editors (Unity, Unreal)
• Experience developing a live service and/or open-world game
• Experience working with nascent development tools
• Wide experience working with various areas of design, including combat, narrative, and level design

Overview

ZeniMax Online Studios is seeking a Technical Designer (Narrative) to join our studio for the development of our next AAA game. This is a chance to join an experienced group of developers in pre-production for a new IP. This role will work closely with our narrative and cinematic leads to help design, develop, and maintain a AAA-quality narrative/cinematic toolset and pipeline from the ground up for a new IP. As one of the first members of the team to get their hands dirty in these workflows, you will be expected to help guide best practices and workflows by creating solid examples and sharing your findings across a team of various disciplines. Directly working with our various design and engineering teams, you will be relied upon to push boundaries and turn ambiguous situations into concrete solutions. Being able to navigate between ‘big picture’ and ‘in-the-weeds’ is essential for making effective decisions that will have a substantial impact on the project.

The preferred location for this role is Hunt Valley, MD, Austin, TX, or Madison, WI. Will consider remote.

Responsibilities

• Contribute and maintain complex narrative and cinematic content
  
• Create the first examples of new techniques and technologies and document findings for the broader team
  
• Collaborate with experts of various disciplines to be a force multiplier to the narrative department
  
• Provide strong direction for user workflows and usability in tools and pipeline development
  
• Help bring our narrative and cinematic vision to life

Qualifications

• Ability to work collaboratively in a cross-discipline development environment
• Deep experience working with narrative-related content, tools, and pipelines
• Experience working with various forms of coding and/or scripting
• Comfortable bringing chaos to order by operating within ambiguous or nascent toolsets
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Preferred Skills

• Familiarity with any DCC tools and workflows (Maya, Blender, Houdini, etc.)
  
• Familiarity with narrative techniques across genres