Senior Narrative Realization Designer

Summary

Join That's No Moon, an independent game studio, as a Senior Designer on the Narrative Realization team. You will craft story events using cinematics, scripting, visual language, and dialogue. As a senior member, you'll create high-quality content, collaborating with various teams (animation, engineering, art). You will bridge disciplines, plan and prioritize work, and facilitate iteration, focusing on technical and aesthetic quality. This role requires extensive Unreal Engine experience, animation system knowledge, and a passion for narrative presentation. The position is a temporary project hire with benefits including medical, dental, vision, 401(k) matching, and flexible PTO.

Requirements

• Broad experience with Unreal Engine & scripting best practices
• Deep understanding of Animation systems with significant experience working with sequencer, montages & visual scripting or equivalent technology
• Passion for narrative presentation with demonstrated experience driving content in mixed agency spaces to polish
• Comfortable working within & driving the development of systems used to express story, character performance and player
• Experienced eye for cinematic language, timing, staging, performance & manipulating player agency in service of narrative moments
• Strong technical problem-solving and interpersonal skills
• A passion for making games with the enthusiasm & skill to polish to the highest level of quality

Responsibilities

• Create & maintain Unreal Engine assets, manage complex interactions between systems and provide a benchmark for quality across the team
• Drive collaboration with animation, engineering, art & others to craft narrative moments, systems & experience to express a world class narrative
• Communicate & consult between disciplines across the studio as a member of a connective tissue team – this role bridges multiple content categories
• Work with production & leads to plan and prioritize work on a micro and macro scale, actively participating in prioritization, scoping & creative discussions
• Facilitate iteration between disciplines with a focus on technical & aesthetic quality, balancing feasibility and player experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Excellent communicator, comfortable translating the complexity of a wide variety of disciplines with accuracy and precision
• Approachable & enthusiastic about narrative and the technical underpinnings that bring a story to life
• Deep appreciation for the various crafts that go into games & a passion for helping to express them to the highest level of quality
• Actively engages with feedback at every level & is aware of the overlap between design and other disciplines
• Comfortable balancing priorities in a highly iterative environment
• Able to utilize lateral thinking to solve problems and utilize resources effectively

Benefits

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• 401(k) matching
• Flexible PTO
• Supplemental life and disability
• Equity
• Profit share