Senior Systems Designer

Summary

Join Ghost Story Games, an award-winning game development studio, as a Senior Systems Designer to contribute to the gameplay of their upcoming game, Judas. You will be responsible for integrating dynamic narratives, rogue-lite mechanics, and other game systems to create a seamless player experience. This crucial role focuses on balancing core design pillars for a groundbreaking game. You will design, implement, and tune core game systems, create design documentation, prototype in Unreal Engine 4, and collaborate with other teams. Success requires championing player experience, participating in playtests, identifying design challenges, and contributing to design discussions. The role also involves mentoring other team members.

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional systems design experience on AAA titles
• Shipped at least one AAA game in a systems design capacity
• Proven expertise in designing and implementing core gameplay loops, progression systems, and player-facing mechanics
• Strong proficiency with Unreal Engine (UE4/UE5), particularly in-engine implementation and Blueprint scripting
• A proactive, self-motivated work ethic, with a strong sense of ownership and the ability to operate with autonomy
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to articulate complex design concepts clearly
• A deep passion for creating emergent, systems-driven gameplay and narrative-rich experiences
• Understanding of telemetry and its uses within game development to validate implementations
• As a senior team member, you lead by example and demonstrate a willingness to mentor others

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, tune, and own core game systems, with a primary focus on the core gameplay loop, player progression, and innovative rogue-lite mechanics
• Create and maintain clear, concise design documentation that articulates system functionality
• Work hands-on in Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) to prototype, build, and iterate on systems using Blueprint scripting
• Collaborate closely with Engineering, Art, Narrative, and QA to ensure the cohesive and successful implementation of gameplay features
• Champion the player experience, ensuring your designs are intuitive, engaging, and support a wide variety of playstyles
• Actively participate in playtests, gathering feedback and iterating on designs to achieve the highest possible quality
• Proactively identify design challenges and propose effective, innovative solutions that push creative boundaries
• Act as a strong advocate for the player experience, ensuring your system designs are intuitive, engaging, and align with the overall vision of Judas
• Contribute significantly to design discussions and the evolution of design practices, fostering a studio culture of knowledge-sharing

Preferred Qualifications

• Passion for narrative-driven First-Person Shooters
• Experience with procedural content generation systems
• Scripting proficiency within Unreal Engine (e.g., advanced Blueprint usage) is a plus. Experience with C++ is a bonus
• Direct experience with roguelike/roguelite or immersive sim genres
• Experience designing systems that enhance replayability and emergent outcomes
• Familiarity with content tracking tools (e.g., JIRA, Confluence, Hansoft) or version control systems (e.g., Perforce)