Senior Combat Designer

• Develop engaging combat mechanics, including player abilities, enemy behaviors, AI tactics, weapons, and camera systems.
• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams to prototype, iterate, and polish combat features from concept through ship.
• Author and maintain design documentation, ensuring clarity and alignment across departments.
• Analyze playtest data and player feedback to continuously refine and balance combat systems.
• Own combat encounters and pacing in collaboration with level and narrative design teams.
• Mentor junior designers and contribute to the evolution of team processes and best practices.
• Maintain high standards for quality, responsiveness, and fun across all combat elements.

• 5+ years of experience in game design with at least 2 shipped titles, including one in a senior or lead role focused on combat.
• Deep understanding of player mechanics, animation-driven gameplay, enemy design, and AI behavior.
• Professional proficiency with Unreal Engine 4.0+ or other applicable industry standard game engine.
• Strong prototyping skills with scripting languages or visual scripting systems (e.g., Blueprint, Lua, etc.).
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and documentation skills.
• Passion for creating satisfying, intuitive, and deep combat systems across various player archetypes.

• Experience designing melee combat systems, ranged combat, or hybrid mechanics.
• Background working on open-world or sandbox games.
• Experience planning player skill and progression systems.
• Knowledge of cinematic combat presentation and camera work.
• Experience working with motion capture and/or animation pipelines.

• Full-time job with benefits.
• Role is on-site in San Rafael, CA or Santa Monica, CA.

Nice-to-have skills

• Lua

• Santa Monica, California

Work experience

• Gaming

Languages

• English