Senior / Principal Level Designer

We're looking for a Senior / Principal Level Designer to join our small design team and create the levels, encounters and adventures that make up Neverland.   A note on who we're after: co-op level design is the heart of this role. We want a designer who lights up at the thought of two players solving something together, who has built co-op puzzles and levels in real detail, and who obsesses over how a space plays for two people at once. Neverland is a co-op-first experience, but co-op is not mandatory. It is built for two but fully playable solo, so we're looking for someone who understands that the best levels sparkle with a partner while still holding up beautifully when played alone.   What you'll do

• Design levels across Neverland's rich and vibrant locations, from paper ideation through blockout, prototype stages and onwards to the final deliverable experience
  Put co-op at the heart of every level, creating a shared journey for two players while ensuring each level shines solo too
  Craft and iterate on co-op puzzles and interesting co-op interactions: the kinds of memorable moments players talk about afterwards
  Own and manage your levels, acting as their point of contact for the wider team
  Work closely with the Lead Designers and the rest of the Design team to turn story beats and signature mechanics into playable spaces
  Collaborate with all disciplines to create exciting gameplay spaces that feel cohesive
  Run playtests, collect and filter feedback, and use it to deliver the best levels possible
  Care about accessibility and family players, ensuring your levels always have our target audience in mind

What we're looking for

• At least one shipped AAA title, ideally within action-adventure, 3D platformer or co-op genres
• Experience designing co-op levels, co-op puzzles and co-op mechanics. This is the heart of the role
• Experience and competency using Unreal Engine 5 to block out levels and implement gameplay features
• A strong understanding of player guidance and how to elegantly move players through a space while introducing new gameplay concepts
• You can defend a design decision in a room, but know when to adapt for the good of the game
• A proactive, self-driven approach, with an appetite for being one of the few designers in the room
• Knowledge of Unreal Engine's Gameplay Ability System and Blueprints is a plus
• Multiple full game development cycles is a plus, especially experience locking down levels towards the end of a project
• A portfolio showing publicly available level design work, along with the ability to talk through your workflow, design process and underlying thinking, is beneficial

  Ways of working

• Tuesday to Thursday in our Warrington studio
• Monday and Friday at your discretion, though many of us are in the office
• Flexible working within core hours, 10:00-16:00

Benefits

• 25 days holiday plus UK bank holidays
• 4% company pension scheme
• EMI share options for eligible employees
• High-spec hardware and software provided