Principal Encounter Designer

About this role

<p>Scopely is looking for a Principal Encounter Designer to join an exciting unannounced project in development. This role can work in person at our Culver City hub, or remotely within the US or Canada!</p> <p>Join a team that is early in its journey to build a new F2P Multiplayer Adventure title with World Class IP. You will define how player actions, enemy combatants, and environmental features combine into compelling, distinctive encounters. These experiences will reward player agency and creativity across both hand-authored and procedurally generated worlds.</p> <p>At Scopely, we care deeply about what we do and want to inspire play, every day - whether in our work environments alongside our talented colleagues or through our deep connections with our communities of players. We are a global team of game lovers who are developing, publishing, and innovating the mobile games industry, connecting millions of people around the world daily.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>What You Will Do&nbsp;&nbsp;</h3> <ul> <li>Own the vision and execution for encounter design, delivering varied multiplayer gameplay experiences that fully leverage our sandbox and support multiple player-driven solutions.</li> <li>Define the principles that govern how player actions, enemy combatants, and environmental features combine across both hand-authored and procedurally generated content.</li> <li>Lead cross-disciplinary efforts with engineers, level designers, and technical artists to build procedural systems and workflows that generate distinctive, high-quality gameplay at scale.</li> <li>Collaborate with artists and level designers to establish a visual language that makes gameplay opportunities clear and inviting across a variety of worlds.</li> <li>Partner with systems designers and product management to shape how encounter difficulty, variety, and progression will encourage players to progress their abilities.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>What We’re Looking For&nbsp;</h3> <ul> <li>Significant experience designing encounters and gameplay experiences for third-person action, action-adventure games, and/or multiplayer games.</li> <li>Deep understanding of player agency, encounter readability, and designing for multiple approaches within a rich gameplay sandbox.</li> <li>Proven track record creating procedurally generated gameplay.</li> <li>Passion for systemic gameplay and emergent play, with strong instincts for how mechanics interact, compound, and surprise players.</li> <li>Strong thematic sense, with the ability to present gameplay in evocative, resonant ways.</li> <li>Hands-on implementation skills and enthusiasm for building things directly.</li> <li>A systemic, goal-driven design process grounded in playtesting and iteration.</li> <li>Clear communicator and thoughtful cross-disciplinary leader who can align partners around a high bar for quality.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Bonus Points&nbsp;</h3> <ul> <li>Mobile design background, especially on mobile games with real-time action.</li> <li>Familiarity with designing for cross-platform games.</li> <li>History of building gameplay to appeal to a broad audience.</li> <li>Experience delivering emergent gameplay via physics.</li> <li>Unity game engine knowledge.</li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="description"><p>For candidates in CA, CO, NJ, NY, and WA, the annual salary range is provided below. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible for equity, bonuses, and a comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare benefits, retirement benefits, pet insurance, paid holidays, paid Scopely free days, and unlimited paid time off. Base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.</p></div><div class="title">CA, CO, NJ, NY, and WA Annual Salary Range</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$144,200</span><span class="divider">—</span><span>$215,000 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>About Scopely</h3> <p>Scopely is a leading video game and global interactive entertainment company, home to many of the world’s most beloved and enduring experiences, including two of the most successful mobile games of all-time “MONOPOLY GO!” and “Pokémon GO,” along with “Stumble Guys,” “Star Trek™ Fleet Command,” “MARVEL Strike Force,” “WWE Champions,” the Scrabble® franchise, “Yahtzee® With Buddies,” and many others. Across mobile, web, PC, and console, Scopely creates, develops, publishes, and live-operates one of the most diversified and award-winning portfolios in the games industry — bringing hundreds of millions of players together through a shared love of play.</p> <p>Founded in 2011, Scopely is powered by its exceptional team — including thousands of world-class gamemakers around the globe, a distinctive tenet-driven culture, and its proprietary technology platform, Playgami. Together, these strengths have fueled Scopely’s position as the #1 mobile games company in the U.S. and #2 globally, generating more than $10 billion in lifetime revenue. Whether building global sensations like “MONOPOLY GO!” from the ground up, or expanding through strategic acquisitions, including the FoxNext, GSN, and Scopely Explore games businesses — Scopely consistently delivers experiences players love today and return to for years to come.</p> <p>Recognized multiple times as one of the "100 Most Influential Companies in the World" by TIME magazine and one of Fast Company's "World's Most Innovative Companies" and “Best Workplaces for Innovators,” Scopely believes that video games can be a force for good — creating meaningful connections, vibrant communities, and making life better through play.</p> <p>Scopely has global operations and partners across four continents in more than a dozen countries worldwide. For more information, visit: <a href="https://www.scopely.com/">https://www.scopely.com/</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Notice to Candidates: Scopely will never request payment or finan