RemoteLeaf Logo
Log in Sign up

Design Lead (12-month Contract)

1 month ago
Canada
Contract
Lead
Design Lead
Design and User Experience
Game Design Prototyping
Apply Now
Blackbird Interactive

Blackbird Interactive

Blackbird Interactive (BBI) is an independent game development studio based in Vancouver, Canada. Founded in 2010 by industry veterans, BBI is known for creating immersive strategy and adventure games like Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak and Hardspace: Sh...

Internet Software & Services
251-1K
Founded 2010
View All Jobs 4

Description

  • Lead and support a team of designers in the implementation, tuning, balancing, and polish of gameplay features to deliver a cohesive, high-quality player experience.
  • Translate the established creative vision into clear design goals and own quality, consistency, and cohesion across features.
  • Provide mentorship, feedback, and guidance to designers to help them convert high-level direction into effective, shippable designs and support professional growth.
  • Collaborate closely with engineering to implement gameplay systems and tools that support design goals, scalability, and efficient iteration.
  • Partner with art and audio teams to ensure gameplay systems are readable, expressive, and aligned with intended player experience and presentation.
  • Communicate design goals, constraints, and priorities clearly across design, engineering, art, audio, and production to keep teams aligned as features evolve.
  • Identify execution risks, design gaps, or dependency issues early and work with production to adjust scope, sequencing, or implementation plans.
  • Contribute hands-on to implementation, prototyping, and critical feature phases to unblock the team and help carry features through development.

Requirements

  • 10+ years of experience contributing to game development, including at least 5 years in a design leadership or senior design role.
  • Experience shipping at least one large-scale game, ideally with action-oriented or systems-driven gameplay.
  • Strong understanding of core gameplay execution, including player controls, camera behavior, combat or interaction systems, and moment-to-moment game feel.
  • Demonstrated ability to support, mentor, and review the work of other designers to improve consistency and quality across a team.
  • Comfort operating in a technical, fast-moving production environment and balancing quality, scope, and schedule.
  • Strong communication and collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across design, engineering, art, audio, and production.
  • Ability and willingness to implement gameplay content directly using in-engine tools and workflows to prototype, iterate, and polish features.
  • Interest in science-fiction games emphasizing exploration, scale, and systemic gameplay (preferred).
  • Player-centric instincts for clarity, responsiveness, and usability and a passion for delivering polished, long-playing gameplay systems (preferred).

Benefits

  • Competitive salary: CAD $95,000–$120,000 per year.
  • Four-day work week (implemented as a permanent option).
  • Flexible work arrangements: in-studio, remote within Canada, or hybrid.

Interested in this position?

Apply directly on the company website

Apply Now

Similar Roles

CannonDesign

Health Project Planner IV

CannonDesign 1K-5K Professional Services

Lead planner and subject-matter expert on Health projects at CannonDesign, working under a Licensed Architect to lead project programming and planning efforts and translate client needs into buildable project documentation.

United States Full-time Lead Design Lead
$89k-$111k
14 hours, 41 minutes ago
CannonDesign

Regional Design Director - Central Region

CannonDesign 1K-5K Professional Services

Regional Design Director at CannonDesign responsible for leading design excellence, developing regional design teams, and driving strategic regional growth across multiple offices to advance the firm’s Living-Centered Design impact.

United States Full-time Executive Design Lead
$204k-$255k
1 month ago
Robusta Technology Group

Experience Lead - Product Development (3 Months Contract ) -Octopus by RTG

Robusta Technology Group 51-250 Professional Services

Experience Lead responsible for defining and delivering the end-to-end user experience for advanced digital products, leading multidisciplinary teams to create human-centered, ethical, and trustworthy solutions that align with product and business strategy.

Egypt United Arab Emirates Contract Lead Design Lead
Prototyping
1 month ago
CookUnity

Head of Creative Studio

CookUnity 251-1K Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure

Head of Creative Studio at CookUnity reporting to the Head of Growth, responsible for leading creative strategy and building AI-driven systems to scale storytelling, accelerate content production, and enable rapid creative testing across performance channels.

Argentina Full-time Lead Design Lead
CRM Email Marketing Generative AI
1 month ago

You're on a roll! Sign up now to keep applying.

Sign Up

Already have an account? Log in

Used by 14,729+ remote workers