Design Director

The Design Director will own the creative vision and ensure the successful execution of a cohesive, engaging player experience. This role requires strong leadership, design expertise, and the ability to guide a team through all stages of development while balancing creative ambition with production realities.

• Define, communicate, and champion the creative vision across narrative, gameplay, art, audio, and overall player experience.
• Partner with project leadership and stakeholders to ensure alignment on creative goals, priorities, and execution strategies.
• Lead the development of narrative systems, characters, investigative gameplay, environmental storytelling, and key gameplay experiences.
• Mentor and support the design team by establishing a culture focused on creativity, collaboration, accountability, and quality.
• Provide clear creative direction, feedback, and guidance to help teams transform concepts into polished, shippable content.
• Collaborate with engineering, art, audio, and production teams to establish effective workflows and maintain alignment throughout development.
• Identify creative risks, narrative challenges, and production constraints while developing solutions that protect the overall vision.
• Contribute directly to writing, game design, prototyping, narrative implementation, and content development when needed.
• Support iteration through playtesting, feedback cycles, and continuous refinement of player experiences.
• Ensure consistency, quality, and cohesion across all aspects of the game throughout development milestones.

Requirements:

The ideal candidate is an experienced game development leader with a strong background in creative direction, narrative design, and building compelling interactive experiences. You should combine strategic vision with hands-on design capabilities and the ability to inspire multidisciplinary teams.

• 10 years of experience in game development, including at least 5 years in creative leadership, narrative leadership, or senior design roles.
• Proven experience shipping at least one narrative-driven or creatively ambitious game with significant ownership over design, story, or overall creative direction.
• Strong hands-on experience with Unreal Engine 5, including in-engine tools, prototyping, gameplay implementation, and iteration workflows.
• Deep understanding of interactive storytelling, narrative pacing, player agency, and the relationship between gameplay and presentation.
• Demonstrated ability to lead creative teams, mentor designers, and maintain quality standards across complex projects.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to align teams across design, narrative, engineering, art, audio, and production.
• Ability to translate high-level creative concepts into practical development plans and actionable design goals.
• Comfortable contributing directly to writing, prototyping, gameplay design, and content creation while managing scope, schedule, and technical constraints.
• Passion for crime fiction, investigative storytelling, suspense, mystery, and character-driven experiences is an asset.
• Experience with dialogue systems, cinematic storytelling, performance capture, or branching narrative tools is considered a plus.
• Strong appreciation for research-driven storytelling and authentic adaptation of real-world subjects into interactive experiences.

Benefits:

• Competitive annual salary range of $140,000–$160,000 CAD.
• Remote-first work environment with flexible working arrangements.
• Opportunity to lead the creative direction of an ambitious narrative-driven game project.
• Collaboration with talented developers across multiple disciplines.
• Ability to influence game design decisions and contribute directly to a high-quality player experience.
• Supportive environment focused on creativity, innovation, and professional growth.
• Opportunity to work on original projects and expand creative expertise within an independent studio setting.