Lead Designer at Side in Los Angeles, CA

At Side, we partner with some of the world's leading developers and publishers to solve complex production challenges and help bring exceptional games to life. From concept through live operations, our co-development teams work as trusted extensions of our clients' studios, contributing expertise across design, engineering, art, audio, QA, and production. https://apply.workable.com/sideinc/j/3A830A7E4F/https://www.side.com/about/careers/

We're looking for a Design Lead or Design Director to drive design excellence across a range of high-profile co-development projects. This role is suited to an experienced design leader who combines strong creative vision with hands-on development expertise and enjoys working directly with clients, multidisciplinary teams, and production stakeholders.

The ideal candidate will bring deep experience leading design teams on Unreal Engine projects, with a background spanning gameplay design, systems design, technical design, and level design. You'll be equally comfortable defining player experiences at a high level, prototyping and validating ideas, mentoring designers, and collaborating with engineering teams to ensure successful execution.

Whether you're currently a Lead Designer ready for a broader challenge or an established Design Director looking to work across multiple projects and genres, this is an opportunity to have a meaningful impact on both client outcomes and Side's growing co-development practice.

What you will do:

• Lead the design vision and execution across co-development projects, acting as the primary design partner for both internal teams and client stakeholders.
• Drive gameplay, systems, level, and technical design initiatives from concept through delivery.
• Collaborate closely with engineering, art, production, and QA teams to create engaging, high-quality player experiences.
• Provide creative leadership, mentorship, and feedback to designers across multiple disciplines.
• Prototype, validate, and iterate on gameplay features, progression systems, level layouts, and player engagement mechanics.
• Review and improve gameplay flow, combat encounters, boss experiences, and overall game balance, with a particular focus on FPS and action-oriented experiences.
• Identify design risks early, solve complex production challenges, and ensure design quality is maintained throughout development.

What we are looking for:

• Proven experience as a Lead Designer, Principal Designer, or Design Director on shipped commercial titles.
• Deep expertise with Unreal Engine and a strong understanding of gameplay, systems, and level design.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and working directly with clients or external development partners.
• Strong FPS design experience, with a track record of improving gameplay flow, combat encounters, progression, and player engagement.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and mentoring skills, with the ability to balance creative vision against production realities.

Nice to have:

• Experience developing immersive VR experiences for Meta Quest, creating compelling first-person gameplay, and improving player engagement through level flow, encounter design, progression systems, and boss experiences.

• Confident client-facing communicator, able to present design solutions, manage stakeholder expectations, and build trusted relationships with development partners.

• Competitive Salary.

• Dynamic, multicultural and fun environment.

• You will be working for the world's leading provider of game services.

• We empower our people and offer regular progression opportunities to ensure our employees flourish.

About Side Side (formerly PTW) is a global video game development and services provider, offering technical and creative solutions to many of the largest developers and studios around the world. Founded in 2009 and drawing on 30+ years' experience from our parent company in Japan, Side has since grown to become a global force with 20 studios in 14 countries across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia.

Our industry-leading services include game development, art production, audio production, quality assurance, localization, localization QA, player support, community management, and datasets.

Experience our side of life. For more information, visit www.side.inc