Lead Mission Designer

Job Title:

Lead Mission Designer - Raven Software

Requisition ID:

R025093

Job Description:

Your Mission

Your mission is to create, implement, and refine highly cinematic, player-first experiences that will be enjoyed by millions of gamers worldwide. Supporting the Lead Campaign Designer, you will lead a small team of level designers and gameplay scripters, taking ownership of tasks, proactively solving challenges, and delivering high-quality work on schedule.

Thriving in a dynamic and often ambiguous environment is essential. This role requires agility and flexibility, as you'll collaborate closely with a variety of internal and external partners. Through prototyping, iteration, and a commitment to high-quality standards, you'll craft engaging and rewarding player experiences.

This position demands a balance of creativity, technical expertise, leadership, and a deep understanding of player motivations to develop unforgettable in-game moments. Above all, we seek an innovative and dedicated designer who will help bring our single-player campaign to life—setting a new standard for excellence in the competitive AAA FPS space.

This role is expected to be a hybrid position based out of our home studio in Middleton, WI.

What you bring to the table

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:    

• Mission Design
  • Help define the vision and structure of missions, ensuring their alignment with the overall narrative, mechanics, and pacing of the game.
  • From inception to ship, oversee the design of compelling mission goals, challenges, and objectives that enhance player engagement and progression.
  • Collaborate with designers, writers, artists, and engineers to deliver cohesive storytelling throughout assigned missions.

• Leadership
  • When needed, lead and mentor a small team of level designers and scripters providing guidance, feedback, and 1 on 1 meetings to ensure high-quality work.
  • Establish workflows and best practices to maintain consistent high quality across the mission, helping your team members develop their skills and make meaningful contributions.

• Collaboration with Cross-disciplinary teams
  • Work closely with the Creative Director, level designers, narrative teams, gameplay engineers, AI engineers, and gameplay scripters to ensure missions function as intended and align with the broader game world.
  • Regularly communicate with the Creative Director, Lead Campaign Designer and production team to manage expectations, timelines, and deliverables.

• Prototyping and Iteration
  • Develop and test mission and gameplay prototypes to evaluate player experience and balance.
  • Analyze playtest feedback to refine mission pacing, difficulty, and overall player satisfaction, ensuring that missions support diverse playstyles and offer rewarding experiences.

• Tools and Documentation
  • Create and maintain design documentation, including mission briefs, flowcharts, and implementation guidelines.
  • Work in a C-style scripting language to create engaging, fun, unique, and highly polished moments.

• Quality Control and Polish
  • Ensure missions meet the highest standards of quality, from gameplay balance and narrative consistency to technical performance.
  • Collaborate with internal and external teams to resolve mission-related bugs, overseeing the final polish to ensure a consistent immersive and satisfying player experience.

• Stakeholder Communication
  • Act as the primary point of contact for mission design, presenting progress and challenges to key stakeholders, such as creative directors and partner studios.
  • Align mission design goals with the creative vision and player expectations, balancing creativity with technical expertise to craft memorable in-game experiences.

Minimum Requirements

Experience

• 8+ years in the games industry working in design capacity.
• Lead and team management experience.
• 2+ shipped titles in the AAA console / PC space.
• Solid experience with programming/scripting languages.
• Prior experience working on a AAA first-person shooter.

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong understanding of geometry building, flow, and layout.
• Ability to build compelling gameplay spaces in a level editor (Unreal, Radiant etc)
• Solid understanding of modern single-player design with ability to clearly discuss trends.
• Expertise writing high and low-level documentation (PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Visio, etc.).
• Understanding of the previous Call of Duty campaigns current and past, both Black Ops and Modern Warfare.

Key Attributes

• Passionate and egoless attitude that welcomes feedback and criticism, and enjoys working in a collaborative, iterative, and agile process.
• Ability to lead by example.
• Impressive communication skills.
• Passion for games with a desire to make an impact at an industry level.
• Strong problem-solving skills.

Extra Points 

Experience

• Experience with visual software like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.

Knowledge & Skills

• Profound understanding of the Call of Duty franchise.
• Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the FPS games space.

Your Platform

Founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel in Middleton, Wisconsin, Raven Software began as a small studio focused on crafting fantasy and role-playing games. Since then, our award-winning portfolio has grown to include beloved titles such as Hexen, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and - for the past 15 years - major contributions to the critically acclaimed Call of Duty® franchise. As the lead developers behind Call of Duty: Warzone and the force behind the campaigns of the Black Ops series, most recently Black Ops 6, we have established ourselves as a key player in shaping the FPS genre and pushing the boundaries of what games can achieve.  

Our motto, “Our Work Speaks For Us,” symbolizes the dedication and passion that drives everything we do. We’ve built a team rooted in respect, collaboration, and a shared focus on what’s best for the game. We prioritize ambition balanced with care, direct communication, and a culture free of egos. By fostering innovation and owning our mistakes, we continually push boundaries to create unforgettable games for our players. As a studio located in Middleton - a suburb of Madison consistently ranked among the best places to live - we offer a thriving, supportive environment paired with exceptional quality of life . 

As we grow and enter the next chapter of our journey, we’re looking for talented individuals eager to pave new ground in our industry. If you’re ready to work with a world-class team, we’d love to hear from you.  

Job Opportunities: https://careers.ravensoftware.com/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/raven-software/ 

Our World

At Activision, we strive to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment. We’re driven by our mission to deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot™, Tony Hawk’s™ Pro Skater™, and Guitar Hero®. As a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products, our “press start” is simple: delight hundreds of millions of players around the world with innovative, fun, thrilling, and engaging entertainment experiences.

We’re not just looking back at our decades-long legacy; we’re forging ahead to keep advancing gameplay with some of the most popular titles and sophisticated technology in the world. We have bold ambitions to create the most inclusive company as we know our success comes from the passionate, creative, and diverse teams within our organization. 

We’re in the business of delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for our player community to enjoy. And our future opportunities have never been greater — this could be your opportunity to level up. 

Ready to Activate Your Future? 

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to [email protected]. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!  Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company.  You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $97,200.00 - $179,900.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.