Lead Technical Designer

Lead Technical Designer – d3t / Coconut Lizard

d3t and Coconut Lizard are at the cutting edge of technology and creativity, delivering co-development video game services to our global triple-A clients. Our successful studios are continuing to grow and we are looking for a Lead Technical Designer to join the expanding Design Team. Our studios, part of the Keywords Studios Group, work on multiple exciting projects at any one time offering plenty of variety and involvement.

We have been established over 13 years and our studio projects have included Hogwart’s Legacy, Vampire: The Masquerade - Blood Hunt, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Alan Wake Remastered, Mafia II: Definitive Edition and EA Sports FC24.

Our studios are based near Daresbury, Cheshire and Gateshead, Tyne and Wear where we offer an amazingly professional, fun and supportive working environment. We are very passionate about what we do and pride ourselves on our inclusive mentality, mentoring ethos and have been awarded ’Best Places to Work’ multiple times by gamesindustry.biz including 2021, 2022 and 2023. In addition, we won ‘Best Creative Service Provider‘ at Develop 2022 and were nominated in 2023.

The Role – Lead Technical Designer

The Lead Technical Designer will play a key role in our growing Design Team. It is very much a hands-on role, inspiring and motivating the team to create world class designs and games. We work with high-profile, global clients on amazing game titles and so the quality of the Lead Tech Designer is critical to satisfying and retaining their loyalty.

Responsibilities

·        Effectively carry out line-management duties for tech designers in your charge, including career progression, mentoring, reviews, discipline and others when necessary.

·        Review and feedback latest build to ensure that it conforms with the development requirements of the game.

·        Create, or facilitate the creation of tools for other designers to use.

·        Tune and expose variables that can be modified at either run-time or in data, to capture the “game feel” element.

·        Use your experience to enact positive change within the tech design team, contributing to the game design and features to inspire and guide the other tech designers.

·        Mentor others, bring your experience to bear, and help steer the department’s direction.

·        Create and maintain accurate, succinct, and informative documentation to communicate concepts, objectives etc.

·        Communicate with clients to ensure all parties have full awareness of current and projected objectives, difficulties, and deadlines.

·        Take part in discussions with prospective clients regarding potential projects.

·        Liaise with the Production team to assess progress towards short- and long-term objectives.

·        Liaise with other discipline leads and seniors to maintain awareness of progress and impediments.

·        Actively participate in the decision-making process with management and oversee the necessary adjustments to ensure that the game meets expectations.

·        Promote and build a strong cooperative culture between disciplines.

·        Participate in the selection, on-boarding and mentoring of team members.

·        Create a work environment that is motivating for team members and which fosters development and creation.

·        Carry out all other related tasks for the department.

Essential Skills

·        6+ years in a Senior or Lead Tech Designer role on at least two AAA titles. 

·        A good understanding of the concepts which go into programming which are relevant to scripting languages and scripting editors.

·        Confident use in using an editor, such as Unreal 4/5 or Unity.

·        Experience of a proprietary engine.

·        Excellent written and verbal communication skills to enable effective communication between Design and Engineering teams.

·        Experience with tools and visual scripting editors such as Blueprints.

·        Experience with high level languages such as python, Lua, or scripting languages embedded into engines. 

·        Excellent ability to organize and structure your own work and that of the team (follow ups, control, schedule).

·        Interpersonal skills to mentor and develop individuals within a team.

·        Client focus (internal and external).

·        Strong analytical skills.

·        Reliable and responsible and thrives as part of a team.

·        Possess a passion for making games, alongside being hungry to learn and expand your areas of expertise.

·        Ability to adapt to changing situations with a flexible and professional attitude.

Desirable Skills

·        Experience supervising a design team.

·        Experience using perforce, merging code – submitting / undoing work.

·        Knowledge of how to use Visual Studio or other development environments.

·        Understanding of object-orientated development, memory management.

·        Management and planning skills.

Benefits & Perks – some of the many offered by our studio alongside a great work environment:

• 25 days holiday (+ bank holidays + up to 5 days extra for length of service)
• Company Pension Scheme
• Flexible working hours
• Private Medical and Dental Insurance Scheme & Eye Care Scheme
• Employee Share Scheme
• Anti-crunch ethos - an amazingly professional, fun and supportive working environment!
• Income Protection & Life Assurance
• Annual Bonus – be rewarded for great teamwork!
• Free Parking
• Game Vouchers
• Tech and Bike Scheme
• Company Socials/Clubs, Monthly Studio Lunches and Annual d3t Events
• Breakout Areas – filled with perks such as games, BBQ area, complimentary snacks to suit all dietary preferences etc.

We offer a flexible working policy – the role can be hybrid, remote (UK based only) or studio based at either of our studio sites - d3t (Runcorn, Cheshire) or Coconut Lizard (Gateshead, Tyne & Wear).

Initial interviews will be held by video call with additional interviews at the studio, dependent on location.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Not a problem - please apply. At d3t we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace and culture. If this opportunity excites you but your current skills or past experience don’t align perfectly with the job description, we encourage you to still apply. You may just be the right candidate for this or other roles within our team.

Internal Use -

Role Information: EN

Studio: d3t

Location: Europe, UK. Daresbury UK, Gateshead

Area of Work: Game Development

Service: Create

Employment Type: Full Time, Permanent

Working Pattern: Hybrid, Remote, In-Office