Associate UX Director

Overview

ZeniMax Online Studios is seeking an Associate UX Director to join our studio for the development of our next AAA game. This is an opportunity to join a veteran group of developers and contribute to the development of a new, original IP and help create something truly special.

The Associate UX Director reports to the Player Experience Director and is responsible for managing the UX team. This role will partner closely with all other disciplines to improve the UX team’s pipeline and toolset and to ensure a cohesive game experience. This role will also manage and develop the long term vision for Experience Design across the product.

The preferred location for this role is Hunt Valley, MD, Austin, TX, Madison, WI, San Diego, CA, or Seattle, WA. Will consider remote.

Responsibilities

• Lead the UX team to create innovative and intuitive user experiences across a wide range of game features

• Collaborate with Directors, Leads, and other Senior leadership stakeholders to align on high-level creative goals and product vision

• Work closely with UX Researchers and Consumer Insights teams to identify player motivations, pain points, and develop strategies to improve the experience for players

• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of Producers, Game Designers, Artists, and Engineers to work within technical constraints and timelines to solve large-scale design challenges

• Lead the UX team throughout the entire product life cycle, from pre-production planning and research, production, alpha, and post-launch content

• Work with Production, Design and Product Management to ensure the game launches on time and to quality while maintaining team health and sustainability

• Lead the UX team to develop visual and interaction design concepts with static and motion mock-ups, interactive prototypes, wireframes, UI architecture flows, and a variety of other design artifacts

• Work closely with Producers, Development Directors, and other stakeholders on road maps, estimates, and scheduling of work

• Manage, evaluate, mentor, and otherwise empower UX team members to do their best work

• Collaborate with publisher level contacts across multiple initiatives

• Work with Production and external parties on all localization and global readiness

• Collaborate with the publisher level User Research team while driving all internal user research

• Lead accessibility efforts across the project while working within publisher requirement

Qualifications

• 8+ years of related experience in professional game development

• Experience leading a game UX/UI team

• Strong knowledge of Figma and Miro

• Extensive experience in game development methodologies (e.g. Agile/Iterative) and proficient in troubleshooting UI issues

• Strong knowledge of Adobe products such as Photoshop, After Effects & Illustrator

• Ability to resolve complicated design challenges and limitations with a willingness to provide guidance for best practices of implementing UI Art

• Expert eye for interpreting reference, mock ups, sketches, and specialized Concept Art

• Deep understanding of the technical aspects within user interface creation in gaming

Salary Range

Associate UX Director - The typical base pay range for this position at the start of employment is expected to be between $120,000 - $245,000 per year.

ZeniMax has different base pay ranges for different work locations within the United States, which allows us to pay employees competitively and consistently in different geographic markets. The range above reflects the potential base pay across the U.S. for this role; the applicable base pay range will depend on what ultimately is determined to be the candidate’s primary work location. Individual base pay depends on various factors, in addition to primary work location, such as complexity and responsibility of role, job duties/requirements, and relevant experience and skills. Base pay ranges are reviewed and typically updated each year. Offers are made within the base pay range applicable at the time.

At ZeniMax certain roles are eligible for additional rewards, such as merit increases and discretionary bonuses. These awards are allocated based on individual performance and are not guaranteed. Benefits/perks listed here may vary depending on the nature of employment with ZeniMax and the country work location. U.S.-based employees have access to healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan and company match, short-term and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, wellbeing benefits, paid vacation time, paid sick and mental health time, and several paid holidays, among others.