Lead Designer

4 Months ago • 5 Years + • Design

Job Summary

Job Description

As Lead Designer at Coffee Stain Studios, you'll balance hands-on game development (implementing features, refining content, resolving issues) with mentoring and supporting the design team. You'll collaborate with Leads, Producers, and designers to ensure engaging gameplay aligned with the project's vision. Responsibilities include leading and inspiring the design team, collaborating with other departments (art, programming), managing workload and resources, developing design documentation, and ensuring design quality. The ideal candidate will have 5+ years of game design experience (at least 2 in a Lead role), strong communication skills, and a keen eye for detail.
Must have:
  • 5+ years game design experience (2+ years as Lead)
  • Solid understanding of game design processes
  • Strong communication & cross-team collaboration
  • Hands-on contribution & high-quality delivery
  • Team leadership & mentorship
Good to have:
  • Unreal Engine experience
  • Live games or Early Access experience
  • Open-world/non-linear level design
  • Satisfactory or similar game experience
Perks:
  • Competitive salary & benefits
  • Casual workplace environment
  • On-site gym
  • Game & chill-out zones
  • Regular office hangouts & parties
  • Self-development opportunities
  • Office breakfasts, snacks, fruits, tea & coffee
  • Creative time
  • Massage sessions

Job Details

About us

Coffee Stain Studios is the largest team under the Coffee Stain brand, where our journey began back in 2010. We've recently launched Satisfactory 1.0, after a highly successful Early Access period with over 6 million copies sold.

Micromanaging is not our style, so everyone needs to take responsibility over their own work. We want everyone to feel like they’re contributing to the end product and thrive towards always becoming better at what they do. 

About the Role

As Lead Designer, you'll split your time between hands-on development—working in-engine to implement features, refine content, and resolve issues—and supporting and mentoring the design team to help them grow and succeed.

You will work closely with Leads, Producers, and designers to ensure that the game design is fun, engaging, and aligns with the overall vision of the project. Whether you are designing features, coaching your team, or collaborating with other departments, your work will have a direct impact on the game.

As a Lead Designer, you will

  • Lead and inspire a team of designers, providing guidance and support for their creative and professional growth.
  • Collaborate with the Game Director to ensure the design aligns with the project’s vision and goals through continuous feedback and quality assurance.
  • Engage directly in game design, contributing to the creation and refinement of features, content, and player experiences.
  • Collaborate with other departments (art, programming) to ensure a cohesive and engaging game experience.
  • Manage the team’s workload and resource planning in collaboration with Producers and other Leads.
  • Develop and maintain documentation for design processes and game mechanics.

Key Responsibilities

  • Team Leadership and Mentorship: Support your team members by providing feedback, conducting 1-on-1s, and fostering a healthy work environment.
  • Creative and Technical Input: Develop and review game mechanics, level design, UI/UX and narrative to create a compelling player experience.
  • Quality Assurance: Provide feedback, conduct reviews, and guide the team to ensure the design is playable, balanced, fun, and meets established quality standards.
  • Communication and Coordination: Act as a bridge between the design team and other departments, keeping everyone aligned on progress and needs.
  • Strategic Support for Workflows and Creativity: Work with the team to refine workflows, improve tools, and use resources effectively to keep things running smoothly and creatively.

We’re looking for someone who has:

  • A minimum of 5 years experience in designing for PC and/or console games, including at least 2 years in a Lead Designer or similar leadership role.
  • A solid understanding of game design processes, from concept to launch.
  • Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams.
  • A keen eye for detail and a drive for creating memorable gameplay experiences.
  • Experience contributing hands-on to projects and delivering high-quality content.

Bonus Points

  • Experience working in Unreal Engine.
  • Experience working on live games or Early Access models
  • Experience with level design, particularly in open-world and non-linear environments.
  • Having spent a few hours playing Satisfactory, or experience with similar games and genres.

Practical info

The position is permanent, full-time, 40 hours per week on-site.

You will spend the majority of your worktime at our office on Hertig Johans gata in Skövde, but it´s okay to work from home from time to time.

At our office we have a casual workplace environment including bicycle parking, our own amazing in-office gym, game and chill-out zones. There are also plenty in-office hangouts and parties. 

You’ll be working with a friendly team that consists of both Swedish and International people. We get plenty of self-development opportunities – tutorials, creative time, participation in various industry conferences and events. 

Our office is constantly supplied with breakfasts, snacks, fruits, tea and coffee to keep your energy up. 

Coffee Stain Studios is part of a family of several studios, creating a network of over a hundred talented game creators. We talk, throw parties, and support each other professionally. We like the combination of being a relatively small team in our studio combined with the gain belonging to a big, warm community, being able to share invaluable knowledge and experiences with our colleagues.

Perks of being a Coffee Stainer

We offer competitive salaries with excellent benefits. We try to follow the Collective Agreement as close as we can, which means payments to your pension fund and insurances. We also believe that a healthy body leads to a healthy mind, so everybody gets time off to work out. In Sweden there is a well-being allowance called Friskvårdsbidrag that covers extra things like gym subscriptions, swimming, massage etc. There is also an option to book massage sessions at the office.  

As an employee you will also have creative time every other week which lets your inner passion blossom. You will also have influence over your own work and taking initiative is encouraged. This goes for the projects we work on as well as life at the office in general.  

On top of all that you get to work with an awesome team in an amazing and very spacious office!

You can take a closer look at some of our fabulous crew on our YouTube channel: Coffee Stain YouTube Channel

We look forward to hearing from you!

Similar Jobs

Blue wire software - Electronic Technician

Blue wire software

Roseville, California, United States (On-Site)
1 Week ago
Gibbs Cam - Accountant

Gibbs Cam

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
CD PROJEKT RED - Senior Engine Programmer

CD PROJEKT RED

Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
Daybreak Game Company LLC - Community Manager

Daybreak Game Company LLC

San Diego, California, United States (Hybrid)
7 Months ago
Banyan Software - M&A Analyst

Banyan Software

London, England, United Kingdom (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Oliver Agency - Junior Designer

Oliver Agency

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India (On-Site)
1 Month ago
HCL Tech - Senior Designer manufacturing simulation

HCL Tech

Illinois, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Roblox - Senior Product Designer, Creator Success

Roblox

San Mateo, California, United States (On-Site)
1 Week ago
Unbroken Studios - Product Designer

Unbroken Studios

Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines (Remote)
1 Week ago
Gravity CO  - Ragnarok Zero Content Designer Recruitment

Gravity CO

Seoul, South Korea (On-Site)
1 Month ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Similar Skill Jobs

OKX - Specialist, Sanction Operations

OKX

Budapest, Hungary (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
caliogo - Senior QA Engineer I

caliogo

Hyderabad, Telangana, India (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Zinnia - Senior Cloud Security Engineer

Zinnia

Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India (Hybrid)
8 Months ago
Canva - Staff Frontend Engineer - Apps API Platform

Canva

Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (Remote)
1 Month ago
Flow - Costing, Sourcing & Procurement Manager

Flow

Miami, Florida, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago
CD PROJEKT RED - Principal Engine Programmer

CD PROJEKT RED

Boston, Massachusetts, United States (Hybrid)
4 Months ago
Internet Brands - Senior Strategy & Operations Associate

Internet Brands

El Segundo, California, United States (On-Site)
3 Months ago
PwC - Senior Auditor for Work on International EU Funded Projects

PwC

Sofia, Sofia City Province, Bulgaria (On-Site)
8 Months ago
NinjaVan - Regional Field Sales - Makati

NinjaVan

Cabatuan, Cagayan Valley, Philippines (On-Site)
8 Months ago
Thousand Eyes - Digital Customer Success Manager

Thousand Eyes

Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal (On-Site)
2 Weeks ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Jobs in Skövde, Västra Götaland County, Sweden

ComeOn Group - Java Developer

ComeOn Group

Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
Haptic  - Release Manager

Haptic

Sweden (On-Site)
5 Months ago
Marsh McLennan - Pension Advisory Consultant

Marsh McLennan

Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden (Hybrid)
4 Weeks ago
dun bradstreet - Data Scientist

dun bradstreet

Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden (Hybrid)
2 Months ago
PayPal - iOS Developer

PayPal

Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden (Hybrid)
3 Weeks ago
Tesla - Public Policy Manager, Nordics

Tesla

Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden (On-Site)
4 Months ago
Nasdaq - Back Office Solution Lead

Nasdaq

Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
Unbroken Studios - Account Manager

Unbroken Studios

Sweden (On-Site)
1 Week ago
Tesla - Associate Vehicle Readiness Specialist

Tesla

Huddinge, Stockholm County, Sweden (On-Site)
4 Months ago
Relax Gaming - Technical Artist

Relax Gaming

Malmö, Skåne County, Sweden (Hybrid)
5 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Design Jobs

Epic Games - Designer, Cosmetics Ecosystem

Epic Games

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Mercury - Staff Product Designer - Experiences

Mercury

San Francisco, California, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Figma - Product Designer, Design Systems

Figma

San Francisco, California, United States (Remote)
1 Week ago
T systems - Presales Solution Designer Automotive (Senior)

T systems

Pune, Maharashtra, India (On-Site)
1 Month ago
ElevenLabs - Website Designer

ElevenLabs

United Kingdom (Remote)
3 Months ago
Activision - Senior AI Designer

Activision

Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland (On-Site)
6 Months ago
Patreon - Staff Product Designer, Podcast Tools

Patreon

San Francisco, California, United States (Hybrid)
3 Months ago
Roblox - Senior Product Designer, Safety

Roblox

San Mateo, California, United States (On-Site)
1 Week ago
Tencent - Overseas Content Creative Designer

Tencent

Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China (On-Site)
6 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

About The Company

Coffee Stain is an awesome place to work and we're always looking for talented individuals. If you think you can provide something to us that we don't have yet, then don't hesitate to reach out to us! Diversity is something we encourage and support. Not only does creativity thrive when different backgrounds and perspectives are brought together, we also grow as people. Coffee Stain has grown more diverse over the recent years, but we still believe we can improve more.

Skövde, Västra Götaland County, Sweden (On-Site)

Skövde, Västra Götaland County, Sweden (On-Site)

Skövde, Västra Götaland County, Sweden (Hybrid)

Gothenburg, Västra Götaland County, Sweden (On-Site)

View All Jobs

Get notified when new jobs are added by Coffee Stain

Level Up Your Career in Game Development!

Transform Your Passion into Profession with Our Comprehensive Courses for Aspiring Game Developers.

Job Common Plug