Lead Narrative Designer

Job Title:

Lead Narrative Designer

Requisition ID:

R023444

Job Description:

Elsewhere Entertainment is looking for a Lead Narrative Designer to join the development of a new IP.

Feed your creativity while driving the development of our game’s world and story! Collaborate with our highly-skilled team to build something innovative, exhilarating, and expansively entertaining.

As a leader in the narrative department, you’ll aid the Narrative Director in organizing the team and providing creative direction to narrative designers for building and maintaining the cohesive creative vision of the project. You will manage the team by tasking and reviewing work, providing growth opportunities in skill and career progression, and tending to the emotional health of the team. You’ll work closely with Content, Gameplay, and Art leads to coordinate, design, implement, and polish the narrative work of the game. Time and your own interest permitting, you’ll also have the opportunity to create your own memorable characters and compelling plots as well as design and write the many types of fictional stories, dialogues, cinematics, and other texts in our game.

As a leader on the project, you’ll help take the studio and our game from great to even better—with a focus on inclusivity, mutual respect (for ourselves and our players), thoughtfulness, empathy, professionalism, and collaboration.

If you’re a passionate writer and a positive, respectful collaborator who enjoys cross-department communication and creative problem-solving as a part of your workflow, we’d love to talk to you!

You’ll help us by…

• Managing a team of narrative designers spanning expertise levels from principal and senior to staff and associate

• Partnering with the Narrative Director to define the direction of the game’s creative vision and appropriately scoping the team’s work

• Working closely with other departmental leads to implement the directors’ vision for the game

• Being proactive in driving conversations and tasks that need to happen to accomplish desired work

• Assisting the Narrative Director in guiding the narrative team and other departments to develop a new intellectual property’s foundational lore and create the game’s locations, characters, plots, and more

• Time permitting and your interest permitting, taking narrative ownership of the design and writing of one or more major features of the game

• Reviewing and providing feedback on narrative designers’ writing work for the game

• Becoming proficient in using the game's narrative tool

• Participating in the selection and hiring process of narrative candidates

• Acting as a liaison to other departments, conveying the consistent narrative vision of the project

• Assisting with character casting, and preparing scripts for and attending VO and Mocap sessions

• Assisting with the localization process and reviewing VO implementation

• Mentoring principal and senior narrative designers

• Performing any additional narrative design leadership responsibilities as assigned by Narrative Director

You’re awesome because you have…

• Proven experience (7+ years) as a professional Narrative Designer (or some combination of applicable training and experience)

• Experience leading a team (department lead, strike team lead, feature lead, or any comparable management experience of a small team)

• One or more shipped titles

• Demonstrable and strong skills in writing, editing, and workshopping

• The ability to collaborate and thrive as part of a creative team

• A drive to be self-sufficient, the ability to plan ahead and set your own tasks and set tasks for your team in a highly confidential environment

• Creativity in problem solving and a positive, respectful team-first attitude

• Experience pitching game narrative concepts in a clear, detailed manner, through strong written and verbal skills

• Organization methods and the capability to meet agreed timelines

• Comfort with self-critique and accepting outside feedback

• A habit of regularly playing and understanding modern video games

• A voracious appetite for reading fiction and consuming genre media stories

Bonus points for…

• Experience with writing for and/or leading a narrative or content focused team in AAA games

• Published writing (novels, short fiction, film, television, comics, etc)

• Major recognition in your field of work

• Experience with technical narrative design (implementation in tools, visual scripting, etc)

• Familiarity with many of the major games released in the last decade

• Experience in adjacent disciplines such as quest design, environment art, programming, etc

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! At Activision, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

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?

#elsewhere

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.