Principal Game Designer, Feature Design Team Lead, Marvel Snap

Who We Are

Second Dinner is an award-winning independent game development studio that is here to make the most fun games in the world. Not super fun games. Not SUPER DUPER fun games. We mean the MOST fun games. In fact, our game MARVEL SNAP has earned multiple Mobile Game of the Year Awards (Game Awards, DICE), Best Strategy Game (IGN), and the Apple Design Award for Innovation!

Second Dinner is a remote-first studio, so while we are headquartered in Irvine, California, most of our team is fully remote across the United States. We want the most talented teammates wherever they call home. A diverse team with varied perspectives makes us a better company and will help us make better games. If you can bring something new to the table and expand our point of view, that's a huge upside.

Our Design Team

At Second Dinner, we believe great design ideas come from everywhere and everyone, and it’s our job as Game Designers to collate, refine, implement, iterate and help bring those ideas to life. We partner with every part of the studio, art, engineering, production, UX, product, analytics, and sound, to make the most fun and engaging experiences possible for our players. The Design team drives the designs of both live in-game experiences and all upcoming features and content going into the game worldwide.

Your Role

As the Principal Game Designer, Feature Design (Lead), on MARVEL SNAP you will manage a small Features Design team, owning key systems and overseeing many of our upcoming features in the game, shepherding designs from conception to launch either directly or through your team members. You’ll report to the Director of Game Design, and collaborate cross-functionally to drive consensus with design and product leadership, and other teams across the company.

**Please attach your cover letter, link to portfolio, AND resume as one document.**

What You’ll Do:

• Lead and manage the Feature Design Team

• Own the design for key systems and features in MARVEL SNAP such as new game modes, events, progression and reward systems, social systems, and more

• Be the go-to expert for many new features, fielding questions from product managers, engineers, artists, producers, other designers, etc.

• Continuously improve our system design in MARVEL SNAP through collaboration with the awesome folks on our product team.

• Help us predict and understand the impact of new features in advance using a mix of metrics, ecosystem knowledge, player sentiment, and your own experience

• Measure and optimize our systems through partnership with our data science team

• Create and maintain team visibility by writing clear and concise documentation

What You’ll Need:

• Consistent track record of game design excellence

• Experience working on live service games

• Experience working on mobile games

• Experience owning game systems on shipped titles

• Comfortable discussing ranges of KPIs and weighing design impact against them

• Deep understanding of player types, behaviors, and motivations

• Experience managing player sentiment with live operations

• Experience leading and managing designers and design efforts

Nice to Have But Not Necessary:

• Programming experience, particularly C#

• Experience working on card games

• Experience in Unity

The total compensation for this position includes a new hire offer base salary range of $200,000 - $250,000 USD + equity + comprehensive benefits + potential for discretionary performance bonuses.

Individual pay within this salary range may span multiple levels within the discipline and is determined by assessed job-related skills, experience, relevant education or training. It also factors in market demands and business needs. The disclosed range is not adjusted based on location and may be subject to change or modification based on business needs in the future. Your recruiter can answer any questions about new hire total compensation during the hiring process.

An overview of the benefits and perks at Second Dinner:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance plans with Second Dinner paying 100% of premiums for employees and 75% for dependents for many plans

• 401(k) contribution with no waiting period

• 16 weeks paid parental leave with no waiting period

• Home office improvement bonus

• Paid Vacation & Sick time

• Up to 10 BetterHelp sessions covered each benefits plan year

• Remote-first with core overlap hours between 10AM and 4PM PT

• Company Summer Holiday shutdown (week of July 4)

• Company Winter Holiday shutdown (Dec 25-Jan 1)

• Company Events - In-person Summer all-hands gathering, in-person holiday party, annual camping event, and virtual events throughout the year

We are an equal opportunity employer that places high value on diversity and inclusion. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, age, disability status, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military status, or veteran status.

You must be eligible to work in the United States to be considered for this position.

Compensation Range: $200K - $250K