Contract Senior Level Designer (Unreal Engine)

Location: Remote within the United States

Salary: $66,462–$132,733 USD annually, depending on metropolitan area, experience, qualifications, and work location.

Company

hirify.global is a startup multimedia studio best known for the indie horror game Poppy Playtime.

What you will do

• Design, prototype, greybox, iterate, and polish levels in Unreal Engine 5 through final implementation.
• Integrate gameplay mechanics, narrative pacing, environmental storytelling, and technical constraints into cohesive level experiences.
• Collaborate with game, design, and art directors, as well as writers, engineers, system designers, and environment artists.
• Lead playtests and design reviews, gather feedback, and drive improvements to player experience.
• Balance level aesthetics, readability, performance, encounter flow, and emotional pacing.
• Mentor designers, improve level design workflows, and help raise the broader team’s creative and execution capabilities.

Requirements

• 8+ years of professional game design experience with a strong emphasis on level design.
• Proficiency in Unreal Engine 5, including Blueprints for gameplay interaction and scripting.
• Portfolio demonstrating authored or lead level work, ideally in first-person, puzzle, or horror-based games.
• Strong understanding of spatial pacing, gameplay readability, environmental storytelling, and encounter flow.
• Experience collaborating with narrative teams and communicating design direction clearly.
• Familiarity with Perforce, Jira, Confluence, and level design documentation practices.

Nice to have

• Experience shipping narrative-focused or horror adventure games.
• Familiarity with modular environment workflows and LD/art pipeline coordination.
• Experience with procedural elements or systemic game spaces.
• Strong instincts for emotional pacing, tension, and impactful level layouts.

Culture & Benefits

• Project-hire role supporting the development of the Poppy Playtime franchise.
• Eligible U.S.-based full-time project hires receive medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Paid time off, sick time, and holidays are provided to eligible project hires.
• Equal opportunity workplace with compliance across applicable federal, state, and local laws.