Principal Level Designer (AAA Shooter)

Location: Toronto, ON, Canada

Company

hirify.global is a game developer based in Austin, Texas, with a growing Toronto studio, known for co-developing AAA FPS games and creating original games.

What you will do

• Drive the development of intricate levels for a high-profile AAA shooter and ensure level flow supports cohesive player experiences.
• Design objectives, challenges, puzzles, events, and gameplay spaces in collaboration with mission, gameplay, world, art, audio, engineering, and narrative teams.
• Support narrative delivery through level design and collaborate with designers, writers, engineers, cinematic artists, and other development disciplines.
• Review levels and full game builds, provide weekly feedback, and help lead playtests to identify issues and define corrective actions.
• Build, document, communicate, and improve best practices for the studio’s level design department.

Requirements

• At least 12 years of experience as a level designer.
• At least one shipped AAA shooter PC or console title in an Advanced Level Designer role or higher.
• Experience leading and supporting a quality-driven team.
• Thorough understanding of level design principles, including difficulty, risk and reward, pacing, and tension, with proven ability to support narrative through level design.
• Ability to use world-building tools such as UnrealEd, Radiant, 3ds Max, and/or Maya.
• Strong layout skills, including building and owning spaces from the ground up and taking them through production with art and gameplay teams.
• Experience with encounter design, scripting, advanced mission scripting, or coding.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, ability to collaborate across disciplines, and comfort working in a highly iterative, highly collaborative environment.
• Passion for gaming and game development.

Nice to have

• At least one shipped AAA game developed in Unreal Engine.
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university, or equivalent experience in design, game development, or architecture.
• Experience developing for modern consoles.

Culture & Benefits

• Culture focused on evolution, diversity, excellence, and work-life balance.
• Background checks may be conducted with written candidate authorization for employment or project eligibility.
• Fully remote employment may be unavailable if the candidate is not located in or able to work from a state or Canadian province where hirify.global is registered.