Design Director (FPS/Gamedev)

Location: Vancouver, British Columbia or Montreal, Quebec, Canada; remote or in-office work available.

Salary: $165,000+ per year.

Company

hirify.global is an independent game-development studio creating multiplayer, shooter, and live-service games in Unreal Engine.

What you will do

• Own the design vision and delivery of tactical missions from concept and graybox through final polish.
• Define standards for mission layouts, breaching, encounters, objectives, pacing, and replayability.
• Design missions for AI squadmates and five-player co-op, scaling challenge and roles across team sizes.
• Work with AI, gameplay, systems, art, audio, narrative, engineering, and production leads to deliver cohesive missions within scope and milestones.
• Stay hands-on in Unreal Engine by building, prototyping, and iterating on levels and encounters.
• Lead and mentor designers, run playtests, analyze results, and communicate design intent to the team and studio leadership.

Requirements

• 10+ years of game-design experience, including at least 4 years leading level- or mission-design teams.
• At least one shipped first-person shooter in a lead or director role, with substantial ownership of mission and level design.
• Expertise in mission layouts, breaching, encounter design, objectives, pacing, and replayability.
• Experience designing for co-op multiplayer and AI companions or squadmates.
• Hands-on Unreal Engine experience, including level building, Blueprints, and taking spaces from graybox through final polish.
• Strong FPS systems knowledge covering gunplay, movement, AI behavior, and their impact on level and encounter design.
• Proven ability to lead and mentor designers, run playtests, and deliver within scope and milestones.
• Portfolio or shipped work demonstrating mission and level design.
• Excellent communication skills, including giving clear direction and presenting design intent to leadership.

Nice to have

• Shipped a tactical or squad-based shooter.
• Experience with live-service or replayable mission structures, including procedural elements, modifiers, or difficulty tiers.
• Experience working with AI engineers on squad commands, companion behavior, or enemy tactics.
• Experience building and scaling a design team on a new IP.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative environment built on honesty, transparency, respect, curiosity, and cross-disciplinary trust.
• Permanent, full-time employment with comprehensive health coverage for employees and families.
• Stock options, discretionary bonuses, disability insurance, and life insurance.
• Generous paid time off, unlimited sick and personal days, and studio closure periods.
• Career advancement, training, and professional-development opportunities.