Senior Systems Designer - contractor until Jan 2027

We are Media Molecule, a multi-award winning game developer and part of the wider PlayStation Studios group. We have a history of creating outstanding games such as LittleBigPlanet, Tearaway and most recently, the BAFTA Award winning Dreams. Come join us at our gorgeous, newly refurbished studio in central Guildford!

We are looking for a talented Senior Systems Designer to join our creative Design team on a contract basis (inside IR35). With a passion for problem-solving, you will play a key role helping to implement our systems and balance progression whilst guarding our overall vision.

You will be working with an empowered team who inspires and challenges one another in a respectful and safe environment to achieve maximum results. This contract will require a minimum of 2 days per week onsite in the Guildford studio.

Your Responsibilities

• Apply your sharp systems knowledge to refine & implement robust & scalable systems, spot edge cases early and highlight potential issues or synergies with other systems
• When necessary, create accessible prototypes & clear system user flows to illustrate your ideas and help inform design documentation
• Use your insights to identify data points to validate a design's success or failure, and the dials required to adjust accordingly
• Own the balance of your systems and how they work within the overall game progression goals, in collaboration with the principal system designer and analytics team
• Continuously play the game and contribute insights on how to improve it
• Collaborate with Mm's design and engineering teams to navigate technical limitations and proactively identify risks, and roadblocks. Propose innovative solutions and present progress against quality, scope and game vision alignment goals
• Provide technical reference for the wider design team, evaluate features, settings and share best practices in production workflows
• Rapidly respond to and iterate on player feedback & telemetry to increase the quality of the player experience, whilst maintaining the vision of the game
• Champion a mindset of innovation and continuous improvement, proactively reviewing, improving and evolving Mm's design tools, processes and pipelines

You will

• Have hands on systems design experience and technical knowledge, including schema creation, in-engine implementation & tuning
• Be a strong critical and analytical thinker, with an eye for detail and opportunity, especially when it comes to tweaking the system or balancing for best effect
• Have shipped or worked on at least one AAA console game, built on a custom engine
• Economy balancing or modelling experience a bonus!
• Be a self-starter with the ability to self- motivate and thrive in an agile environment
• Have been through the User Testing process, championing it alongside data informed design
• Be a great collaborator and communicator - you thrive when talking to the team, solving problems together and sharing the output of your combined work in a playable build

This is a broad role that will appeal to experienced designers who enjoy thinking about psychology, UX, progression & pacing, as well as the ability to communicate clearly with designers, producers and engineers.

People of all backgrounds, experiences, abilities and perspectives are encouraged to apply. Media Molecule is committed to creating an inclusive and safe work environment that reflects the diversity of the world around us. We are an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability status.

Tips for getting hired!

Words are not enough! We need to see what you make: a portfolio, showreel, demo send us a curated selection of your work that shows just the pieces you're most proud of. Don't be afraid to show us your personal work alongside your professional projects just make sure we have your best creations to look at.

Embrace collaboration.Media Molecule loves a game jam, so we need team members that can work well together - sometimes across departments that don't traditionally overlap. Maybe you already work on a team, or manage a guild or play in a band - we'd love to hear how you get on collaborating with others.

Be yourself.We are a studio that encourages our team think creatively, to play with new technology and jam on individual ideas. We love seeing the personality of everyone at Media Molecule so it's YOU and YOUR STYLE that we are interested in learning about.

Go for it.Media Molecule is filled with people with all sorts of previous experiences - straight from university, from jobs outside the industry, from AAA studios and indie ones, etc. We are after people who fit the roles we are hiring for not a specific number of years in the industry. Some roles benefit from certain experience, of course, but otherwise we are very open. We make creative games, and creativity is something we all enjoy. If you are interested then please apply - and don't forget that portfolio!

What you get

On top of all the things we already mentioned, you'll also get to be part of a talented, diverse team of people, get a tip top benefits package, including private health and life insurance, income protection and all that jazz, a competitive salary, a winning bonus scheme, a personal development fund, being a name and not a number, free lunches, organic fruit, and really comfy chairs. Our main studio is based in Guildford, and we now also have a small office in Brighton.

If the all of those job requirements seem to be describing you, and you like the sound of working at Media Molecule, then you should apply at once!