Senior Systems Game Designer

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Senior Systems Game Designer based in Canada.

This is a senior individual contributor role at the intersection of systems design, storytelling, social play, and player creativity.

You’ll shape the gameplay systems that allow players to build worlds, express themselves, interact with others, and create their own stories.

Working closely with Product, Engineering, AI, and Art, you’ll take ideas from early concepts through prototyping, implementation, and iteration.

Your work will span progression, economies, crafting, creative tools, social mechanics, and long-term engagement loops.

You’ll combine strong systems thinking with an understanding of player motivation, autonomy, narrative, and emotional expression.

As part of a lean, high-trust team, you’ll have substantial ownership and the opportunity to influence both the product and the way it is built.

This is an opportunity to help define a new category of AI-powered, social, creative gaming while working on ambitious features with meaningful player impact.

Accountabilities:

• Design and evolve short-, medium-, and long-term gameplay loops, reward structures, progression systems, and core game mechanics.
• Create, prototype, and implement systems across creative tools, progression, social play, crafting, player-generated content, and game economies.
• Translate high-level product and gameplay goals into detailed specifications, wireframes, UX flows, prototypes, and playable concepts.
• Work closely with Product Managers and cross-functional partners to turn concepts into polished, intuitive, and expressive player experiences.
• Partner with Engineering, AI, and Art teams throughout development to ensure systems are technically feasible, engaging, and aligned with the overall product vision.
• Incorporate personality, narrative hooks, tone, and emotional expression into systems to encourage emergent storytelling.
• Design systems around player motivation, agency, autonomy, achievement, and long-term engagement, drawing on frameworks such as Self-Determination Theory (SDT/PENS).
• Analyze player behavior and feedback to identify opportunities for iteration, balance, and improvement.
• Help develop and refine game economies, progression structures, and reward systems that support sustainable player engagement.
• Explore how generative AI and emerging technologies can empower players and create new forms of gameplay and creative expression.
• Take ownership of features from initial concept through prototyping, implementation, launch, measurement, and ongoing evolution.
• Contribute hands-on to solving broader product and gameplay challenges in a fast-moving startup environment.

Requirements:

• 5+ years of professional experience designing features and systems for leading mobile free-to-play games.
• Strong systems design background, ideally within strategy, life simulation, sandbox, creativity, social, or similar game genres.
• Deep expertise in at least one major systems discipline, such as feature design, progression, game economy, crafting, or user-generated content systems.
• Demonstrated ability to translate high-level concepts into well-designed features that successfully ship, perform, and evolve.
• Strong understanding of player motivation, engagement, agency, and autonomy.
• Ability to think visually and communicate ideas effectively through wireframes, prototypes, flows, mockups, and other design artifacts.
• Strong collaboration skills and experience working directly with engineers, product managers, artists, and other multidisciplinary teams.
• AI-curious or AI-fluent, with genuine enthusiasm for exploring generative technologies and their potential to expand player creativity.
• Creative sensibility with an appreciation for storytelling, tone, mood, character, and emotional expression in addition to gameplay mechanics.
• Ability to work effectively in an early-stage or startup environment where priorities can evolve and individuals are expected to take broad ownership.
• Adaptable, pragmatic, collaborative, and highly outcome-oriented approach to problem solving.
• Familiarity with Unity, scripting tools, or lightweight prototyping is an asset.
• Experience designing creative tools, sandbox mechanics, social systems, or social storytelling experiences is a plus.
• Previous startup experience is beneficial.
• Personal experience in a creative discipline such as writing, visual art, design, role-playing, or similar is an advantage.
• Candidates based in Canada and/or working within the Eastern Time zone are particularly well aligned with the role.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating games and features you have designed and shipped is expected; metrics, case studies, and evidence of measurable impact are highly valued.

Benefits:

• Fully remote opportunity for candidates based in Canada.
• Senior individual contributor position with substantial ownership and influence over the product.
• Opportunity to help create a new category at the intersection of gaming, AI, storytelling, and player expression.
• Equity participation with meaningful potential upside as the business grows.
• High-trust, collaborative environment with significant autonomy and direct impact.
• Opportunity to work closely with Product, Engineering, AI, and Art on ambitious new experiences.
• Exposure to emerging AI and generative technologies and their application to interactive entertainment.
• Fast-paced environment offering accelerated professional growth and broad responsibilities.
• Opportunity to shape systems, creative tools, gameplay experiences, and product direction from an early stage.
• Culture that values experimentation, iteration, ownership, creativity, and practical execution.