Junior Technical Designer (Remote)

Studio Wildcard

1d•$40,000 - $65,000•Remote

About The Position

Studio Wildcard, creators of the smash indie hit ARK: Survival Evolved, was founded in 2014. ARK has become one of the most successful cross-platform indie titles ever and continues to break industry records. We are looking for a Junior Technical Designer to join our Game Design team and help shape the massive, ever-evolving ecosystems of the ARK universe. Reporting directly to the Lead Game Designer, you will get your hands dirty with both creative ideation and technical implementation. This is a role for a highly motivated, organized, and adaptable designer who thrives in a fast-paced environment. You will spend your days working directly in Unreal Engine 5, balancing creatures and weapons, hooking up new content, modifying Blueprints, and configuring Data Assets to help bring ambitious new survival features to life.

Requirements

High familiarity with the ARK Franchise and must actively play ARK: Survival Ascended.
Hands-on experience with the ARK DevKit or Unreal Engine 4 or 5.
Strong critical thinking and analytical skills, with a proven knack for numerical balancing in complex game systems (combat, economy, or progression).
A quick learner who is highly organized, self-motivated, dedicated, and operates with a strong sense of accountability.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across disciplines.
Willingness to crunch around critical shipping periods to support major content launches.
Ability to work core hours of 10:00 AM PST to 4:00 PM PST.

Nice To Haves

Shipped titles credited as an Junior Technical Designer or similar technical role.
Previous Game Design and Development experience in a professional studio environment.
Experience creating and publishing your own mods (especially for the ARK franchise).
A deep-seated passion for the survival game genre.

Responsibilities

Work collaboratively with the Game Design Team and key stakeholders to ideate and design new creatures, structures, items, and core gameplay systems.
Take hands-on ownership of gameplay balance, tuning stats and numbers for items, creatures, and progression systems to ensure a fair and engaging player experience.
Work directly within the Unreal Editor to hook up game assets, configure Data Assets and Class Defaults, and modify simple Blueprints.
Create, maintain, and update clear, consistent design documentation to keep the broader development team fully aligned on feature goals and mechanics.
Proactively report progress, technical setbacks, and actionable solutions to the Lead Game Designer.
Manage multiple overlapping tasks and projects, seamlessly switching focus and priorities to respond to the shifting needs of a live survival game.