Lead Product Designer - Games

Mattel•El Segundo, CA

1d•$115,000 - $144,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Mattel is seeking an experienced, imaginative Lead Product Designer to shape play experiences across its games portfolio, including UNO, Pictionary, Scrabble, Phase 10, Skip-Bo, Blokus, and KerPlunk!. This senior individual contributor role spans gameplay systems, physical product design, prototyping, and creative leadership. The designer owns complex programs, establishes design direction, helps other designers solve difficult problems, and remains closely involved in hands-on design work. The role works across Design, Marketing, Engineering, Consumer Insights, Packaging, Licensing, and Operations to turn ideas into intuitive, compelling products. It involves developing gameplay, prototyping and playtesting, translating game mechanics into physical products, and guiding projects from concept through commercialization. The designer provides creative leadership and mentorship without serving as a direct people manager. The position is in-office Monday through Thursday and remote on Fridays. The location is El Segundo, California. The annual pay range is $115,000–$144,000, with base pay determined by work location, skills, and experience.

Requirements

At least 7 years of experience designing tabletop, card, party, strategy, or family games, toys, or related physical consumer products, with demonstrated strength in game and product design.
Experience leading the complete game development process, including ideation, mechanics, prototyping, playtesting, balancing, iteration, and commercialization.
A portfolio demonstrating sophisticated problem solving, compelling physical product design, and the ability to translate ideas into clear, engaging play experiences.
Deep understanding of player motivation, game systems, probability, progression, accessibility, and player experience design.
Knowledge of consumer product development, manufacturing processes, materials, tooling, and production constraints.
Proven ability to lead through influence, provide meaningful creative direction, and elevate other designers' work without formal authority.
Strong communication, storytelling, critique, and presentation skills.
Ability to manage multiple complex projects, navigate ambiguity, and maintain momentum in a fast-paced development environment.
Passion for games, curiosity about how people play, and a desire to create products that bring people together.

Nice To Haves

Experience shipping commercially successful tabletop or card games.
Experience facilitating structured playtesting, game balancing, and consumer research.
Experience working across licensed entertainment brands or global product development organizations.
Familiarity with modern tabletop gaming trends and mechanics across hobby and mass-market categories.
Experience mentoring designers or serving as a creative lead across multidisciplinary development teams.
A genuine love of games and play, such as inventing mechanics, hosting game nights, or collecting modern board games.

Responsibilities

Design and develop new gameplay experiences across family, party, strategy, and card games.
Own complex projects from early concept exploration through prototyping, playtesting, refinement, and final product execution.
Use game design principles, player psychology, consumer insights, and knowledge of player behavior to develop accessible, rewarding, repeatable play experiences.
Build and test prototypes quickly, using playtesting and consumer feedback to improve mechanics, pacing, accessibility, and player experience.
Find opportunities to reinvent established brands and develop new ways to play.
Translate gameplay into intuitive physical products, components, and interactions.
Develop design solutions through sketching, model making, CAD, rendering, prototyping, and other visualization tools.
Partner with Engineering and Packaging to balance creative goals with manufacturing feasibility, quality, cost, and sustainability.
Make design decisions concerning materials, components, ergonomics, visual hierarchy, tactile interaction, and overall product experience.
Review prototypes and production samples to preserve design intent and gameplay integrity through manufacturing.
Establish creative direction across projects and help teams address ambiguous or complex design challenges.
Lead constructive critiques and design reviews to strengthen ideas, sharpen decisions, and improve work quality.
Mentor and support Product Designers and Senior Product Designers through feedback, collaboration, and hands-on problem solving.
Communicate design strategy and recommendations to cross-functional partners and senior stakeholders to build alignment around the consumer experience.
Drive projects from concept through commercialization while managing parallel workstreams and maintaining creative quality and attention to detail.
Build partnerships across Marketing, Consumer Insights, Engineering, Packaging, Licensing, and external development partners.
Anticipate risks, solve complex design challenges, and make informed tradeoffs throughout development.
Improve design tools, workflows, critique practices, and development approaches to support collaboration and faster iteration.