Senior Combat Designer (Enemies / Bosses)

Insomniac Games

9d•$70 - $90

About The Position

Insomniac Games is seeking a Senior Combat Designer focused on enemies and bosses. The role is accountable for the quality and timely delivery of combat gameplay involving AI enemies, mini-bosses, and boss encounters. The designer contributes throughout the process, from initial pitches and prototyping through implementation, iteration, polish, and balance. Work takes place in a collaborative, cross-disciplinary pod under the direction and review of combat and design leads. The position is a six-month contract through staffing partner Yoh Enterprise Solutions. The role offers an estimated hourly base pay range of $70–$90 and eligibility for medical, dental, and vision benefits. Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for new employees.

Requirements

Five or more years of professional game design experience, including at least one shipped title as a Combat Designer.
Expertise in the current state of combat design craft across the games industry.
Experience designing, prototyping, implementing, and polishing enemy AI combatants and boss characters.
High proficiency with modern game engines, such as Unreal or proprietary engines.
Proven experience scripting, prototyping, and iterating gameplay systems directly.
Strong written, verbal, and visual communication across disciplines.
Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume, and apply basic algebra and geometry.
Ability to solve practical problems involving concrete variables and limited standardization, and interpret written, oral, diagram, or schedule-based instructions.
Intermediate knowledge and experience with level-editing tools and scripting, such as Unreal Engine, Unity, or similar editors.
Intermediate knowledge of Maya or other major 3D modeling programs.
Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite.
Very good interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively with team members and other developers.

Nice To Haves

Experience in 3D layout.
Adobe Illustrator experience.
UE4 Blueprint scripting skills.

Responsibilities

Design, prototype, implement, iterate, balance, and polish AI enemy combatants, mini-boss characters, and large-scale boss encounters.
Implement and iterate on Enemy AI and bosses using proprietary internal tools and scripting systems.
Collaborate within a cross-disciplinary pod, including with Gameplay Programming and Animation.
Write and regularly update clear gameplay-system documentation covering functionality and best practices for using Enemy AI across missions and levels.
Gather and prioritize feedback from multiple sources and implement improvements to address clarity, balance, and playability; drive continual improvement of assigned combat work.
Support Mission Designers with best practices, training, and model encounters as needed; work directly on combat encounters within missions when appropriate.
Coordinate with other combat design staff on game-wide combat issues, including difficulty, balance, enemy differentiation, and enemy introductions.
Contribute to a safe, supportive, and creative work environment that reflects studio values.
Perform other creative duties as needed.