Systems Designer

Mobilityware•Irvine, CA

6d•$85,000 - $105,000•Hybrid

About The Position

MobilityWare is seeking a Systems Designer in Irvine, California, to design, balance, and improve gameplay systems, features, and virtual economies for casual free-to-play mobile games. The role owns features from concept and specification through implementation, testing, launch, and ongoing Live-Ops improvement. The designer defines rules and interactions, models intended player behavior, considers UI and UX flows, and works with product and development teams to deliver engaging player experiences. Economy design is a significant focus. The designer models player progression, resource earning and spending, and wallet growth over time to inform rewards, pricing, monetization, and feature balance. Initial onboarding includes economy reviews and improvement work across multiple live titles. The role works cross-functionally to translate player needs and business goals into practical designs, evaluate performance using data, and continually improve systems. The position is hybrid and based in Irvine, CA. The annual base salary range is $85,000–$105,000. MobilityWare describes its workplace as supportive of professional growth and team-member wellness.

Requirements

At least 3 years of professional game design experience, including hands-on systems and economy design for casual free-to-play mobile games.
Experience taking features through implementation and launch on at least one shipped or live mobile title.
Strong understanding of player motivation, progression, reward pacing, and how interconnected systems influence player behavior.
Experience designing or balancing virtual currencies, rewards, resource flows, and in-app purchase systems.
Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills, including modeling progression, economic balance, and player scenarios.
Ability to communicate feature rules, player flows, and design reasoning clearly through documentation and visual examples.
Experience using player data, testing, and feedback to guide design decisions.
Ability to manage assigned features independently while collaborating across disciplines and incorporating feedback.

Nice To Haves

Experience with puzzle, card, solitaire, match, or other casual game genres.
Familiarity with hybrid monetization combining in-app purchases and advertising.
Experience with Unity, prototyping tools, internal configuration tools, and/or live-ops platforms.

Responsibilities

Own assigned features from concept and specification through development, testing, launch, and iteration.
Design interconnected gameplay and metagame systems, including progression, goals, collections, live events, and social and/or competitive features.
Define system rules, dependencies, edge cases, and tuning parameters, considering how changes affect the broader game.
Build spreadsheet models for player progression, intended behavior, resource consumption, and wallet balances over time.
Design and balance virtual economies, including currencies, rewards, boosters, lives, resource sources and sinks, and purchase value.
Develop and tune in-app purchases, offers, bundles, and rewarded-ad opportunities within the overall player experience.
Use prototypes, playtesting, player feedback, and performance data to test assumptions and improve designs.
Partner with Product and Analytics to define success metrics, support A/B tests, and evaluate results.
Maintain clear documentation and balancing tools, and work with development teams to verify that features function as intended.