Expert Technical Designer

Description

The company is a new stand-alone studio founded in 2023 and owned by 2K. It is headquartered in Burnaby and is building a new sports franchise from the ground up.

The team is small and growing, made up of designers, builders and gamers who work through creative collaboration and technical depth.

The role supports the implementation and iteration of gameplay systems and features for a sports-focused core fantasy experience, bridging design and engineering. It reports to the Design Director (Core Fantasy) and works with engineering, design and production leads.

Responsibilities

• Build and test functional prototypes with engineers and gameplay designers, from paper design through to implementation.
• Implement and refine gameplay mechanics, core loops and systemic features using visual scripting or proprietary tools.
• Check that design solutions can be built while keeping to the creative goals.
• Turn high-level concepts into solid in-game behaviour and systems, script game logic, define system flows and bring features into live builds.
• Serve as the technical contact for feature teams, spotting dependencies and integration risks early.
• Work with tools engineers to improve designer workflows and content pipelines.
• Create best practices and reusable templates that speed up iteration and reduce bugs. Find inefficiencies in data structures or tool use and suggest fixes.
• Guide other designers on technical work, help raise scripting and tool skills, review and debug their implementations, and clear blockers.
• Champion technical documentation and a healthy tech design culture.
• Act as craft lead for Technical Designers, directing the hands-on technical approach to implementation, and manage their people responsibilities.
• Work closely with engineering to keep designs performant, scalable and shippable.
• Work with animation, audio and UI/UX teams to deliver high-quality features.
• Take part in design planning, backlog grooming and prioritising technical work.
• Make sure technical design supports the player experience goals, and prototype systemic interactions that create emergent, player-driven outcomes.
• Help solve creative problems that open up new gameplay opportunities.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in technical design or gameplay implementation.
• Deep expertise in scripting systems such as Unreal Blueprint.
• A proven record of building complex gameplay systems from prototype to shipped product.
• A strong grasp of game systems, mechanics and how they interact.
• Experience working with engineers, especially on feature integration.
• Excellent problem-solving, debugging and optimisation skills.
• Strong documentation habits and the ability to explain technical solutions to non-technical colleagues.
• A proactive, collaborative approach and a drive to support creative teams.
• Nice to have: experience on sports games or other systemic titles.
• Nice to have: familiarity with content pipelines, modular design or data-driven systems.
• Nice to have: experience with tool development or technical design documentation.
• Nice to have: experience with performance profiling and optimisation on console or PC.
• Nice to have: a background in programming or computer science.

Conditions

Hybrid work arrangement based in British Columbia.

The base pay range for this role in British Columbia at the start of employment is CAD $118,300 to CAD $175,060 per year. Final pay depends on market location and individual factors such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience and other objective business considerations.

Regular roles may also include a bonus and/or equity awards, plus medical, financial and other benefits, depending on the same factors. Temporary or intern roles are not eligible for many of these. Plan details are shared on receiving an offer.

The company never contacts candidates through instant messaging apps or personal email, and only sends email from 2K.com accounts.

Benefits

• Possible bonus and/or equity awards for regular roles.
• Medical, financial and other benefits for regular roles.