Quick overview
Job description
At Ironbelly Studios, we’re working on a next-generation fantasy hero collector RPG game built in Unity for mobile and desktop. With 200+ characters planned at launch, we’re bringing depth and fresh gameplay to fans of the genre.
We’re looking for a highly experienced UI/UX Director to define and lead the player experience as the project moves toward Early Access, launch, and ongoing live operations.
You will shape how players understand, navigate, and engage with the game, turning complex RPG systems into intuitive, rewarding experiences. You will also set the interface’s visual and interaction standards, ensuring usability and visual quality work together across platforms.
💼 Your Mission
Lead the User Experience
Own the overall UX vision, player journeys, information architecture, and interaction flows across onboarding, hero collection, roster management, progression, combat information, and other core systems.
Make complex features easy to understand and navigate, helping players make informed decisions without unnecessary friction.
Use wireframes, prototypes, usability testing, and playtests to validate concepts before and during implementation.
Partner with game design to improve onboarding, feature discovery, engagement, and retention through thoughtful UX decisions.
Collaborate with web, community, and publishing stakeholders to create coherent journeys between the game and its connected touchpoints.
Direct the User Interface
Set the UI’s visual direction and quality standards in alignment with the game’s creative vision.
Guide visual hierarchy, layouts, typography, iconography, interaction feedback, and high-fidelity interface designs.
Establish scalable design systems and reusable UI patterns that support consistency, accessibility, and efficient implementation.
Ensure interfaces remain readable, responsive, and intuitive across mobile and desktop screen sizes and supported input methods.
Work closely with Unity engineers and artists to preserve design intent through implementation and QA.
Lead the Discipline and Improve the Live Experience
Lead and mentor UI/UX contributors, providing clear direction, actionable feedback, and effective review practices.
Partner with production to prioritize work, assess scope, identify dependencies, and communicate delivery risks.
Support LiveOps by designing and refining experiences for recurring events, new content, progression updates, and monetization features.
Use player behavior data, usability findings, community feedback, and live-game performance to identify friction and prioritize improvements.
Define clear goals for UX changes and evaluate whether those changes improve the player experience after release.
✅ What You Bring
A substantial track record in senior game UI/UX leadership, with ownership of complex player-facing systems from concept through launch and ongoing live operations.
Proven experience on large-scale, commercially successful mobile games, with an understanding of how interfaces and player journeys evolve as a title grows.
Meaningful post-launch and LiveOps experience, including examples of improvements informed by real player behavior, research, or performance data.
Strong UX expertise in player flows, information architecture, interaction design, onboarding, and usability, alongside the ability to direct high-quality visual UI design.
Experience leading or mentoring UI/UX teams and influencing senior stakeholders across design, art, engineering, and production.
A portfolio or case studies that explain the problems you solved, the reasoning behind your decisions, and the outcomes, not just the finished screens.
Practical experience with Figma or equivalent prototyping and interface design tools.
Experience collaborating with engineers on Unity-based UI implementation, with a clear understanding of real-time development workflows and technical constraints.
Strong prioritization, clear communication, and the ability to turn ambiguous design challenges into a focused, actionable direction.
⭐ Bonus Points
Contributions to five or more shipped, high-performing mobile games. This is a strong indicator of the breadth we’re looking for, not a strict cutoff: the depth of your ownership and the impact of your work matter more than the count.
Experience with hero collectors, mid-core RPGs, or other games with complex collection, progression, and live-service systems.
Experience adapting mobile-first experiences for desktop while maintaining consistency and platform-appropriate interactions.
A record of improving onboarding, usability, engagement, or retention through measurable post-launch iteration.
Experience building a UI/UX discipline, recruiting senior talent, or coordinating external development partners.
Experience incorporating accessibility reviews and usability research into an ongoing development process.
🚀 Why Ironbelly Studios?
The Team: Join a diverse team of developers, designers, and creatives who care about making great games.
The Impact: Shape a major RPG experience from development into live operations, with meaningful influence over how players discover, understand, and enjoy the game.
The Culture: We value trust, autonomy, data-informed decisions, continuous improvement, and high-quality craftsmanship in a collaborative environment.
📍 Location
Hybrid - Montreal - 1–3 days/week at Basecamp in beautiful Montreal.
Alternative working arrangements and relocation support may be discussed for the right candidate.