Contract Senior Level Designer

Mob Entertainment is seeking a Senior Level Designer to craft engaging, innovative levels that integrate gameplay mechanics with narrative for the future of the Poppy Playtime franchise, starting with our upcoming release. You’ll collaborate with directors across disciplines to make sure our levels are tense, well-paced, and deeply atmospheric, true to what makes Poppy Playtime special.

This is a hands-on Senior role, from greyboxing and iterating through polish and final implementation. You’ll help shape structure and vision, mentor designers, and build compelling spaces in Unreal Engine 5 that serve both gameplay and narrative delivery. We’re looking for someone with a strong background in Unreal Engine’s Sequencer and Blueprints, and experience bridging cinematic storytelling with real-time gameplay systems. You’ll combine strong execution, clear communication, and an intuitive grasp of player experience, especially in horror, puzzle, or exploration-based games.

Responsibilities:

• Partner with the Game Director, Design Director, and Art Director to define the experience, goals, and pacing of each level.
• Collaborate on the level design pipeline, ensuring alignment with gameplay mechanics, narrative pacing, and technical constraints.
• Prototype, build, and iterate on levels in Unreal Engine 5, from greybox layouts through final implementation, to deliver on the project’s creative goals.
• Author and iterate on in-level cinematic sequences using Unreal Engine’s Sequencer, including camera work, character and prop animation, audio, lighting, and event tracks, from first pass through final polish.
• Build and maintain gameplay scripting in Blueprints, including triggers, interactions, puzzle logic, encounter flow, and scripted story beats, using clean, readable, and reusable graphs.
• Bridge cinematic storytelling with real-time gameplay systems by designing seamless transitions between player control and cinematic moments, preserving player agency and orientation, and keeping camera, pacing, and tension consistent across both.
• Work cross-discipline with System Designers, Writers, Engineers, and Environment Artists to ensure every element of a level supports the desired experience.
• Balance level aesthetics, readability, and performance, working closely with Environment Art and Tech Design.
• Lead regular playtests and design reviews, gathering feedback and driving iteration to improve the player experience.
• Mentor designers, document best practices for level workflows, Sequencer, and Blueprints, and help raise the team’s creative and technical standards.

Minimum Requirements:

• 8+ years of professional game design experience, with a strong emphasis on level design.
• Proficiency in Unreal Engine 5, with experience using Blueprints for gameplay interaction and scripting.
• Strong background in Unreal Engine’s Sequencer, with shipped examples of in-engine cinematics or scripted story moments.
• Experience bridging cinematic storytelling with real-time gameplay systems, such as moving between player control and cutscenes without breaking immersion.
• A portfolio demonstrating authored or lead level work, ideally in first-person, puzzle, or horror-based games.
• Strong grasp of spatial pacing, gameplay readability, environmental storytelling, and encounter flow.
• Experience collaborating with narrative teams, ensuring levels support and enhance story moments.
• Strong communication and organizational skills; able to clearly define tasks and communicate direction.
• Familiarity with source control (Perforce), task management tools (Jira, Confluence), and level design documentation best practices.

Bonus Points:

• Experience shipping narrative-focused or horror adventure games.
• Familiarity with modular environment workflows and LD/Art pipeline coordination.
• Experience working with procedural elements or systemic game spaces.
• Strong instincts for emotional pacing, building tension, and delivering impactful moments through level layout.

Salary

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Final compensation within the applicable salary range will be determined based on factors such as the applicant’s experience, qualifications, and work location.

San Francisco, CA; New York City, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Seattle, WA; Boston, MA; & Seattle, WA DC Metropolitan Areas: $89,919 - $132,733 USD annually

Tier 2: Austin, TX; Denver, CO; Nashville, TN; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Miami, FL, Portland, OR, Raleigh–Durham, NC, Philadelphia, PA, Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN, Phoenix, AZ, Salt Lake City, UT Metropolitan Areas: $78,190 - $115,420USD annually

All Other U.S. Locations: $66,462 - $98,108 USD annually

Project Hire Benefits:

Mob Entertainment offers the following benefits to all eligible U.S.-based full-time project hires: medical, dental, and vision insurance; paid time off; sick time; holidays.

Fraud Alert:

Beware of job scams: Mob Entertainment does not extend offers via text, social media DM, or without a completed application and interview. Please verify email address which should always originate from @mobentertainment.com.

#LI-Remote