Blackbird Interactive is looking for an experienced Senior Level Designer to help build and deliver high-quality gameplay spaces for an action RPG focused on fast-paced combat, character progression, exploration, and replayability. This role focuses on designing levels, encounters, and environments that create satisfying combat opportunities, reward exploration, and support a wide variety of player builds and abilities.
You'll work closely with systems design, combat design, art, narrative, audio, and engineering to create spaces that complement the game's core combat systems while providing strong pacing, readability, and a sense of discovery. The role involves collaborating with leadership to align content with the overall creative vision while owning levels end-to-end, from initial layout and blockout through implementation, iteration, and polish. As a senior designer, you'll be expected to independently solve complex level design problems, provide strong design judgment, and help establish a high quality bar for playable content across the game.
Responsibilities
Collaborate with combat, systems, narrative, art, engineering, audio, and production to create levels that support the established creative vision and core gameplay pillars
Own levels end-to-end, including layouts, blockouts, combat spaces, encounters, traversal, exploration, pacing, and player flow
Design engaging combat spaces that support varied enemies, character builds, abilities, positioning, and different approaches to combat
Create rewarding exploration through optional paths, secrets, environmental storytelling, and meaningful rewards while maintaining clear navigation and progression
Script and implement gameplay events, encounters, objectives, triggers, and environmental interactions directly in engine
Test, debug, and iterate on levels using playtest feedback to improve combat flow, difficulty, pacing, readability, and replayability
Requirements
A minimum of 8 years of game development experience, with significant experience designing and implementing levels for action, RPG, or combat focused games
Experience shipping multiple titles, including at least one in a senior or equivalent level design role
Proven ability to independently own complex levels from initial concept and blockout through implementation, iteration, and final polish
Strong understanding of action RPG level design, including combat spaces, encounter pacing, exploration, progression, player guidance, and replayability
Strong hands-on experience with level editing, gameplay scripting, and in-engine implementation, with the ability to prototype, debug, and iterate quickly
Strong design judgment, communication, and collaboration skills, with the ability to balance gameplay quality, creative goals, technical constraints, and production realities
Pluses
Passion for action RPGs centered on combat, character builds, loot, progression, and exploration
Experience designing levels for an isometric or elevated gameplay camera, with an understanding of its impact on combat readability, navigation, and composition
Experience creating replayable content that supports different character builds, abilities, difficulty levels, or repeated playthroughs
Appreciation for systemic combat and how level geometry, enemy composition, hazards, and interactive elements combine to create varied encounters
Experience designing dungeons, interconnected environments, procedural or modular level content, or other repeatable gameplay spaces
Strong instincts for environmental storytelling, gameplay readability, polish, and identifying opportunities to improve the player experience through iteration
Skills Required
- Minimum 8 years of game development experience
- Significant experience designing and implementing levels for action, RPG, or combat-focused games
- Experience shipping multiple titles
- At least one shipped title in a senior or equivalent level design role
- Ability to independently own complex levels from concept and blockout through implementation, iteration, and final polish
- Strong understanding of action RPG level design, including combat spaces, encounter pacing, exploration, progression, player guidance, and replayability
- Hands-on experience with level editing, gameplay scripting, and in-engine implementation
- Ability to prototype, debug, and iterate quickly
- Strong design judgment, communication, and collaboration skills
- Ability to balance gameplay quality, creative goals, technical constraints, and production realities
- Passion for action RPGs centered on combat, character builds, loot, progression, and exploration
- Experience designing levels for an isometric or elevated gameplay camera
- Experience creating replayable content supporting different builds, abilities, difficulty levels, or repeated playthroughs
- Understanding of systemic combat and the interaction of level geometry, enemy composition, hazards, and interactive elements
- Experience designing dungeons, interconnected environments, procedural or modular level content, or repeatable gameplay spaces
- Strong instincts for environmental storytelling, gameplay readability, polish, and player experience improvement through iteration
- Legally eligible to work in Canada and residing within Canada
What We Do
Blackbird Interactive (BBI) is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent studio - behind such games as Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, Hardspace: Shipbreaker, and the upcoming Homeworld 3, Minecraft Legends, and Crossfire: Legion. Founded by Rob Cunningham, Yossarian King, and Aaron Kambeitz in 2010, the award-winning Vancouver studio boast its own internal CG cinematics department, led by the founder of Pixar Canada, and has also been involved in various game-adjacent projects over the years - such as Project Eagle with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and other initiatives with the eatART Foundation and Sanctuary AI.
