Senior Game Designer - The Sims
Welcome to Maxis, home to tinkerers, craftspeople, & storytellers. Our drive is to inspire everyone to make a better world through creative play. As the developer of The Sims, we create games and experiences for millions of people around the world and are always looking for new ways to inspire our players. Maxis is a place where you can do what you love and help others grow while doing it; a place where your unique voice can be heard and seen. We put creativity and inclusivity at the core of our work and don't settle for seeing the world only as it is, but strive to build a world as it could be.
Maxis is looking for an experienced Senior Game Designer who is excited to shape what’s next with The Sims. As a Senior Game Designer on our team, you will partner with Engineers, UX, Artists, Researchers, and Producers as you design and implement a variety of gameplay, features, systems, and content. You will report to a Game Design Director.
Responsibilities:
You will advocate for and maintain the vision of the project set by the Game Design Director.
You will become an expert on the game and our target audience, using data, research, and playtesting to make and advocate for thoughtful design decisions.
You will design and own major features, systems, mechanics, and content.
You will determine player experience goals for owned systems, features, and gameplay and lead concept, implementation, and iteration of those features to meet those goals.
You will find practical and creative solutions that achieve the intended player experience and fit within the project scope.
You will collaborate with all disciplines—including engineers, experience designers, product manager, artists, and quality assurance—to guide projects from initial design to production.
You will become proficient in proprietary game development tools to implement designs, tune features, and fix bugs.
You will establish and advocate for good design patterns and practices that scale with the game and team.
You will partner with Development Directors and Producers to plan work, identify risks, and communicate design changes.
You will mentor other designers, providing feedback and guidance to support their professional growth.
Qualifications:
At least 7 years of professional game design experience on a video game development team.
Proficient at designing mobile or mobile-first features and systems.
Motivated to overcome complex design challenges with practical solutions.
Proficient at communication and collaboration across many disciplines
Proficient at leading large features or game areas.
Experience implementing features and tuning design using scripting, blueprint, or other technical configuration schemes in common editors or proprietary toolsets.
Comfortable with multiple stages of development, from pre-production through live service.
Proficient at writing clear design documentation throughout a project life cycle.
Experience with data-informed design practices, A/B testing, and segmentation.
Bring expertise in shipping live service features that enhance the player experience, respond to player needs, and deliver measurable impact.
Enthusiasm for playing and deconstructing games.
Experience leading or mentoring other designers.
Effective at collaborating with project managers to organise and prioritise work.
Proficient in version control (e.g. Perforce, Git) and online collaboration suites like Atlassian (Confluence, Jira), Slack, Google (Docs, Sheets, and Slides), Miro, and Figma.
Desirable Skills:
Worked on mobile, mobile-first, or AAA HD titles.
Some technical design, scripting, modding, or engineering background.
Experience designing synchronous multiplayer gameplay.
Experience with camera, character, and controls design.
Experience with rapid prototyping.
Experience in Unreal.
Experience designing mobile-first UX.
Experience with games in The Sims franchise or other simulation games, like life sim, builder, business management, or tycoon games.
Experience with expansion content or live service development.
Experience working within Agile development.
Experience with social sandbox games or other games with open-ended player creativity.