Brace Yourself Games is expanding. The creators of Cadence of Hyrule, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Phantom Brigade, and Industries of Titan are now hiring a Game Design Director!
Duties will include:
Managing our team of talented game designers and game directors
Regularly playing and providing feedback on the latest versions of all of our in-development games
Serving as a sounding board and brainstorm partner for our game directors
Mentoring game designers and others at BYG who are interested in learning more about game design
Being responsible for developing and maintaining BYG's game design processes
Being responsible for the overall design quality of BYG's games
Qualifications
At least 8 years of professional game design experience
At least 3 shipped games as a game designer or lead designer
Previous experience managing a team of designers, or other leadership experience
The ability to articulate fuzzy game design concepts in an understandable and actionable way
The ability to deconstruct the design of other games and to explain how and why those components produce the results that they do
Excitement for building inclusive games for diverse audiences
Experience fostering a collaborative and inclusive work environment
Patience, humility, a growth mindset, and an eagerness to help others grow
Detail oriented, responsive, and extremely reliable
Excellent communication skills (written & verbal)
Willing to relocate to Vancouver, Canada. (We will sponsor a visa for the right candidate.)
Experience with game design in a variety of genres is a plus!
Benefits
The key to our success is our people and keeping our people happy. Brace Yourself Games offers its employees a wide variety of employment benefits and other perks. The company provides:
Healthcare Comprehensive benefits package and lifestyle spending account for employees and their immediate families; Monthly counseling sessions through a local counselling clinic, or reimbursement for those who desire to obtain their own counsellor
Profit Sharing Company-wide profit sharing plan; All employees are part of the Employee Equity Trust and own a portion of the company
Paid Time Off Generous paid time off and holiday schedule, including a paid holiday break between December 25 and January 1st; Unlimited sick days because you shouldn’t feel the need to come in to the office if you’re not feeling well!
Optional Work From Home Days The option to work from home on Mondays and Fridays. Note: we currently have the option to work from home every day during this time
Free Choice Fridays The option to use Fridays for projects outside the usual scope of work, with the goal of allowing employees to explore areas of personal interest that also align with the company’s interests. Examples of things that clearly qualify: prototyping new games, learning new skills, taking courses, doing R&D, creating company tools, etc.
Events and Travel Paid travel, hotel, tickets, and time off to enable employees to attend the Game Developers Conference; Paid and salaried travel for employees working a BYG booth, giving talks representing BYG, or attending a (management approved) industry convention; Get paid to go to PAX West as a visitor and our pre-PAX party! You do not have to use vacation days to go, and the company will provide one night of hotel and a pass; Paid taxis for employees and their spouses, as well as babysitting, if applicable, for staff parties and other Company events
Parental Benefits In addition to maternity and parental leave benefits provided by the BC Employment Standards Act, Brace Yourself Games is proud to offer additional benefits for new parents who are permanent employees.
Relocation Assistance Reimbursement for moving costs if the employee has to “uproot” to work at BYG ; Paid legal assistance for all visa, permanent residence, and citizenship matters for employees and their immediate families if applicable
Office Perks Paid weekly “Lunch Team” lunches, as well as catered in-office lunches when new employees join the Company, and other team and Company-wide dinners; Occasional complimentary merchandise and other small gifts; Regularly stocked snacks and drinks in the lunch area; Work space accommodations for in office and work from home setups; Reimbursement for video game purchases that are relevant to an employee’s current project(s)
Additional Information
Brace Yourself Games is located in downtown Vancouver, Canada, and this position is local. This is a permanent full time paid position. Rate of pay is above industry standard and includes a profit sharing plan and an outstanding benefits package.
We develop games because games make us happy. If we’re not having fun doing it, what’s the point? No one at BYG is required to work more than 40 hours per week. We maintain an inclusive, supportive, fun company culture. We’re looking for the candidate who will make BYG an even better place to work!
We will respond to successful applicants with an offer to interview. Thanks very much! We look forward to hearing from you.
About Us
Brace Yourself Games was founded by veteran indie developer Ryan Clark in 2013. It’s only appropriate that our Vancouver-based independent game studio was named for a programmer pun that could only come from his shiny, bald head: {YOURSELF}
At Brace Yourself Games, we take pride in being the “indie katamari”, “rolling up” some of the best talent in the industry. From our first game, Crypt of the NecroDancer, which was released in 2015, we’ve relied on our incredibly skilled team to make the magic happen. Since then, we’ve expanded our repertoire to include Cadence of Hyrule, Industries of Titan, and Phantom Brigade – games with distinctive styles and designs, but developed with the same philosophy and heart.
Our goal is to make standout games. We try new things, hold ourselves to a high standard, and make improvements when we make mistakes. What’s important is that you can always count on us to deliver in the end.