UserWise
Creative Director / Lead Game Designer (Mobile F2P - Licensed IP)
UserWisePortugal13 hours ago
Full-timeRemote FriendlyDesign
Type: Full time - Remote

Location: Remote - open to all EU locations

The Opportunity

UserWise is developing a new mobile game based on a globally recognized entertainment IP, blending proven F2P systems with fast, rewarding hybrid-casual gameplay.

We're looking for a Creative Director / Lead Game Designer to own the creative vision, game feel, and design quality of the project. This role is the creative authority for the project - responsible for defining the player experience, setting the quality bar, and ensuring that every interaction feels rewarding, intuitive, and cohesive.

This is a hands-on leadership role in a lean team environment. You will actively design, prototype, and iterate alongside engineers and artists, bridging mass-market accessibility with long-term retention, and shaping the soul of the game from early prototypes through launch.

Role Focus

This role is accountable for:

  • Design vision & creative direction
  • Quality bar across all gameplay and systems
  • Clarity, cohesion, and emotional impact of the player experience

As the design team grows, this role acts as the final design decision-maker, while delegating execution to systems and feature designers.

What You'll Do

Vision & Experience Ownership

  • Define and own the overall creative vision, experience pillars, and player fantasy
  • Act as the guardian of the core loop and game feel, ensuring interactions, feedback, pacing, and rewards feel tactile, satisfying, and premium
  • Establish and uphold the design quality bar across gameplay, progression, monetization touchpoints, and LiveOps
  • Make final calls on major design trade‑offs to preserve clarity, cohesion, and emotional impact.

Core Gameplay, Retention & Systems Direction

  • Shape the core loop, session structure, and high‑level progression strategy
  • Architect the game's retention strategy, designing emotional highs/lows and session flows that support long‑term engagement
  • Guide the direction of economy, rewards, streaks, and monetization systems to serve core fun rather than overwhelm it
  • Ensure trivia gameplay, meta systems, and social mechanics work together holistically

Team Leadership & Collaboration

  • Serve as the creative and design lead while remaining deeply hands-on in day-to-day development
  • Guide and mentor other designers (systems, economy, feature/content) while continuing to contribute directly to game design
  • Partner closely with the Lead Producer on scope, priorities, and milestone planning
  • Collaborate daily with the Technical Director to align design intent with technical execution
  • Work with Art and UI/UX leadership to ensure design, visuals, and UX reinforce the same vision

Hands-On Design & Prototyping

  • Actively design, prototype, and iterate on core gameplay, flows, and experience moments - this is a hands-on role, not a review-only position
  • Lead and participate in rapid prototyping to validate fun, clarity, pacing, and player delight
  • Personally own the design of key features or experience pillars, especially during early and mid-production
  • Review and iterate on designs from other designers, providing clear, actionable feedback
  • Deconstruct competitor experiences to inform polish, pacing, and player motivation

Requirements

What We're Looking For

  • 8-10+ years of professional game design experience, including leadership responsibility
  • Proven experience owning design vision, game feel, and quality on a shipped mobile F2P title
  • Strong background in casual or hybrid‑casual games with an emphasis on progression and retention
  • Demonstrated mastery of player motivation, feedback loops, pacing, and polish
  • Experience improving or owning retention metrics (D1/D7/D30+) on live products
  • Comfortable working hands‑on with prototypes and collaborating deeply with engineering and art
  • Excellent communication and decision‑making skills
  • Fluent in English; effective in a remote, international team

Nice to Have

  • Experience working on licensed IP
  • Experience guiding a design team across MVP → soft launch → live
  • Familiarity with LiveOps, events, and post-launch iteration
  • Hands-on experience with Unity or other game engines
  • Familiarity with AI-assisted development or gameplay systems, such as content generation, tuning automation, or adaptive difficulty

Benefits

Why Join UserWise

  • Own the creative vision of a new mobile game from concept to global launch
  • Work with a veteran-led team in a lean, high-ownership environment
  • High visibility and direct impact on a flagship project
  • Opportunity to build and shape a growing design team
  • Work on a globally recognized IP with real brand reach and growth potential
  • 100% remote, flexible work with a small, passionate, execution-focused team

Key Skills

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