Senior Encounter Designer | Diablo IV | Albany, NY or Irvine, CA

at  Blizzard Entertainment

JOB DESCRIPTION:

We Need You
The minions of Hell are growing stronger…
Join us as we write the next chapter in the Diablo universe! Diablo IV is the next-gen action RPG experience with endless evil to slaughter, countless abilities to master, nightmarish dungeons, and legendary loot. Come work with us, and together we’ll create something amazing. Our team of passionate developers is growing.
We are seeking a Senior Encounter Designer to join our team and lead multi-disciplinary strike teams to bring Diablo IV’s monsters to life. You will have a keen understanding of visual aesthetics and a deep understanding of what makes enemy combat engaging, particularly within the ARPG space. This position offers a unique opportunity to work with a diverse range of teams and make a significant impact on the game’s development.
This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Albany, NY, or Irvine, CA.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• At least 5 years of experience on design teams, specifically in Combat Design, AI Design, or Encounter Design on a multiplayer action game.
• A solid understanding of the role creature mechanics play in a combat model.
• Experience designing boss or enemy encounters in any game.
• Have taken work through the entire development process to ship.
• Creativity and the ability to work in a demanding technical environment.
• Ability to write high-level scripting languages such as Lua or Python.

• Work closely with the Lead Designer to constantly hone a cohesive vision for how players interact with hostile NPCs in Diablo IV.
• Design, collaborate, and script monster behavior/AI to create meaningfully engaging monster and boss content for our players.
• Provide day-to-day support and feedback to the AI Combatant Designers to ensure the quality bar.
• Collaborate with teams such as art, engineering, and audio to create the highest-quality monsters possible.
• Collaborate with the tools team to help prioritize tool requests from the encounter team.
• Adhere to priorities and pillars established by leads.
• Mentor and guide our junior designers, raising the quality of their work and creating a welcoming and open collaborative team dynamic.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills & strong collaboration skills with cross-discipline experts.