Mid to Senior Game Designer (12-month FTC)
The gaming studio behind: ⚽ Football Manager.
Founded in 1994, Sports Interactive (SI) became a wholly owned subsidiary of SEGA Europe in 2006. Based at the Here East technology hub in Stratford, East London, the SI team continues to expand as we bring our titles to an ever-growing audience across an increasing variety of platforms.
To support our growth, we welcome the opportunity to connect with passionate people with the drive to match our ambitions and initiative to realise your individual potential.
Location: Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, E15 2GW
Contract: Fixed Term contract for 12 months
Position Overview
Sports Interactive are looking for talented Mid/Senior Game Designers to join the studio and work on the Football Manager franchise, with opportunities available on both a permanent and a fixed-term contract basis.
As a Senior Game Designer, you will be responsible for taking ownership of and driving the latest feature designs for Football Manager projects. Typical activities will include features definition, systems, and interfaces; aiming to feed our football simulation with more quality, depth and authenticity.
You will join an ambitious and passionate team who care deeply about delivering an outstanding Football Manager experience for our players. As a Senior member of the team, you will exemplify design excellence and delivery.
The ideal candidate will be a pro‑active, self‑motivated, and creative individual, with outstanding communication skills, solid design methodology, and the ability to drive features from inception to delivery at pace within a cross‑disciplinary team.
Key Responsibilities
Own and design engaging, complex gameplay features and systems from concept to release to deliver the highest quality Football Manager experience
Define feature goals, player experience, constraints, and success criteria in collaboration with design and creative leadership
Collaborate closely with UI/UX and Narrative designers on feature proposals and definition
Produce and maintain high quality documentation and champion upcoming design features with UI/UX Design, Engineering, QA and Communications
Pro‑actively identify design risks and opportunities, proposing solutions and improvements
Contribute to the wider game vision, proposing key ideas and game improvements to creative leadership to help shape the feature roadmap
Assist in developing qualitative design methodologies such as test plans, prototyping, user‑testing, analytics and iterative development
Implement content, tune data and help balance systems directly in Unity when appropriate
Mentor and support less experienced designers through feedback, reviews and knowledge sharing
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Systems‑driven game designer who has an appreciation for complexity, depth, and simulation‑heavy topics
Autonomous and dynamic, able to be a key driver for gameplay quality in a dispersed team
Excellent written and verbal communication skills for effective collaboration with game designers, UX/UI designers, software engineers, artists, animators and producers
Passionate about both football and video game development
Well versed with Game and UX design best practices for PC
Exceptional attention to detail and a methodical approach to design
Good knowledge of Football Manager
Experienced of a full development cycle releasing at least one commercial simulation game, or a project with systems‑heavy focus
Experience within a ‘Senior’ role including mentorship and/or people management would be beneficial
Experience working with modern game development tools and engines such as Unity or similar
Expert‑level with Excel and/or other data‑driven tools
Proficient with Miro, PowerPoint and the Atlassian suite (Confluence, Jira, Jira Product Discovery)
Computer science, game design or other relevant educational background would be beneficial
Benefits of Working at Sports Interactive:
Private Healthcare and Dental Cover.
Contributory Pension Scheme (employer contributions up to 7% of annual salary).
Eligibility to participate in the company’s discretionary bonus scheme.
Access to life assurance and income protection Cover.
Access to Travel Insurance for yourself and your family.
Confidential mental health, therapy and coaching support with subsidised access.
Flexible gym and fitness options via our benefits platform.
Access to on‑site physiotherapy and massage services.
Free onsite evening bar in the Sports Interactive London HQ.
A well‑stocked breakfast bar with cereals, fruit, tea and coffee.
Free access to games released under the SEGA Europe umbrella.
Regular events and experiences in collaboration with our partnered football clubs.
Multiple clubs and societies to join (including book club, art workshops and more).
Personalised football shirt upon passing probation.
Trophies & gift cards for length of service milestones.
Cupcakes sent to you on your birthday.
Equal Opportunity Statement
We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from any relevant candidate irrespective of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion, or belief.
SI is proudly a Disability Confident Committed employer, and we are dedicated to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible. Our studio has disabled access and facilities but please ensure you advise us if you require any other reasonable adjustments to be made to support you during the recruitment process.
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