About the role
Studio Overview
Sports Interactive is the studio behind Football Manager. Founded in 1994, the studio became a wholly owned subsidiary of SEGA Europe in 2006. Located at the Here East technology hub in Stratford, East London, the team continues to expand its titles across an increasing variety of platforms.
Job Details
- Role: Senior Game Designer
- Team: Design
- Reporting to: Lead Game Designer
- Working Model: Hybrid (2-3 days in studio)
- Location: Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, E15 2GW
Position Overview
Sports Interactive is looking for a talented Senior Game Designer to join the studio and work on the Football Manager franchise. The role involves taking ownership of and driving the latest feature designs for projects, coordinating with stakeholders to ensure quality throughout development. Typical activities include defining features, systems, and interfaces to provide more quality, depth, and authenticity to the football simulation. The ideal candidate is a pro-active, self-motivated, and creative individual who exemplifies design excellence.
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 Production, Engineering, QA, and Communications teams.
- 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.
- Collaborate with design leadership in defining and delivering qualitative design methodologies such as test plans, prototyping, user-testing, analytics, and iterative development.
- Implement content, define tooling requirements, tune data, and help balance systems directly in Unity when required.
- Mentor and support less experienced designers through feedback, reviews, and knowledge sharing.
- Evaluate released features using player feedback, telemetry, and internal reviews to identify opportunities for future improvements.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
- Systems-driven game designer with an appreciation for complexity, depth, and simulation-heavy topics, with a strong understanding of balance, progression, and emergent gameplay.
- Autonomous and proactive, capable of driving feature quality and alignment across distributed cross-disciplinary teams.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills for effective collaboration with Designers, Software Engineers, Artists, Animators, QA, and Producers.
- Comfortable interpreting quantitative data and player feedback to inform design decisions.
- Passionate about both football and video game development, with good knowledge of Football Manager.
- Strong understanding of game design and UX principles for PC-first experiences.
- Exceptional attention to detail and a methodical approach to design.
- Experience shipping at least one commercial title through a full development cycle, ideally within simulation or systems-heavy genres.
- Experience within a Senior role including mentorship and/or people management is beneficial.
- Experience working with modern game development tools and engines such as Unity or similar.
- Advanced proficiency with Excel and other data-driven analysis and balancing tools.
- Proficient with Miro, PowerPoint, and the Atlassian suite (Confluence, Jira, Jira Product Discovery).
- Computer science, game design, or other relevant educational background is beneficial.
Benefits of Working at Sports Interactive
- Private Healthcare and Dental Plans.
- A range of Gym Membership options through benefits partners.
- Travel Insurance for yourself and your family.
- Subsidised mental health, therapy, and coaching sessions.
- Access to on-site physical and massage therapist services.
- Free access to games released under the SEGA Europe umbrella.
- Contributory Pension Scheme (up to 7% of annual salary).
- Regular events in collaboration with partnered football clubs.
- Free onsite evening bar in the London HQ.
- Well-stocked breakfast bar with cereals, fruits, teas, and coffees.
- Access to multiple clubs and societies (e.g., book club, art workshops).
- Personalised club shirt upon passing probation.
- Trophies and gift cards for length of service milestones.
- Cupcakes delivered on your birthday.
- Competitive salaries and a bonus scheme.
- Flexible working hours.
Studio Culture & Values
The studio operates on the principle that while talent wins games, teamwork wins titles. They are a London Living Wage employer with one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the industry. The studio is an equal opportunities employer and a Disability Confident Committed employer.
- Keep collaborating: Teamwork wins titles; ideas belong to everyone across all departments.
- Be flexible: Thinking fast and adapting to the ever-changing football and entertainment worlds.
- Stay Tenacious: Focusing on the details to produce the best possible game; never settle.
- Show Ambition: Letting individual drive lead the way and making the studio’s purpose personal.
- Bring the Passion: Making the players' passion come to life.
- Consider the Bigger Picture: Maintaining perspective and ensuring a positive impact through work/life balance and community initiatives.
Additional Perks
- Lunchtime gaming sessions in the games lounge and Club SEGA.
- Gaming tournaments and free SEGA games on Steam.
- Ride to work scheme, workout area, and bootcamps.
- Weekly yoga classes.
- Regular lunch and learn sessions, company updates at venues in Central London, and events.