Created in 2008, DON’T NOD is an independent studio which creates and develop AA games in various genres : adventure (Life is Strange, Tell Me Why, Twin Mirror), action (Remember Me) and RPG (Vampyr). Each new game is an original creation with unique narrative gameplay experience and game mechanics.

In 2020, DON’T NOD expanded internationally by creating its first branch in Montreal.

Why join us?

• You want to be part of the new DON’T NOD Montreal narrative game, led by key members of the team behind Life is Strange, and bring your talent to the project;
• You want to join a diverse and committed team, both in its culture and in the content of the games it creates;
• You're looking for an environment where you'll be able to interact with all the teams in a simple and efficient manner;
• You'd like to put your technical design skills at the service of an original and sensitive experience based on its characters.

What you'll be doing

Reporting to the Montreal studio’s Lead Designer, your role will be to work tightly with the design and the programming teams to define the best workflows, best-practices, tools and implementation pipelines adapted to the project.

Your mission will be to:

• Be in charge of the design content creation workflow, tools and pipelines, guidelines and technical support
• Define the level design scripting standards with best-practices and help popularize them to ensure they are properly applied by others;
• Prototype gameplay features in collaboration with programmers to implement them in the game's flow and overall experience;
• Analyze all the design needs, sometimes reword/adjust them depending on technical constraints and come up with formal and written technical specifications to guarantee a smooth implementation;
• Be the go-to person for any creative problem solving required, always bridging the gap between designers and all other departments;
• Fulfill the role of guardian of the data, by setting processes to organize data and manage their life cycle (migration, cleaning of obsolete/deprecated, etc.);
• Setup unit tests to easily verify potential regression in design toolkit;
• Allocate part of your time to create shippable content and confront the tools with applicable context, while continuing to be a steady support of the design team as your primary goal. As the production progresses, you would probably have more time to participate in content creation.

The must-have skills we're looking for

• 5+ years of experience in the video game industry as a game/level designer or similar position;
• Proven experience with Unreal Engine 4/5 and good knowledge of Blueprint;
• Bringing rationality in the process of creating content is key to the role. Additionally, strong rigor and analytical mindset are primordial, as is a good capability to react to a fast iterating environment and being flexible to change;
• Tech savvy with basic knowledge on programming and/or technical constraints in the video game industry;
• Experience in working through all the design spectrum (game, level and tech design) using visual scripting tools;
• Knowledge of the key components of narrative games such as dialogues, cinematics, VO, environmental storytelling, character development, branching, etc.

What would set you apart?

• A genuine motivation to collaborate within a remote and onsite team environment;
• Solid ability to present, collaborate, and communicate with the different team members;
• An ability to push the boundaries of the role by being autonomous and having a creative approach to problem solving;
• A demonstrated understanding of the game production constraints;
• Experience with Python scripting language would be a bonus.

At DON’T NOD, we celebrate diversity and inclusivity within our games as well as our teams. We commit to equal opportunities and non-discrimination in our hiring process. We are respectful of the principles of equal employment opportunities, and that is why we encourage women, people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, First Nations people, people living with a disability, visible minorities, as well as any other person who can contribute to the diversity of our studio to apply for our positions.

We build close-knit teams to encourage a fulfilling work environment for all our employees.

Our teams enjoy a range of benefits, including flexibility, a generous holiday bank, time off, training and career development support, and a personalized expense account.

Additional perks include:

• The possibility of working anywhere in Quebec;
• Insurance and virtual healthcare coverage as of Day 1;
• Partial refund of transport fees (OPUS, BIXI and parking);
• Access to gym and fitness classes as well as a multi-sports field in summer which turns into an ice rink in winter;
• Referral bonus that goes the extra mile;
• RRSPs with the employer's contribution.