Senior Game Designer

Vancouver, BC
Hybrid
Posted Sep 19, 2026
1 position

$80,000–$95,000 / year

Opens an external site

Employment type: Full-time
Experience level: Mid-level · 2+ years
Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree
Posting language: English
Working hours: 40 hours per week
Location requirements: Country, Canada

Job summary

The Senior Game Designer will collaborate with the design team to develop, tune, and document gameplay mechanics while ensuring the creative vision is met. They will also analyze game data to optimize mechanics and work closely with art, programming, and UI/UX teams to deliver high-quality interactive experiences.

Job details

Company Description Smoking Gun Interactive, a Keywords Studio, is an industry-leading game development studio founded in 2007 by award-winning industry veterans. SGI is fearless in creating IP and boldly partners with renowned brands to develop a wide range of world-class, immersive titles and interactive experiences that resonate with strategy gamers worldwide and entertain millions of casual players every day. Job Overview: As a Senior Game Designer with Smoking Gun Interactive (SGI), you’re a talented, passionate individual with industry experience in game design for mobile products. You have hands-on experience designing systems, balancing gameplay mechanics, level design, puzzle design and visual/interactive elements of UI. A strong literacy in game design and the ability to clearly and concisely communicate ideas in both written and verbal forms is key. You can work independently with little supervision and collaborate with other disciplines to deliver a high-quality product. In this role, you will: Collaborate with the Lead Designer and Design Director to deliver on the creative vision for the project; Work closely with the UI/UX Designer, Producer and Client to create best in class experiences; Build strong design documentation to be used as the source of truth for all team members; Help evangelize and communicate the design vision to the team; Work independently to develop, build, tune and document gameplay mechanics to final quality while adhering to the design vision of the product; Track and analyze game data, and create reports with suggested design changes based on gameplay data; Adjust game mechanics designs and tune to balance gameplay mechanics based on gameplay analytics; Collaborate with art and programming disciplines to achieve project goals; Develop all facets of the game design on small games and contribute to all facets on larger teams; Maintain a high proficiency in workflows and pipelines, collaborating to improve tools and methodologies; Maintain a high level of quality in all aspects of their work; Take initiative in creative problem-solving and collaborating as needed to facilitate effective resolutions; Helping liaise between the design team and QA. To be successful in this role, you must have: 3-5 years of experience as a game designer; Experience with at least 2 shipped titles as a game designer on mobile and PC games; Experience designing for UI centric games; Experience tuning of complex gameplay systems; Experience with game analytics and running a live product; Demonstrable expertise in game mechanics design and tuning; Excellent verbal and written communication skills, able to communicate ideas clearly; Ability to accept and provide direction, work well under pressure, and handle multiple tasks; Self-driven, take initiative and work independently without supervision; Experience in understanding the market and target audience for mobile, online & console games; Willingness to push the envelope and innovate within game parameters; Display a positive attitude, and passionate about gaming and striving to improve the quality of games. It would also be helpful if you had: Experience with freemium game mechanics, retention and monetization strategies; Multi-platform development experience (Mobile, PC, Console); Experience working on AAA gaming projects; Basic knowledge of web development (HTML, CSS, Javascript); A bachelor’s degree. 10 days vacation leave 5 paid days personal leave 7 paid sick days Life Insurance & Accidental Death & Dismemberment Dependent Life Insurance Long Term Disability (LTD) Extended Healthcare Benefit Dental Care RRSP matching Hybrid working Training & Development Salary Range: $80,000 - $95,000 CAD Smoking Gun Interactive is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran’s status, age or disability. Keywords Studios is dedicated to following a well-established Equal Opportunities Policy. We endeavor to create a workplace which provides for equal opportunities for all employees and potential employees. PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY By providing your information in this application, you understand that we will collect and process your information in accordance with our Applicant Privacy Notice. For more information, please see our Applicant Privacy Notice at https://www.keywordsstudios.com/en/applicant-privacy-notice. Role Information: EN Studio: Smoking Gun Location: Americas, Canada, Vancouver Area of Work: Game Development Service: Create Employment Type: Full Time Working Pattern: Remote

What you’ll do

Requirements

Candidates must have 3-5 years of experience in game design with at least two shipped titles on mobile or PC platforms. Strong expertise in gameplay tuning, UI-centric design, and the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly are essential for this role.