AVAILABLE POSITIONS Lead UI Designer – Star Wars

At NaturalMotion, we make games that wow people. We innovate to create experiences that previously were impossible and that would not exist without us. We take pride in making titles that reach a large audience and in creating communities that last. For the past six years, NaturalMotion Studios has been named one of the Best Places to Work in the UK games industry by gamesindustry.biz.

We embrace a hybrid work environment. Within this role, you would work 2 days per week (Tuesday and Wednesday) in our London office and the remaining days at home. 

Job Purpose

We are looking for Lead UI Designer to join us in creating Star Wars™: Hunters, a competitive arena combat game for the Nintendo Switch system and mobile devices. Star Wars: Hunters will bring players together to engage in thrilling, team-based, multiplayer battles featuring a diverse array of distinctive new Star Wars characters.

The Lead UI Designer assists Franchise Leads in developing the UI vision of a product(s) and carrying out that vision. This role leads the effort in innovative and ground breaking design solutions to create user-centered design solutions that promote ease of use, employ best-in-class game/interaction design, and optimize the user experience universally in response to user testing.

Manage other UI staff and lead all phases of the design process including conceptual design/development, graphic and interface design, prototypes, and art production.

Work closely with Franchise Stakeholders to establish and maintain the visual integrity, interaction methods, brand standards, and consistency for the game and collaborate with Product Management and Engineering for execution of design.

Key Roles & Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the UX, product and design teams to conceptualize, define, and develop features that yield outstanding experiences for our players
• Synthesize the needs of players and all game departments to find solutions that work for all.
• Create UI design/layouts
• Create high-fidelity mock-ups for pre-visualization during pre-production
• Create UI art and visual design for user interfaces
• Develop mood boards and help guide the visual design of features
• Collaborate with the art team to define/adhere to a thematic art style
• Design (and create) functional animation for user interactions
• Participate in the planning and moderating of user testing
• Conduct market competitor research and deconstructs
• Participate in researching consumer insight, developing personas, and analyzing data
• Conduct heuristic evaluations of internal & external products
• Prepare assets for implementation in the game engine
• Partner with technical artists and engineers to implement user interface game assets in the game engine
• Be responsible for the task management and career development of other UI staff
• Set examples, guides, and standard methodologies in UI for others in your game team
• Lead and participate in company-wide UI community events, critiques, product reviews, and feature retrospectives
• Be responsible for the UI of all features on a specific game team
• Collaborate with UI staff from other game teams to share findings and develop standard methodologies across the organization
• Mentor other UI staff

Applicant’s Proficiencies

• Ability to adapt and work in a fast-paced setting. Be able to rapidly develop new skills and behaviors in response to changing circumstances.
• Ability to prioritize tasks, work efficiency, handle time effectively, and complete your work with minimal oversight.
• Demonstrates proactive self-development with interest in leveling up personal, interpersonal, and craft skills
• Be organized and demonstrate good digital hygiene and adhere to established naming conventions and organizational methodologies.
• Find opportunities to mentor, share your knowledge, insight, and experiences with others.
• Able to present complex ideas to diverse audiences and articulate a convincing point of view
• Highly proficient written and verbal communication skills, including technical writing.
• Ability to co-work and connect with multiple studio locations, teams, and partners
• Able to collaborate with proactive communication and a willingness to build consensus with potentially opposing perspectives.
• A mastery in classic graphic design principles
• An accomplished expert in user interface layout design, hierarchy, color theory, and information architecture
• A veteran in adapting and adhering to an established visual style and building upon it
• Can consistently produce high-quality visual assets for user interfaces
• Highly skilled with standard creative software such as the Adobe Creative Suite
• An accomplished expert with UI layout & design tools (Figma, Sketch, or similar tools)
• Familiarity with collaborative virtual environments (Miro, FigJam)
• Highly competent in designing and authoring functional UI animation
• Highly experienced veteran in traditional game development methods and processes
• Accomplished expert in creating user interfaces for game engines (like Unity or Unreal)
• Highly engaged and experienced in collaborating and partnering with technical team members such as Tech Art and Engineering
• An experienced veteran that fully understands the limitations and best practices of developing games for mobile devices

Software Expertise 

• Figma, Sketch, or other UI design tools
• Axure, Framer, or other interactive prototyping packages a bonus
• Unreal Engine, or similar game engines a bonus

Reports to:

• UX Director

What we offer you:

• Competitive salary and discretionary annual bonus scheme
• Create next-gen games that will be played and loved by millions of players around the world
• Work in a family-oriented, collaborative team that invests in your development and growth on-the-job
• A diverse team of friendly, fun and supportive co-workers
• Flexible working hours & crunch-free working culture
• Communal music and laid-back atmosphere
• Summer/Christmas parties and Happy Hour in the studio each Friday
• 26 days holiday + bank holidays, 2 paid personal days
• 6 months of fully paid maternity/adoption leave or 16 weeks of fully paid paternity leave (eligibility criteria apply)
• Pension plan with a double matching employer contribution (capped at 8%)
• Private medical insurance, dental insurance and healthcare cash plan
• Life insurance, accident insurance and long-term disability insurance
• Company Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) (eligibility criteria apply)
• Fitness Reimbursement plan worth £600 per annum
• Charitable Giving Platform to which the Company contributes a 2:1
• Annual season ticket advance and cycle to work scheme

#LI-Hybrid