Lead Game Designer
Job description
About the role
You define the creative course for existing and new games, guiding concepts from idea to launch. You also mentor designers to elevate the entire team's craft and consistency.
Designers shape how products look and feel. Designers create user flows, wireframes, prototypes, and polished visuals. They test ideas with users and iterate on feedback. Design work spans research, interaction design, and visual design. Collaboration with product and engineering happens daily. Design decisions are judged by outcomes such as usability, conversion, and customer satisfaction. Most design teams keep a living design system to keep products consistent.
Key facts
What you'll do
Strategic direction is defined and maintained across live products and new titles to align with studio goals.
Player research and behavioral data shape feature, system, and live ops event design to drive measurable gains in engagement, retention, and monetization.
This sustains a compelling player experience over time.
IP partner guidelines are followed to maintain brand representation across all updates and experiences.
Designers are led, mentored, and developed through design syncs, reviews, and clear performance expectations, supporting career growth and ownership.
Requirements
7+ years of game design experience is required, with a track record of leading or mentoring a design team.
A portfolio of shipped features and titles demonstrates design craft and commercial impact, with preference for social casino or bingo experience.
Hands-on capability across the full development lifecycle is required, including market research, prototyping, development, live ops, post-launch analysis, and LiveOps.
Deep expertise in economy design, balancing, and progression systems is required, along with a strong grasp of mobile UX principles and player journey design.
Analytical fluency with mobile metrics and player behavior is required, including practical A/B test design and interpretation.
Practical experience using AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Copilot is required to accelerate ideation, documentation, balance modeling, and team communication.
Excellent written communication and cross-functional collaboration skills are required to navigate trade-offs and influence senior stakeholders with clear, evidence-backed recommendations.
A genuine passion for games and player empathy is required.
Nice to have
Direct experience in social casino or bingo titles is preferred.
Practical notes
This role is based at our Clipwire Games studio in Toronto.
Comprehensive health, dental, and wellness coverage, parental leave, RRSP matching, and other benefits are offered per company policies.
Typical interview steps
Design interviews usually include a portfolio review, a design exercise, and a team conversation. Candidates present past work and explain their process and decisions. Some loops include a live design challenge. Communication matters as much as the visual output. Portfolios are strongest when they show the problem, the constraints, and the iteration, not just the final screens. Interviewers also watch how you take feedback.
Good to know
The role involves designing and leading mechanics, progression, and live ops events for mobile games.
Common tools include design documentation, balance spreadsheets, and AI assistants for drafting and analysis.
The team uses data to inform design decisions and iterates based on player behavior and test results.
Mentoring and clear written communication are central to success in this role.
Work is structured around live product support, ongoing feature development, and measured experiments.
Career growth
Design careers grow from junior to senior, staff, and principal levels. Some designers move into design management or design operations. Specializations include UX research, interaction design, and brand design. Cross-functional influence grows with seniority. Senior designers are expected to influence product strategy, not just execute visuals. Building a habit of user research strengthens any design career.