Associate Director of Experience Design, Zynga
Social game developer
Be an early applicant
Social game developer
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
1001+ employees
Company mission
To connect the world through games.
Role
Who you are
- If you’re a dedicated fan of the genre with a track record in mid-core RPG development, we invite you to bring your expertise, leadership, and creativity to our Senior Leadership Team
- Deep experience with mid-core RPG games, with at least 6+ years in game development and 3+ shipped titles
- 2+ years of experience running a live game with a regular release cadence and supporting players’ daily sessions through events and features
- A proven ability to deliver exceptional user experiences in high-quality games
- At least 3 years in a leadership role, mentoring and managing design teams
- Exceptional communication skills, capable of aligning diverse perspectives and building consensus
- Ability to present complex ideas to senior stakeholders and team members
- Expert knowledge of UX design principles and user psychology tailored for fun and engagement
- Strong grasp of UI layout design, graphic design principles, and interface aesthetics
- High proficiency with design and prototyping tools like Figma or Adobe Creative Suite
- Experience working with technical teams to implement user interface assets
- Flexibility to thrive in a fast-paced, iterative development environment
- Commitment to mentoring and sharing knowledge within the company’s design community
- Familiarity with game engines such as Unity or Unreal and experience with mobile-first game design
- Strong understanding of technical constraints and best practices in mobile game development
What the job involves
- Join the Legendary Team Behind Game of Thrones Legends
- At Zynga, we’re crafting unforgettable experiences for millions of players worldwide, and our Game of Thrones Legends team is at the forefront of that vision. Launched in July 2024, this mid-core RPG with Match-Three elements has captivated a growing audience with its innovative gameplay and deep connection to the beloved world of Westeros
- Our team thrives in a fast-paced, energetic environment, constantly delivering new features and elevating the player experience
- At the associate director level, you’ll join a world-class group of professionals who are passionate about creating top-tier games
- You’ll work alongside visionaries across disciplines—Production, Product Management, Game Design, Engineering, Art, Sound, and QA—driving the future of Game of Thrones Legends
- Define and articulate a bold vision for experience design aligned with the game’s objectives
- Drive innovation and ensure the design solutions resonate with our players
- Mentor, develop, and inspire a team of talented Experience Designers
- Foster cross-functional collaboration with discipline leads across design, art, engineering, and production
- Champion the integration of user-centered design principles within the development pipeline
- Oversee the creation of engaging user flows, wireframes, prototypes, and final designs
- Synthesize player needs with business goals to craft compelling, balanced solutions
- Lead efforts to research player behaviors and analyze data to inform design decisions
- Establish and maintain design standards and best practices for the team
- Provide clear direction and constructive feedback to ensure exceptional quality
- Manage workload prioritization and task assignments, ensuring deadlines are met
- Step in to produce high-quality designs, assets, or prototypes during critical milestones
- Support technical implementation by collaborating with engineers and technical artists
- Ready to lead the charge in crafting unforgettable experiences for Game of Thrones Legends? Join Zynga and let your expertise shape the future of gaming. Let’s build legends together
Our take
Zynga is a games developer that rode Facebook's platform to success back in the late noughties and early 2010's. It is now one of the biggest casual game producers globally, with a presence across 175 countries and regions and over 80 million monthly active users.
Though the company hit a number of roadblocks after its initial success - such as falling stock prices, and numerous calls it was copying other games - its subsequent resurgence is proof of its staying power. It continues to use social media as a distribution channel, and boasts titles such as FarmVille, Merge Dragons! and Words With Friends.
Future success will lie in the company's continued investment in building viral games that people love. It will also need to attune to the social media waves and keep track of where users can be found, as the landscape has become more mobile. Notable recent activity includes a collaboration with BBC Earth ahead of 2024's Earth day, and grant to develop actionable push notifications that enable gameplay without entering the application.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Few candidates hear
back within 2 weeks
7% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Mar 2011
$490m
SERIES C
Oct 2010
$6.3m
EARLY VC
Total funding: $865.5m
Company benefits
- COMPENSATION - Performance bonuses, opportunities for equity participation & retirement/pension savings support
- HEALTH - Medical, dental & vision covered for employees, with participation for employees eligible dependents, plus disability and life insurance program
- FAMILY - Generous parental leave for birth parents, partners and adoptive families, plus Infertility support, emergency child care and flexible time-off policies
- WELLNESS - Gym benefits, wellness programs, employee assistance programs and generous time-off policies
- FOOD - Food and snacks made in-house or delivered, healthy snack kitchens with drinks and treats, coffee bars, regular social gatherings and happy hours
- WORK & LIFE - Flexible time-off policies (DTO), office rest areas, gaming spaces, employee discounts and more
- TRANSIT BENEFITS - Shuttle service in select locations, commuter/parking benefits, secure bicycle storage, business travel assistance
- RESOURCE GROUPS - Women at Zynga (WAZ), zCares charitable giving, zParents, zEndurance adventure club, BZU, zPride LGBTQ+ inclusion and belonging
Company HQ
SoMa, San Francisco, CA
Articles
Leadership
Mark Pincus
(Chairman)Previously founder and CEO of Freeloader, Supportsoft and Tribe.net, an early social network
Michael Luxton
(Co-founder)Previously an engineer at NetApp
Salary benchmarks
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