AVAILABLE POSITIONS UI Designer – Star Wars

We are BossAlien, an award-winning developer of mobile games based in Brighton, UK and part of the NaturalMotion family of game studios. Our mission is to bring AAA console visuals and deep compelling game experiences to mobile platforms, and we’re fortunate to have been named one of the Best Places to Work in the UK games industry by gamesindustry.biz for five years running. We are very proud to be a winner alongside our industry colleagues and strive to constantly improve the working culture for our staff.

Job Purpose

NaturalMotion seeks a UI Designer to join a small and talented UI team, dedicated to creating, developing and implementing smooth and friction free experiences in our games

As a UI Designer you will work alongside the art, design and tech teams on the project to develop, implement and improve the interface for an upcoming IP launch. You will have the opportunity to develop your expertise and learn new skills from a highly experienced and multi-discipline team.

Eager to learn, you will be able to contribute strategies and ideas to optimise workflow & performance. You’ll work alongside other designers, engineers, and product management to integrate new features in to a live product whilst staying true to the culture and values of NaturalMotion.

Under the leadership of the UI team you’ll develop your skills and grow the game to achieve best in class interfaces across multiple resolutions, aspect ratios and platforms.

Key Roles & Responsibilities

The UI Designer works closely with the Senior UI members and the design team to create and develop interfaces in line with the creative vision of the project within the technical limitations of the engine.

Ensures that all planning of work is effective, clearly communicated and realistic in its ambition and production dependencies.

Alongside the other members of the UI team the UI Designer delivers interface elements from both a creative and technical standpoint.  The UI Designer will contribute to all stages of the development of interface – from early whitebox prototypes, through to working with engineers to establish final visuals & proper documentation implemented in the engine.

Works directly with feature teams to provide the required high fidelity assets along with clean and efficient implementation work directly in the game engine, being careful to stick to budgets and platform constraints – delivering the best possible experience in a live title is paramount to all decisions made.

PRESENTATION and COMMUNICATION

The UI Designer works well within multi discipline teams and take time to fully understand the components of each body of work and asks questions accordingly. Makes sure that communication remains open, frequent and accessible to all members of the team.

Is open and willing in taking feedback from multiple stakeholders, collaborating with the Senior members of the team to distil the important actionable items to take forwards.

REQUIRED SKILLS
A portfolio showcasing a solid understanding of layout, typography, colour and composition.
Core logo and iconography skills and understanding of design fundamentals.
Experience in implementing UI into Unreal Engine.
Experience in Photoshop, creating UI screens all the way to finished mock-ups.
Experience in Illustrator vector creation to create game-ready iconography.
Experience in creating animated prototypes of intended visual effects and UI transitional effects/wipes/etc in After Effects or like software.

Nice to Have:
Ability to create Animations within Unreal Engine
Basic knowledge and understanding of UX design practices & principles
Understanding of cross-platform considerations for UI/UX

EMOTIONAL QUOTIENT
The UI Designer provides well reasoned decision making within their craft and maintains a clear focus in developing interfaces. Decisions are made from an informed and logical position with a focus on achieving the highest possible quality results.

DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES

Creative

• Develop player facing interfaces from concept through to completion.
• Iterate interface in line with the game art direction.
• Provide feedback on in-development layouts and visuals
• Animate graphics to enhance the player experience.
• Problem solve visual language requirements in line with game style.
• Understand UX issues and work to resolve friction points in the game flow in collaboration with the UX team

Technical

• Work alongside engineers integrate interface elements directly within the game engine to a detailed specification.
• Create detail handover specs and documentation to engineering team
• Work within platform constraints and optimise performance of the UI systems.

(Having basic Unreal and Ngui experience would be advantageous for this role).

Production & Management

• Communicate progress and highlight issues to ensure smooth feature development.
• Document and present ideas and concepts.

Reports to:

• UX Director

• 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

We are an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to building a diverse and talented workforce. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, medical condition, disability, or any other class or characteristic protected by applicable law. We welcome job-seekers, players, employees, and partners from all backgrounds to join us!

We will consider all qualified job-seekers with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with physical or mental disabilities in order to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.  Please contact us at accommodationRequest@zynga.com to request an accommodation associated with your application for an open position.

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