Associate Game Designer (Technical) (Contingent)

Naughty Dog is a renowned game development company known for its critically acclaimed titles. They are seeking an Associate Game Designer (Technical) to prototype gameplay using in-house tools and collaborate across departments to bring prototypes into production, ensuring high-quality gameplay experiences. Responsibilities Prototyping, implementing, and owning gameplay scenarios, narrative sequences, interactive objects, and AI behaviors Collaborating with the Design team to conceptualize, prototype, implement, tune, and balance gameplay mechanics and systems Communicating with animation, programming, and art departments to effectively produce the assets and code support required for the areas you’re owning Additional responsibilities may be assigned as needed Skills Ability to work hybrid from our Santa Monica, CA based studio is required Significant programming ability (Computer Science undergraduate degree preferred) Knowledge of 3D math Experience with C++, C#, Lua, or other scripting language Broad understanding of gaming landscape Self-starter with excellent communication and teamwork skills Willingness to take design direction when offered, brainstorm, iterate and come up with fun and creative solutions Experience developing third-person action games Experience with 3D level editors Understanding of narrative principles, and conveying emotion through gameplay Experience with the following areas of design: Behavior Trees, Melee, Combat Systems, Character animation, Enemy & boss design Benefits Medical Dental Vision Company Overview Naughty Dog, a video game developer that produces games on PlayStation systems, including the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter franchises. It was founded in 1986, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, USA, with a workforce of 201-500 employees. Its website is