--- title: 'Senior Level Designer (5-month contract) at Blackbird Interactive' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-level-designer-5-month-contract-blackbird-interactive-vancouver-pte4yack2w5q' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-07' --- # Senior Level Designer (5-month contract) at Blackbird Interactive - **Company:** Blackbird Interactive - **Location:** Vancouver, Canada - **Compensation:** $115k–$150k - **Employment:** temporary - **Work type:** remote - **Posted:** 2026-08-11 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07 - **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/blackbirdinteractive/9ae1eeba-1c1e-4a35-9f70-8ef176f3b15b ## Job description Blackbird Interactive is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent game studio where the best talent in the industry can find long-term careers to help grow their abilities while working on a wide range of projects, which encompass world-class IPs as well as our own creations across multiple genres. Our studio operates as a remote-first workplace, offering flexible work arrangements. PLEASE NOTE: At this time, we are only able to hire candidates who are legally eligible to work in Canada and reside within Canada. Blackbird Interactive is looking for an experienced Senior Level Designer to help build and deliver high-quality gameplay spaces for a third-person military tactical shooter. This role focuses on designing levels, combat spaces, and environments that promote engaging player interactions, support multiple playstyles, and deliver memorable multiplayer experiences through strong pacing, readability, and spatial design. You'll work closely with game design, art, engineering, and production to create levels that are fun to play, strategically engaging, and visually compelling. The role involves collaborating with leadership to align content with the overall creative vision while owning levels end-to-end, from initial concept and blockout through implementation, iteration, and polish. If you enjoy crafting dynamic combat spaces, encouraging player choice, and creating highly replayable multiplayer experiences, this role could be a great fit. ## Responsibilities - Collaborate with game design, art, engineering, and production to implement the established creative vision while identifying risks, dependencies, or inconsistencies as they arise during development - Design and build levels end-to-end, including layout, combat spaces, traversal, pacing, player flow, and objective placement - Create and implement tactical combat spaces that support flanking, cover usage, squad coordination, sightlines, and multiple approaches to objectives - Script and set up gameplay events, encounters, AI behaviors, triggers, and environmental interactions to support mission functionality and player experience - Test, debug, and iterate on levels regularly, identifying and resolving issues related to navigation, combat balance, player flow, readability, progression, and edge cases - Maintain an understanding of core gameplay systems and AI behaviors, adjusting layouts and encounters to support tactical gameplay and multiple player approaches ## Requirements - A minimum of 8 years of experience contributing to game development, with a strong focus on level design within action, shooter, or combat-focused games - Experience shipping at least one title, ideally within the shooter space, with an understanding of the full content lifecycle from implementation through polish - Hands-on experience with Unreal Engine 5, with confidence using in-engine level editing tools, Blueprint scripting, and gameplay workflows to build, implement, debug, and iterate on gameplay spaces - Comfort working independently on assigned content, with the ability to manage tasks, iterate on feedback, and solve implementation challenges in a dynamic production environment - Strong collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to work closely across design, art, engineering, audio, and production to deliver cohesive gameplay experiences - Strong understanding of combat space design, player navigation, encounter pacing, gameplay readability, and multiplayer level flow Pluses - A passion for military fiction, tactical shooters, and squad-based gameplay - Appreciation for systemic gameplay and how level design supports multiple tactical approaches and emergent combat scenarios - An interest in cinematic mission design, including staging, composition, scripted moments, and environmental storytelling - Care about polish, clarity, and player comprehension, and enjoy iterating on spaces to improve navigation, combat readability, and overall gameplay experience - Curiosity about how level design, AI, and systems intersect to create cohesive, replayable combat experiences rather than isolated encounters ## About Blackbird Interactive ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Blackbird Interactive is an award-winning independent game development studio based in Vancouver, best known for the Homeworld series, Hardspace: Shipbreaker, and collaborations on Minecraft Earth and Minecraft Legends. - **Entity Type**: Private (independent studio, no public funding rounds disclosed) - **Headquarters**: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - **Founded**: 2007 (as a studio; began operations in 2010 per company site) - **Founders**: Rob Cunningham (co-founder of Relic Entertainment) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Video game development (AAA and indie titles, RTS, simulation, action) - **Target customers**: PC and console gamers (B2C); also partners with major publishers (B2B) - **Mission or purpose**: “To create iconic experiences and explore new horizons” through world-class art, design, and technical mastery ## Products & Services - **Homeworld 3**: Direct sequel to the classic RTS franchise; developed for Gearbox Software (PC, 2024) - **Hardspace: Shipbreaker**: Space salvage simulator (early access 2020, full release 2022); IP acquired from Focus Entertainment in 2025; multiple new Hardspace projects in development - **Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak**: RTS spin-off set in the Homeworld universe (2016) - **Earthless**: An original game released via early access in 2024; published by Blackbird Interactive - **Crossfire: Legion**: RTS game set in the Crossfire universe (2022) - **Minecraft Legends / Minecraft Earth**: Co-developed with Mojang Studios (2023, 2019) - **Project Eagle**: Interactive art model of a Mars base in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2018) ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company) - **Key Metric**: Total funding not disclosed; significant revenue from publishing partnerships and game sales - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Gearbox Software, Focus Entertainment, Lyrical Games, Xbox Game Studios, Mojang Studios, NASA JPL - **Growth Signals**: - Acquired the IP of the *Hardspace* franchise (August 2025) - Signed a new title with indie publisher Lyrical Games (2025) - Multiple unannounced projects in development (as of 2025) - Staff count ~150 per company website; previously had 330 at peak ## Competitive Advantages - **Deep RTS heritage**: Founders and many staff are veterans from Relic Entertainment (original Homeworld team) - **IP ownership**: Owns the *Hardspace* franchise and developing original IP (e.g., *Earthless*) - **Technical expertise**: Custom pipelines for Unreal Engine 5, VR, data visualization, and procedural content - **Established partnerships**: Long-term relationship with Gearbox (Homeworld) and Xbox Game Studios (Minecraft franchise) - **Award-winning track record**: Multiple critically acclaimed games with strong fan communities ## Strategic Focus - **Expand original IP**: Invest in the *Hardspace* universe and new original games (e.g., *Earthless*) - **Grow development services**: Partner with major publishers for co-development while building own IP portfolio - **Sustain remote-first culture**: Continued focus on flexible work and employee well-being to attract top talent - **Leverage Unreal Engine 5**: Upcoming projects (including “Original Game”) built on UE5 ## Why Work Here - **Remote-first culture**: Flexible work environment (remote-first policy) - **Generous benefits**: Competitive salary, comprehensive extended health & wellness, paid parental leave top-up, generous vacation and personal leave - **Innovation opportunities**: R&D time, New IP Pitching Program with bonuses for greenlit projects - **Engineering culture**: Emphasis on creative freedom, technical challenges, and a healthy work-life balance (previously trialed a 4-day work week in 2021–2022, implemented across teams) - **Industry veterans**: Work alongside talent from EA, Capcom, The Coalition, Relic; leadership with decades of game development experience - **Open roles (as of search date)**: Design Director, Gameplay AI Software Engineer (UE5), Senior Systems Designer, Technical UI, Intermediate Software Engineer, Lead Software Engineer ## Sources 1. [Blackbird Interactive – Official Website](https://www.blackbirdinteractive.com/) 2. [Blackbird Interactive – Careers Page](https://blackbirdinteractive.com/careers-2/) 3. [Blackbird Interactive – Job Listings (Lever)](https://jobs.lever.co/blackbirdinteractive) 4. [Blackbird Interactive – Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackbird_Interactive) 5. 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