Narrative Lead in Guildford

Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. Battlefield is a storied franchise renowned for uncompromising combat gameplay and all-out warfare, for over two decades. United under the banner of Battlefield Studios, 4 world-class teams across Criterion, DICE, Motive, and Ripple Effect have come together to focus on the future of the franchise, a connected Battlefield universe filled with immersive experiences built on our unique DNA.

Criterion At Criterion Games, we cherish our rich, award-winning history of crafting quality games with joy and passion. You’ll find us playing, creating, breathing, and talking games. As we look to the future, we’re excited to keep innovating and be part of building the future of Battlefield. We believe that healthy and engaged teams are the key to building great games, so we place enormous value on collaboration, fresh ideas, and diverse perspectives. Criterion is a place where you can unleash your creativity and be part of something extraordinary.

The team at Criterion are seeking an experienced, versatile narrative all-rounder to join the Battlefield team as a Narrative Lead. This is an opportunity to help lead one of our teams, as they set and develop the narrative vision for an exciting part of Battlefield’s future. The candidate should be an experienced writer who loves various forms of interactive narrative and knows the ins and outs of how story is delivered in a AAA production environment.

As a Narrative Lead you are not only capable of delivering high quality scripts and narrative designs, but you can also work to develop, empower and encourage your team to achieve the best of their abilities.

Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with the Creative Director and Senior Narrative Director to deliver the core story and narrative vision.
• Work with narrative discipline leaders to create benchmark pieces that help set the tone, style and format for scripted elements across the game.
• Help to ensure that all narrative content aligns with the franchise pillars.
• Coordinate task management, goal setting and planning for a team of narrative designers and writers.
• Oversee the tasking, report and feedback for contract writers.
• Partner closely with designers and producers to assist in setting the narrative design vision from concepts to integration.
• Act as a point of contact and story champion between the narrative team and other disciplines as well as with external writers.
• Mentor and develop others on the narrative and wider design team in narrative design principles and methodologies.
• Attend offsite narrative meetings, casting sessions, or voice-over (VO) and performance capture sessions as needed.
• Assist in the interviewing and hiring decisions for additional in-house or contract team members.

Qualifications:

• Proven writing experience covering cutscenes, in-game scripts, bios, casting briefs and in-game text.
• A practical understanding and experience of narrative design techniques and approaches of how to make stories playable.
• Shipped multiple projects including AAA projects (or equivalent) with a narrative role.
• 8+ years writing experience in writing (this can include film, television, theatre, comics, books, boardgames etc but must include some videogames experience).
• Experience maintaining voice, style and tone throughout multiple forms of media.
• An understanding of how to break down and convey narrative to teams who are less familiar with them.
• A knowledge of and ability to help develop and refine narrative and cinematic tools.
• Writing/narrative design portfolio that demonstrates your work.
• An interest in videogames, military shooters and military history.
• Practical experience of working with directors on voice, motion and/or performance capture shoots.
• Leadership experience that shows a track to, or includes credits such as lead, director, or equivalent, mentorship roles, other leadership roles.
• Proven ability to provide and take day-to-day guidance and feedback.
• Familiarity working on cross-location development and/or working with remote development teams.

About Electronic Arts: We’re proud to have an extensive portfolio of games and experiences, locations around the world, and opportunities across EA. We value adaptability, resilience, creativity, and curiosity. From leadership that brings out your potential, to creating space for learning and experimenting, we empower you to do great work and pursue opportunities for growth. We adopt a holistic approach to our benefits programs, emphasizing physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support a balanced life. Our packages are tailored to meet local needs and may include healthcare coverage, mental well-being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, complimentary games, and more. We nurture environments where our teams can always bring their best to what they do. Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer.