Lead Designer - RuneScape: Dragonwilds in Cambridge

Office location: Cambridge, UK – This position offers flexible working options, including predominantly remote work. However, applicants should be based (or be willing to relocate) within a comfortable commuting distance of our office to attend onsite as required.

Are you an experienced game design leader who excels with collaboration and enjoys helping external development teams deliver exceptional player experiences?

As a Lead Designer on RuneScape: Dragonwilds, our open‑world survival crafting game currently in early access and being developed in Unreal Engine 5, you'll play a pivotal role in ensuring our co‑development partners deliver gameplay and content that meets the creative vision, quality standards, and player experience expectations of the project.

Working closely with Creative Leadership and Production, you'll act as the bridge between internal direction and external execution, providing clear design leadership, reviewing deliverables, solving development challenges, and helping multiple teams deliver cohesive, player‑focused experiences. This is a highly collaborative role where your ability to communicate, mentor, and influence will be just as important as your design expertise.

What you'll be doing:

• Drive the execution of the RuneScape: Dragonwilds design vision across external development and outsourcing partners.
• Act as the primary design contact for assigned co‑development teams, providing clear direction and ongoing support.
• Translate high‑level creative vision into actionable design guidance that enables partners to deliver high‑quality gameplay and content.
• Review features, gameplay systems, and content, providing constructive, timely feedback that maintains quality and consistency.
• Ensure externally developed work aligns with established design pillars, technical constraints, and player experience goals.
• Collaborate closely with Creative Leadership and Production to maintain consistency across all areas of development.
• Identify risks, blockers, and quality concerns early, working proactively with partners to resolve them.
• Provide hands‑on design support where needed, helping unblock teams through implementation guidance, prototyping, or problem‑solving.
• Facilitate effective communication between internal stakeholders and external development partners.
• Help establish efficient review processes, design workflows, and best practices across co‑development teams.
• Participate in planning sessions, milestone reviews, and feature evaluations to support successful delivery.
• Champion player‑focused design through regular playtesting, feedback analysis, and iterative improvement.
• Support the onboarding of new development partners, helping them understand the project's vision, workflows, and quality expectations.
• Build trusted relationships with external teams, encouraging accountability, collaboration, and shared ownership of outcomes.

What we're looking for:

• Proven experience leading design efforts on shipped PC or console titles.
• Previous experience working with co‑development studios, outsourcing partners, or distributed development teams.
• Strong understanding of gameplay systems, progression, content design, and player experience principles.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Proven ability to influence teams and drive alignment without direct line management responsibility.
• Experience reviewing work across multiple design disciplines and providing clear, actionable feedback.
• Strong problem‑solving skills with the ability to identify risks and unblock development teams.
• Experience creating and maintaining clear design documentation.
• Comfortable balancing creative vision with production realities and technical constraints.
• Strong proficiency with Unreal Engine 5, including hands‑on experience implementing and reviewing gameplay content.
• Working knowledge of Unreal Engine systems including Blueprints, Data Assets, Gameplay Framework, and content authoring workflows.
• Experience debugging gameplay issues and collaborating closely with engineering teams.
• Strong understanding of feature development pipelines, iteration, and content integration.
• Experience working closely with multidisciplinary teams including Engineering, Art, Audio, Narrative, QA, and Production.
• Deep understanding of player psychology, usability, and gameplay pacing.

What we offer:

• Private Healthcare, including Dental Plan.
• Minimum 6% Pension contributions.
• Employee Assistance Programme & onsite Counselling.
• Life Insurance.
• Discretionary annual performance bonus.
• Enhanced family leave policies from day 1.
• Flexible working hours.
• 25 days annual leave + Bank holidays & the option to buy/sell holidays + so much more!

About Jagex:

We are Jagex: The RuneScape Company- home to one of gaming’s most enduring success stories. We create deep, community‑powered games with worlds that evolve, inspire, and endure. Our flagship MMORPG franchise, RuneScape has welcomed over 300 million player accounts, inspiring generations of players across PC and mobile for 25 years.

As we begin our 26th year, we are accelerating our strategy to expand RuneScape into a broader ecosystem of forever games and connected experiences, grounded in a renewed commitment to integrity and fair play. This includes the reduction of monetisation mechanics, as well as the launch of RuneScape: DragonWilds into Steam Early Access in 2025 representing a major step in building a multi‑genre future for the RuneScape universe. We remain focused on building enduring worlds, empowering player‑led innovation, and laying the foundations for the boldest era in RuneScape's history. For more information, visit www.jagex.com.

Headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, We are home to passionate creators, storytellers, engineers, and even a few dreamers, all united by a single mission- to shape the future of online worlds and empower players to make them their own. We're looking for people to join us who share our ambitions & values - We foster an inclusive workplace built on trust, autonomy, and a shared passion for creating experiences which inspire our communities. Our values guide everything we do: We Embrace Fellowship by collaborating and sharing openly. We Hone our Craft by always learning and improving; We Honour our Vows by being honest and transparent; We are our Customers' Heroes by striving to understand our team & player needs, and We Seize The Day by making the most of every opportunity.

Join us. The next era of RuneScape - and the next chapter of Jagex: The RuneScape Company - starts now.

We are committed to providing equal opportunities and creating an environment where everyone can thrive. We welcome applications from all backgrounds, and we recruit, develop, and promote based on merit and ability.

If you require any reasonable adjustments to support you during the recruitment process, please let us know when you're invited to interview.