Technical Designer in Royal Leamington Spa

Based in the heart of Leamington Spa, Pixel Toys have spent over a decade pushing the capabilities of mobile gaming. We have developed multiple award-winning titles and we’re now excited to be exclusively working on a new game, unlike anything we’ve done previously!

As a forward-thinking and innovative studio, we are always looking for new technologies and techniques to develop and use in our games and make them even more engaging experiences for our customers. We are excited to continue to grow our team and are always on the lookout for highly talented and motivated individuals who are passionate about gaming and excited to join us on our ambitious journey!

The Role:

Pixel Toys is now seeking a Technical Designer to join our dedicated core development team on a 6-month Fixed Term Contract (with strong potential for a permanent transition). Join us and act as the crucial bridge connecting our Animation, Narrative, and Design teams, ensuring that our ambitious, cutscene-based experiences play back flawlessly and engage our players effectively.

This position is an excellent fit whether you are a recent design graduate with a passion for visual storytelling and technical execution, or an experienced technical implementer eager for a new challenge within a dynamic studio environment, offering the unique opportunity to work directly on a high-profile game.

In this exciting role, you will not be confined to a single desk function; instead, you will be heavily involved in planning features, attending motion capture shoots, and meticulously polishing the final "feel" of the game.

The core of your responsibilities will involve direct implementation within the Unity Engine, leveraging our proprietary custom timeline and playback tools to assemble and refine the complete game experience. You will be responsible for assembling and refining all cutscene-based content using our internal tools, ensuring that the correct animations and narrative beats play at the precise time to powerfully convey the story.

You will also collaborate closely with the gameplay and animation teams on feature planning and motion capture (Mocap), helping to define detailed animation requirements, creating comprehensive shoot lists, and attending motion capture shoots to ensure we capture the precise data necessary for flawless gameplay integration.

Working in partnership with our UX and Technical Art departments, you will be instrumental in pushing the visual fidelity and polish of the game, implementing new visual flairs and polish elements that align perfectly with the high standards of the IP.

Join us at Pixel Toys and play a crucial role by providing critical and insightful feedback on the game balance, the "fun factor", player engagement, as well as pointing out potential general improvements to the overall player experience!

About you:

You are a technical problem solver with the "Director's Eye" that we need. Joining us with experience using complex tools and with flawless rhythm and timing, you will operate with confidence inside the Unity Engine, mastering the Project hierarchy, Inspector, and asset management like a pro.

Crucially, you possess a true "Cinematic Eye", with a grasp of pacing, timing, and continuity, with a power for spotting a jerky animation hook-up or a sound effect that’s a few frames off!

With your robust technical aptitude, you will rapidly master our proprietary software, never shying away from complex interfaces or the challenge of investigating why a critical sequence won’t trigger. Your foundation comes from a degree in Game Design, Development, or an equivalent top-tier portfolio paired with industry experience.

You will be a highly collaborative and organised communicator, working smoothly across Art, UX, and Design teams, and confident in your ability to run point on-set during crucial motion capture shoots.

You live and breathe narrative, possessing a genuine passion for interactive storytelling, cinematic action games, or interactive movies. Most of all, you have a solid history of execution, having successfully taken a major project (Game, Film, or Animation) from initial concept all the way through to completion.

What can Pixel Toys offer?

At Pixel Toys we are proud of the progressive, inclusive, and collaborative working environment we have created; a place where everyone has the opportunity to be themselves and is welcomed and valued for who they are and what they contribute. We have some fantastic benefits we offer our employees:

• Competitive salary, reviewed annually
• 25 days annual leave, excluding bank holidays
• Discretionary Bonus Scheme
• Up to 3 additional long service days (duvet days!)
• Private Medical Insurance (including optical and dental)
• Company Pension scheme
• Death in Service benefit
• Regular socials including epic summer and Christmas parties!
• Staff training and development
• Quarterly Wellness days (On-site massages and more)
• Flexi-time working hours

Here at Pixel Toys we strive to provide an inclusive environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work and join in driving our joint success. Recruitment selection is based on skills, experience and a good Pixel Toys mission and values fit.