Associate Game Director, Hearthstone

Pull up a chair and join us by the hearth! Blizzard is looking for an Associate Game Director to join the Hearthstone team. Hearthstone continues to reach millions of players worldwide and delivers as one of Blizzard’s flagship live-service titles. The Hearthstone team values creativity, collaboration, and a commitment to quality, and we are searching for an experienced design leader to add to our team of talented game makers.

As an Associate Game Director, you will partner with Hearthstone’s leadership to shape the future of the game. You will help define and uphold the creative vision, and elevate the player experience across sets and features. We are looking for a strategic design leader who thrives in collaborative environments, mentors creative talent, and holds a high bar for quality while championing the player at every step.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work required to be on-site and some work-from-home. The home studio for this role is Irvine, CA.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Hearthstone leadership team to define and evolve the long-term vision and direction for the live game, including delivering best in class gameplay, supporting a healthy metagame, and driving ongoing improvements to the player experience.
• Drive cross-disciplinary working groups with clear goals, holding implementation of content releases and sophisticated systems accountable to a core vision and quality bar with kindness and candor.
• Champion quality in the delivery of fun and engaging card sets, providing actionable feedback and roadblock removal necessary for the design team to deliver on quality targets and business objectives.
• Develop an understanding of the game’s community to identify common points of friction and opportunities to deliver improvements to the overall player experience.
• Monitor the state of the game, leveraging player feedback and data to help influence direction and prioritization.
• Establish and maintain a creative environment, fostering a culture of experimentation, accountability, and success.
• Cultivate the skills of those working with you, constantly finding opportunities to help them improve their craft.

Minimum Requirements

Experience

• 12+ years of professional game design experience, with at least 4 years in a leadership or managerial role within the gaming industry.
• Demonstrated success in analyzing designs at a project level and delivering high-quality content in a live-service environment.
• Proven ability to lead, grow, and inspire design teams, championing design craft while collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams.

Key Attributes

• Deep understanding of “games as service” and the live-service loop, especially through the lens of free-to-play games.
• Strong project management skills and ability to maintain a strategic vision.
• Being an advocate for simple, intuitive, and future-proof design, confident in speaking up or giving voice to dissenting opinions with clarity and respect.
• Commitment to creating a safe space for collaboration, communication, and creativity across all subject areas and departments.

Extra Points 

Experience

• Previous experience working on a live, open-ended strategy game, particularly trading card games (TCGs) or collectible card games (CCGs).
• Previous professional experience working in AAA game engines, e.g. Unreal, Unity, etc.
• A background in math, content design, economy design, or live ops.
  
  

Key Attributes

• Strong documentation philosophies and strategies to evangelize your designs.
• Familiarity with user experience and user interface design principles.
• Active player of a variety of titles, especially mobile turn-based strategy games and collectible card games.
• Enthusiastic and knowledgeable about Hearthstone

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. ( a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovative worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply. 

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to View email address on click.appcast.io. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $124,400.00 - $230,300.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.