Design Manager

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Design Manager

Company: Madbox

Location: Paris, Ile-de-France, France

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Game Design & Management

Date Posted: April 02, 2026

Experience Level: 5-10 years

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead and mentor a talented team of game designers, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within the Pocket Champs project.

• Drive the strategic vision for game design, collaborating closely with the Game Director to enhance player experience, retention, and monetization.

• Champion design quality and consistency across all game features, ensuring alignment with market trends and player expectations in the competitive free-to-play mobile gaming landscape.

• Optimize design workflows, tools, and processes to maximize team efficiency and creative output.

• Bring market awareness and inspiration from leading F2P titles to inform design decisions and elevate the game's overall appeal.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a critical leadership position within the Pocket Champs game development team. The emphasis on "ownership," "creativity," and "performance" suggests a dynamic, results-oriented environment. The "Design Manager" title, combined with responsibilities like coaching, leading, and strategic partnership, indicates a blend of people management and craft leadership, essential for driving long-term game success in the F2P mobile market.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Champion and uphold the highest standards of design quality and consistency across all aspects of the Pocket Champs game.

• Provide direct coaching, mentorship, and support to a team of designers, facilitating their professional growth and skill development.

• Cultivate a positive and collaborative team culture through effective playtesting, feedback loops, and robust design practices.

• Conduct thorough market analysis to identify emerging trends, competitor strategies, and player engagement opportunities in the F2P mobile gaming sector.

• Identify, evaluate, and implement improvements to design tools, workflows, and processes to enhance team productivity and effectiveness.

• Actively partner with the Game Director to define and execute the long-term strategic vision and roadmap for Pocket Champs.

• Provide continuous, constructive feedback on game features, balance adjustments, and overall player experience to ensure ongoing engagement and satisfaction.

• Contribute to the evolution of casual games by integrating deeper midcore systems where appropriate, balancing accessibility with long-term player investment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a dual focus on people leadership and strategic game direction. The emphasis on "market awareness," "progression systems," "economies," "retention," and "monetization" points to a need for deep understanding of F2P game design principles. The inclusion of "AI" in the context of modern design practices suggests an forward-thinking approach to development tools and methodologies.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is listed, a Bachelor's degree in Game Design, Computer Science, Psychology, or a related field is often preferred for roles of this nature, demonstrating a foundational understanding of design principles and user behavior.

Experience: A minimum of 7+ years of experience in designing free-to-play mobile games, with a proven track record of leadership in a design capacity.

Required Skills:

• 7+ years of experience designing free-to-play mobile games.

• Proven leadership experience as a Lead Designer, Design Manager, or equivalent role.

• Strong command of progression systems, virtual economies, player retention strategies, and monetization mechanics.

• Demonstrated ability to coach and mentor designers, fostering their skill development and confidence.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, crucial for team collaboration and stakeholder management.

• Deep understanding of F2P market dynamics, player psychology, and engagement drivers.

• Passion for building and nurturing a healthy, ambitious, and collaborative design culture.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience managing long-running live service games or successful hybrid-casual titles.

• Strong analytical skills with a demonstrated ability to leverage data for informed design decisions.

• An interest in evolving casual game mechanics towards more complex midcore systems.

• Familiarity with game development tools and engines common in mobile game production.

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience requirement is substantial, emphasizing leadership and a deep specialization in F2P mobile game design. The preferred skills indicate a desire for candidates who can contribute to both live operations and strategic evolution of the game, leaning towards more complex systems.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase a minimum of 7 years of experience in free-to-play mobile game design, with specific examples of leadership in design projects.

• Include detailed case studies on progression systems, economies, retention mechanics, and monetization strategies implemented in previous titles.

• Demonstrate experience in improving design workflows, tools, or team processes, highlighting efficiency gains and impact.

• Present examples of mentorship or coaching provided to junior designers, illustrating your ability to foster talent and improve team capabilities.

Process Documentation:

• Document a successful design process for a key game feature, from concept to live operations, emphasizing iteration and player feedback integration.

• Illustrate your approach to balancing complex game systems (e.g., economy, progression) to ensure player engagement and commercial success.

• Detail how you have used data analytics to inform and validate design decisions in a live game environment.

• Showcase your methodology for fostering a positive and productive design team culture, including collaboration and playtesting practices.

📝 Enhancement Note: While a formal portfolio isn't explicitly mandated, the responsibilities and qualifications strongly imply that candidates will be expected to demonstrate their experience and leadership through case studies and detailed project examples during the interview process. The emphasis is on tangible results and process improvement.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for a Design Manager with 7+ years of experience in mobile gaming, specifically in F2P titles, in a major European city like Paris, the estimated annual salary range is €70,000 - €100,000. This range can vary based on the candidate's specific experience, leadership track record, and negotiation skills.

Benefits:

• Competitive salary and potential for performance-based bonuses.

• Comprehensive health insurance, including medical, dental, and vision coverage.

• Generous paid time off, including vacation days, public holidays, and sick leave.

• Opportunities for professional development, including training, conferences, and workshops.

• Potential for stock options or equity, reflecting the company's growth trajectory.

• Team-building events and social activities to foster a strong company culture.

• Relocation assistance may be available for candidates moving to Paris.

Working Hours: A standard full-time work week is approximately 40 hours, with flexibility offered to accommodate hybrid work arrangements and individual needs, while ensuring project deadlines and team collaboration are met.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary estimation is based on average compensation for similar roles in Paris, France, considering the specified experience level (7+ years) and the tech/gaming industry. Benefits are typical for a company of Madbox's size and industry, aiming to attract and retain top talent.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Mobile Gaming, Technology, Entertainment. Madbox operates in the highly competitive and rapidly evolving mobile gaming market, known for its focus on hyper-casual and then expanding into more engaging F2P titles like Pocket Champs.

Company Size: Madbox is a growing company, likely falling into the 50-250 employee range, suggesting a dynamic environment where individual contributions have a significant impact. This size allows for agility and direct access to leadership.

Founded: Madbox was founded in 2017. Its relatively recent founding indicates a modern, forward-thinking approach to game development and company culture, likely emphasizing innovation and rapid iteration.

Team Structure:

• The design team within Pocket Champs is likely structured with a Game Director at the top, overseeing multiple specialized design leads (e.g., systems, economy, level).

• The Design Manager will report directly to the Game Director and will manage a team of individual contributors, including game designers, UX/UI designers, and potentially technical designers.

Methodology:

• Madbox emphasizes team ownership, creativity, performance, and fun, suggesting a culture that empowers teams to make decisions and take initiative.

• Development likely follows agile methodologies, with frequent iteration cycles, playtesting, and data-driven adjustments.

• The integration of AI in design practices points to an embrace of cutting-edge technologies to enhance creativity and efficiency.

Company Website: https://careers.madbox.io

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture is described as passionate and team-oriented, valuing innovation and pushing boundaries. The "ownership" model suggests a decentralized decision-making process where teams have significant autonomy, which is a key aspect for operations professionals to understand.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a senior leadership position within the game design function. It represents a move from individual contribution or lead roles into a management capacity, focusing on team development, strategic direction, and process optimization for the design discipline.

Reporting Structure: The Design Manager will report to the Game Director, a senior role responsible for the overall vision and success of Pocket Champs. They will, in turn, manage a team of game designers. This structure facilitates direct alignment with high-level game strategy and provides a clear path for team management.

Operations Impact: The Design Manager's impact is critical to the success of Pocket Champs. By ensuring design quality, fostering designer growth, and contributing to strategic vision, they directly influence player engagement, retention rates, monetization performance, and ultimately, the game's commercial success and longevity in the market.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Advancement: Potential to move into higher leadership roles such as Head of Design, Executive Producer, or even a broader GTM (Go-To-Market) operations role within Madbox as the company expands.

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in specific areas like F2P economy design, live operations strategy, or player lifecycle management.

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Opportunity to lead design initiatives across multiple projects or contribute to broader product strategy beyond just game design.

• Mentorship & Training: Develop advanced coaching and team-building skills by nurturing emerging design talent.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role offers a clear path for career progression within game development leadership, moving beyond pure craft to encompass strategic management and team development. The emphasis on "scaling its systems" and "deepening its foundations" for Pocket Champs suggests significant opportunities for impact and growth within a successful live-service game.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Madbox operates a hybrid work model, indicating a blend of in-office collaboration and remote flexibility. The office in Paris likely features modern, collaborative workspaces designed to foster creativity and team interaction.

Office Location(s): The primary office is located at 19 Rue Poissonnière, Paris, 75002. This central Paris location offers excellent accessibility via public transport and is situated in a vibrant area with many amenities.

Workspace Context:

• The office environment is expected to be dynamic and creative, reflecting the gaming industry. This includes open-plan areas for collaboration, meeting rooms for focused discussions, and potentially dedicated spaces for playtesting and design sprints.

• Access to modern technology, design software, and internal development tools will be standard. The company's emphasis on innovation suggests a willingness to adopt new technologies, including AI tools.

• Opportunities for informal interaction with colleagues from various disciplines (engineering, art, marketing) will be frequent, promoting cross-functional understanding and synergy.

Work Schedule: The hybrid work arrangement allows for flexibility. While a standard 40-hour work week is typical for full-time roles, employees can balance in-office days with remote work, provided it aligns with team needs, project milestones, and facilitates effective collaboration. Core working hours may be established to ensure team availability for critical meetings and collaborative sessions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model acknowledges the need for both focused individual work and collaborative team sessions. The Paris location is a significant draw, offering a high quality of life and access to a major European tech hub.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Recruiter Screen: Initial call to assess basic qualifications, cultural fit, and interest in Madbox and the Pocket Champs project.

• Hiring Manager Interview: In-depth discussion with the direct manager (likely the Game Director) to evaluate leadership experience, design philosophy, strategic thinking, and understanding of F2P mechanics.

• Home Assignment: A practical exercise designed to assess design skills, problem-solving abilities, and strategic thinking relevant to the role. This may involve analyzing existing game systems, proposing design improvements, or outlining a development process.

• Team Interview: Meeting with members of the design team and potentially other key stakeholders (e.g., lead engineer, producer) to assess collaboration style, communication, and cultural alignment.

• Leadership Interview: Final interview with senior leadership to discuss overall vision, strategic impact, and long-term career aspirations within Madbox.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-5 of your most impactful projects that best demonstrate your leadership, F2P design expertise, and ability to drive results.

• Focus on Impact: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role and approach, the design solutions implemented, and the quantifiable outcomes (e.g., increased retention by X%, improved monetization by Y%, enhanced player satisfaction).

• Highlight Leadership: Showcase examples of how you mentored designers, improved team processes, or influenced strategic direction. Use specific anecdotes.

• Showcase F2P Expertise: Detail your experience with progression systems, economies, retention loops, and monetization strategies. Explain the rationale behind your design choices.

• Be Prepared to Discuss: Be ready to walk through your portfolio items, answer detailed questions about your decision-making process, and defend your design choices.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: Thoroughly research Pocket Champs, its current mechanics, target audience, and market position. Understand Madbox's culture and values.

• Think Strategically: For design challenges, consider not just the immediate solution but also the long-term implications, scalability, and impact on player experience and business goals.

• Process-Oriented Thinking: Be prepared to discuss your approach to problem-solving, how you would gather information, collaborate with others, and iterate on solutions.

• Data-Informed Approach: While not always explicitly stated, demonstrating an understanding of how data informs design decisions is crucial for F2P roles. Think about key metrics and how you would track success.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is multi-stage, typical for leadership roles, and includes a practical home assignment. The portfolio review is critical and should emphasize tangible results and leadership impact, particularly within the F2P mobile gaming context.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Game Engines: Unity (highly probable for mobile F2P development).

• Design & Prototyping Tools: Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite (for UI/UX design and mockups), potentially specialized tools for level design or system balancing.

• Project Management: Jira, Asana, Trello (for task tracking, workflow management, and agile development).

• Version Control: Git (for code and potentially asset management, though less common for pure design assets).

Analytics & Reporting:

• In-House Analytics Tools: Many game studios develop custom analytics dashboards tailored to their specific games and KPIs.

• Third-Party Analytics Platforms: Firebase Analytics, GameAnalytics, deltaDNA, or similar platforms for tracking player behavior, progression, and monetization.

• Business Intelligence (BI) Tools: Tableau, Power BI, or

Looker (for creating dashboards and visualizing data for deeper insights).

CRM & Automation: While not directly customer-facing in the traditional sense for a Design Manager, understanding how player feedback channels and community management tools (e.g., Discord, forums) feed into design decisions is important. Automation may be relevant for:

• Workflow Automation: Scripting or tools to automate repetitive design tasks or data compilation.

• A/B Testing Platforms: Tools integrated with game engines or analytics platforms to test design variations.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency with Unity is almost a given for mobile game development. The emphasis on data and analytics for F2P success means familiarity with relevant tools is crucial, even if the Design Manager isn't directly building the dashboards. Understanding how to leverage these tools for design decisions is key.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Ownership: Taking responsibility for design outcomes and driving projects to completion with a proactive mindset.

• Creativity: Encouraging innovative ideas, unique solutions, and a willingness to experiment with new design concepts.

• Performance: A strong focus on delivering high-quality results that contribute to the game's success, measured by player engagement, retention, and monetization.

• Fun: Cultivating a positive and enjoyable work environment where passion for games thrives.

• Teamwork: Emphasizing collaboration, mutual support, and shared success across the design team and with other departments.

• Continuous Learning: A commitment to staying updated with industry trends, new technologies (like AI), and best practices in game design.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Expect close collaboration with engineers, artists, producers, marketing, and data analysts. The Design Manager will act as a bridge, translating design vision into actionable plans for other teams and incorporating their feedback.

• Open Feedback Culture: Encouraging constructive criticism and open dialogue during design reviews, playtesting sessions, and team meetings.

• Data-Driven Dialogue: Using data and player feedback as a foundation for discussions and decision-making, fostering objective and informed conversations.

• Empowerment and Autonomy: While strategic direction comes from leadership, the culture likely empowers designers to take ownership of their features and find creative solutions within defined frameworks.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's stated values (ownership, creativity, performance, fun) are central to its operational ethos. A candidate should demonstrate how they embody these values in their leadership and design approach.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Player Needs with Business Goals: Navigating the inherent tension between creating engaging, fun experiences for players and meeting monetization and retention targets in a competitive F2P market.

• Managing Evolving Player Expectations: Keeping pace with rapidly changing player tastes and the increasing sophistication of F2P game mechanics, especially in a live service environment.

• Leading a Diverse Team: Effectively managing and motivating designers with varying skill sets, experience levels, and creative approaches, fostering a cohesive unit.

• Integrating New Technologies: Successfully incorporating emerging tools and methodologies, such as AI, into existing design workflows without disrupting productivity or quality.

• Scaling Live Operations: Ensuring that design systems remain robust and engaging as the game's player base grows and new content is continuously added.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Leadership Training: Developing skills in strategic planning, team building, conflict resolution, and performance management.

• Industry Conferences & Workshops: Attending events like GDC (Game Developers Conference) or relevant mobile gaming summits to gain insights into the latest trends and network with peers.

• Specialized Certifications: Pursuing certifications in areas like game economy design, data analytics for games, or agile project management.

• Mentorship Programs: Participation in formal or informal mentorship programs, either as a mentee to learn from senior leaders or as a mentor to guide junior talent.

• Exposure to Broader GTM Strategy: Gaining a deeper understanding of marketing, user acquisition, and product management roles to inform design decisions from a holistic business perspective.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are inherent to leadership in the live-service F2P mobile gaming space. The growth opportunities are geared towards developing a well-rounded leader who can contribute strategically to Madbox's success.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe your philosophy on leading and mentoring game designers. How do you foster a culture of creativity and high performance?" (Focus on your coaching style, feedback mechanisms, and methods for empowering teams.)

• "Walk us through your process for defining and evolving the long-term vision for a live F2P mobile game. How do you balance player experience with business objectives like retention and monetization?" (Prepare a structured approach, referencing market analysis, data, and player psychology.)

• "How have you used data analytics to inform design decisions in a previous F2P title? Provide a specific example of a design change driven by data and its impact." (Quantify results and explain your analytical process.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about Madbox and the Pocket Champs project specifically? What do you see as its biggest opportunities and challenges?" (Research Madbox's recent performance, game portfolio, and company values.)

• "How do you contribute to building a positive and collaborative team culture? What are your non-negotiables for a healthy design team environment?" (Align your answer with Madbox's stated values of ownership, creativity, performance, and fun.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each portfolio piece, clearly articulate the context, your specific role and contributions, the challenges faced, the design solutions implemented, and the measurable outcomes.

• Quantify Your Impact: Use numbers and metrics whenever possible to demonstrate the success of your designs (e.g., "increased player engagement by 15%," "boosted monetization conversion by 10%").

• Emphasize Leadership: Highlight instances where you mentored designers, improved team processes, or influenced strategic decisions.

• Tailor to the Role: Focus on examples relevant to F2P mobile gaming, progression systems, economies, retention, and monetization.

• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Anticipate detailed questions about your decision-making process, trade-offs you made, and how you would handle similar situations in the future.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparation should focus on demonstrating leadership, strategic thinking, deep F2P expertise, and alignment with Madbox's values. Be ready to discuss specific examples and quantifiable results.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Design Manager position at Madbox:

• Submit your application through the official careers portal link provided.

• Curate Your Resume: Tailor your resume to highlight your 7+ years of F2P mobile game design experience, leadership roles, and specific achievements in progression systems, economies, retention, and monetization. Use keywords from the job description.

• Prepare Your Portfolio: Select 3-5 key projects that best showcase your leadership, F2P design expertise, and impact. Be ready to present these with a clear narrative focusing on outcomes and lessons learned.

• Research Madbox & Pocket Champs: Understand the company's culture, values, and the current state of Pocket Champs. Identify potential opportunities or areas for improvement from a design perspective.

• Practice Your Pitch: Rehearse your answers to common interview questions, focusing on behavioral examples and STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for demonstrating your skills and experience. Be prepared to discuss your leadership philosophy and design approach.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and industry-standard assumptions for a Design Manager role in the F2P mobile gaming sector. All details should be verified directly with Madbox during the interview process.