Gameplay Director
Location: Stockholm, Sweden - ideally but remote with travel considered
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Direct Reports: 3
About the Role
We’re looking for an exceptional Gameplay Director to take ownership of the technical direction of gameplay while remaining deeply hands-on.
This is an 80% hands-on technical role, with approximately 20% focused on leading and mentoring a small team of three developers. You’ll be responsible for designing and building core gameplay architecture, driving technical R&D and solving some of the most technically challenging problems across gameplay, animation and character behaviour.
You’ll be the person who takes ambitious ideas and works out how to actually make them happen, establishing the technical foundations, prototyping new approaches and then guiding the team through implementation.
The role sits at the intersection of gameplay, animation and cinematic realism, with a particular focus on pushing what is possible in Unreal Engine 5.
Responsibilities
- Own the technical direction of gameplay, while remaining approximately 80% hands-on in development
- Design, architect and implement core gameplay systems and features in Unreal Engine 5
- Define and build the technical foundations and architecture for new features
- Lead R&D initiatives, including procedural character AI, naturalistic eye and body movement, animation systems and realistic character behaviour
- Prototype technically challenging concepts and determine how they can be developed into production-ready systems
- Act as a “feature starter” — taking an idea from concept through technical exploration and establishing the foundations for wider implementation
- Solve complex technical problems across gameplay, animation and character systems
- Work closely with animators and artists to bridge the gap between creative intent and technical implementation
- Provide technical direction, mentoring and support to three direct reports
- Review technical approaches and code, maintaining a high standard of engineering quality
- Make architectural decisions with both immediate implementation and future scalability in mind
- Help establish technical standards and development practices across gameplay
- Stay close to the code and remain directly involved in the most technically complex areas of development
Requirements
- Significant professional game development experience, or equivalent demonstrated seniority
- Proven experience at Lead, Principal, Staff, Technical Director or equivalent level
- Deep expertise in Unreal Engine 5
- Exceptional hands-on gameplay programming and systems architecture skills
- Strong understanding of gameplay architecture, animation systems and real-time character behaviour
- AAA studio experience strongly preferred
- Experience with character AI, procedural systems, animation technology or advanced character behaviour is a significant advantage
- Demonstrated ability to take an ambiguous or highly ambitious idea and turn it into a workable technical solution
- Strong architectural thinking and the ability to design systems for future scalability
- Previous experience mentoring or leading developers
- Excellent communication skills and the ability to work effectively across gameplay, animation and art
- Comfortable operating at both strategic and highly technical levels
The Opportunity
This isn't a management-heavy Director role.
You’ll spend the majority of your time building, solving, experimenting and shaping the technology yourself, with leadership of a small team sitting alongside that.
It’s an opportunity for a highly experienced gameplay engineer to have genuine ownership of the technical direction of a product while remaining close to the technology and the work.