Lead Designer

About us

Coffee Stain Studios is the largest team under the Coffee Stain brand, where our journey began back in 2010. We've recently launched Satisfactory 1.0, after a highly successful Early Access period with over 6 million copies sold.

Micromanaging is not our style, so everyone needs to take responsibility over their own work. We want everyone to feel like they’re contributing to the end product and thrive towards always becoming better at what they do. 

About the Role

As Lead Designer, you'll split your time between hands-on development—working in-engine to implement features, refine content, and resolve issues—and supporting and mentoring the design team to help them grow and succeed.

You will work closely with Leads, Producers, and designers to ensure that the game design is fun, engaging, and aligns with the overall vision of the project. Whether you are designing features, coaching your team, or collaborating with other departments, your work will have a direct impact on the game.

As a Lead Designer, you will

• Lead and inspire a team of designers, providing guidance and support for their creative and professional growth.

• Collaborate with the Game Director to ensure the design aligns with the project’s vision and goals through continuous feedback and quality assurance.

• Engage directly in game design, contributing to the creation and refinement of features, content, and player experiences.

• Collaborate with other departments (art, programming) to ensure a cohesive and engaging game experience.

• Manage the team’s workload and resource planning in collaboration with Producers and other Leads.

• Develop and maintain documentation for design processes and game mechanics.

Key Responsibilities

• Team Leadership and Mentorship: Support your team members by providing feedback, conducting 1-on-1s, and fostering a healthy work environment.

• Creative and Technical Input: Develop and review game mechanics, level design, UI/UX and narrative to create a compelling player experience.

• Quality Assurance: Provide feedback, conduct reviews, and guide the team to ensure the design is playable, balanced, fun, and meets established quality standards.

• Communication and Coordination: Act as a bridge between the design team and other departments, keeping everyone aligned on progress and needs.

• Strategic Support for Workflows and Creativity: Work with the team to refine workflows, improve tools, and use resources effectively to keep things running smoothly and creatively.

We’re looking for someone who has:

• A minimum of 5 years experience in designing for PC and/or console games, including at least 2 years in a Lead Designer or similar leadership role.

• A solid understanding of game design processes, from concept to launch.

• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams.

• A keen eye for detail and a drive for creating memorable gameplay experiences.

• Experience contributing hands-on to projects and delivering high-quality content.

Bonus Points

• Experience working in Unreal Engine.

• Experience working on live games or Early Access models

• Experience with level design, particularly in open-world and non-linear environments.

• Having spent a few hours playing Satisfactory, or experience with similar games and genres.

Practical info 

The position is permanent, full-time, 40 hours per week on-site.

You will spend the majority of your worktime at our office on Hertig Johans gata in Skövde, but it´s okay to work from home from time to time.

At our office we have a casual workplace environment including bicycle parking, our own amazing in-office gym, game and chill-out zones. There are also plenty in-office hangouts and parties. 

You’ll be working with a friendly team that consists of both Swedish and International people. We get plenty of self-development opportunities – tutorials, creative time, participation in various industry conferences and events. 

Our office is constantly supplied with breakfasts, snacks, fruits, tea and coffee to keep your energy up. 

Coffee Stain Studios is part of a family of several studios, creating a network of over a hundred talented game creators. We talk, throw parties, and support each other professionally. We like the combination of being a relatively small team in our studio combined with the gain belonging to a big, warm community, being able to share invaluable knowledge and experiences with our colleagues.

Perks of being a Coffee Stainer

We offer competitive salaries with excellent benefits. We try to follow the Collective Agreement as close as we can, which means payments to your pension fund and insurances. We also believe that a healthy body leads to a healthy mind, so everybody gets time off to work out. In Sweden there is a well-being allowance called Friskvårdsbidrag that covers extra things like gym subscriptions, swimming, massage etc. There is also an option to book massage sessions at the office.  

As an employee you will also have creative time every other week which lets your inner passion blossom. You will also have influence over your own work and taking initiative is encouraged. This goes for the projects we work on as well as life at the office in general.  

On top of all that you get to work with an awesome team in an amazing and very spacious office!

You can take a closer look at some of our fabulous crew on our YouTube channel: Coffee Stain YouTube Channel

We look forward to hearing from you!