Lead Narrative Designer

Position Summary

As Lead Narrative Designer, you will guide a talented team of writers and narrative designers in bringing a cast of vibrant characters and their quests and adventures to life! You will take a strong narrative vision to the next level by creating evocative dialogue, compelling scenarios and objectives, multi-faceted, diverse characters, and time-bending, branching narrative content.

You have the ability and experience to lead and mentor your team, motivating, inspiring, and providing support as they craft narrative content that aligns with the creative vision.

About Us

Our mission is to craft retro-infused JRPGs that awaken cherished childhood memories. Our growing studio is assembling a dream team of talent from across the globe to build the games you’ve always dreamed of growing up. Join us on this epic quest to make fun, narrative-rich games in an inclusive, supportive, and fun studio environment!

You’ll be working on Threads of Time, a 2.5D JRPG inspired by Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy where you get to travel from the pre-historic era to the end of time!

• Become part of a veteran team that has included legendary developers who led iconic titles such as Xenoblade Chronicles, Legend of Mana, and more
• 4 weeks paid vacation (1 week of which is taken in late December)
• Collaborative environment with opportunities to contribute to the game’s creative design and take ownership of features
• Competitive salary and benefits including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
• Opportunities to help you strengthen your skills or learn something new
• A workplace that appreciates and values diversity and inclusivity

Responsibilities

• Oversee and mentor a team of writers and narrative designers, providing leadership and constructive feedback to achieve quality
• Contribute creatively to the writing process, seamlessly integrating narrative elements into gameplay and writing from various voices and perspectives
• Collaborate with the Design Director to ensure alignment between game design and narrative, and with the Art Director on character and world development for a cohesive player experience
• Lead the narrative process from initial plot development to managing localization pipelines
• Ensure dialogue is appropriate for voice acting, and lead the casting and voice recording sessions
• Conceive scenarios, quests, and objectives that are tied to larger story goals
• Write and edit character dialogue, barks, objective text, lore, and other narrative content
• Effectively communicate with engineers to ensure seamless technical implementation of narrative tools and pipelines
• Collaborate closely with production to create a robust narrative production plan and monitor progress effectively to meet project milestones
• Maintain a story bible that includes game dialogue documentation, plot variables, character information, backstory, and cinematic handoff plans

Qualifications

• At least 7 years of professional game writing experience
• A love and understanding of JRPGs
• Experience in creative writing, plot design, and writing dialogue
• Experience managing a team of writers and narrative designers
• An understanding of story structure and its impact on interactive narrative
• Willingness to work under strong direction while maintaining creativity
• Highly organized – the ability to manage multiple story arcs and their relationships with each other
• Strong communication, listening, and interpersonal skills
• Shipped a minimum of 1 video game as a writer, with a preference for projects like RPGs that are highly character and plot-driven

Pluses:

• A resident of Ontario or Quebec, Canada 
• Familiarity with Unreal Engine

Salary: $90,000 - $120,000 CAD

Maybe you think that your experience is not where it should be? Or you don’t meet every requirement listed in this job description? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply for jobs if they don’t think they meet every qualification. But we feel that creating meaningful work means embracing different perspectives, which is why at Riyo Games we are focused on building an equitable, diverse, and inclusive studio. If your experience is not perfectly aligned with every requirement in this job description, but you’re interested in this position, we encourage you to apply anyway. We simply want to know what makes you special!

Riyo Games welcomes and encourages applications from candidates with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in the selection process. If you require disability-related accommodation during the recruitment process, please email contact@riyogames.com. We will consult with all applicants who request disability-related accommodation during the recruitment process to ensure that the accommodation provided takes into account the applicant's individual accessibility needs.

Please note although this is a full-time remote position, applicants must reside in Canada. Thank you, we look forward to hearing from you!