Creative Director

$137,600 - $286,200/Yr

Microsoft - Redmond, WA

Full-time - Senior

Remote - Redmond, WA

5,001-10,000 employees

Publishing Industries

About the position

The Halo franchise encompasses games, television series, novels, comics, licensed collectibles, apparel, and more. We are looking for talented new voices to join our team to build the next generation of games and experiences in our award-winning sci-fi universe. Do you want to closely collaborate with teams to drive inspiring, cohesive gameplay experiences? Are you interested in both celebrating and evolving Halo's legacy to create a new generation of stories that millions of players love? If so, we are in search of a Creative Director to develop and advance the creative vision for our future gaming projects. We are looking for a talented Creative Director to help articulate and bring to life our creative vision across the broader studio. Reporting to our Head of Studio, this role will ground our internal and external teams with clear, compelling goals for our gameplay experiences. This includes initial product vision, overall tone and feel, story and world creation, product differentiators, and high-level gameplay experiences. In close partnership with our art, design, and franchise leaders, you will be responsible for developing and communicating how we create and execute memorable worlds, characters, and stories at a high level of quality and fidelity across our games. You will also collaborate with the internal cinematic and audio teams to create a center of excellence for storytelling. Roles at our studio are flexible, and you can work from home up to two days a week in this role. Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

• Own the process of developing games from start to finish, working with Art, Design, and Franchise leadership to develop the settings, characters, themes, and worlds that will bring to life the magic of the Halo universe.
• Collaborate with the creative leads, executive producers, and co-dev partners to develop a shared vision around the core player fantasies and how we will deliver against them.
• Identify areas of opportunity and industry innovation that focus on player needs.
• Develop compelling visual materials for gameplay pillars, creative/brand philosophies, and core gameplay loops that are comprehensive, concise, and inspirational.
• Collaborate with cinematic and audio directors with an eye towards creating memorable worlds, characters, and stories.
• Establish and maintain a regular review cadence with Art, Design, and Franchise leads to align on creative direction and goals.
• Be a consistent source of clarity, positive energy, and inspiration for the studio development teams.

Requirements

• Associate's Degree in Computer Science, Art, Writing, Behavioral Science, Game Design, or related field AND 8+ years experience in game development and design, systems design, content production, or related field OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Art, Writing, Behavioral Science, Data Science, Game Design, or related field AND 6+ years experience in game development and design, systems design, content production, or related field OR equivalent experience.
• Experience shipping at least 2 gaming titles.
• 5+ years people management experience.
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements is required for this role.

Nice-to-haves

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Art, Writing, Behavioral Science, Data Science, Game Design, or related field AND 14+ years' experience in game development and design, systems design, content production, or related field OR equivalent experience.
• Have shipped at least 3 titles released to consumers.
• 7+ years people management experience.
• Shipped multiple, high-quality games as a Creative Director, Design Director, Art Director, or equivalent creative leadership role.
• Superb communication skills with a track record of aligning large teams around a shared product vision.
• Experience working across large design, art, or other creative teams, and deep knowledge of agile production methods.
• Experience working with Unreal Engine tools.

Benefits

• Work from home up to two days a week.
• Health insurance coverage.
• 401k retirement savings plan.
• Paid holidays and vacation time.
• Professional development opportunities.