31ST UNION is hiring: Lead Technical UI Designer in San Mateo

Lead Technical UI Designer

We are a diverse team of developers driven by a passion for our art, united by our core values and inspired by a culture of inclusivity to build amazing games that thrill players everywhere. We pursue growth and innovation in an environment of safety and trust. Our culture is built on the belief that the more varied voices in our collective will strengthen our team and our games. We are looking for our next teammate who will raise our bar and make us better.

We're seeking a Lead Technical UI Designer with exceptional technical fluency, creative vision, and leadership potential to own and evolve our in-game UI systems at scale. You'll own and drive the implementation of key UI features, working closely with designers, artists, producers, engineers and more. We're a studio that values autonomy and self-drive in developers who are empowered to do the best work of their careers. If this is you, let's talk!

Responsibilities:

• Champion the design, iteration, and maintenance of various UI systems. This includes dynamic widgets, responsive menus, and high-fidelity animations using Unreal Engine and Blueprint visual scripting at an expert level.
• Establish, document, and promote UI Blueprint architecture best practices and workflows, driving optimization strategies to ensure consistency, scalability, and performance across all UI systems for multiple platforms.
• Evaluate and integrate emerging tools and technologies to enhance UI/UX across gameplay and other interactive elements.
• Translate and improve UX designs into performant in-engine implementations while ensuring seamless integration of UI visuals and behavior with underlying game systems.
• Establish and reinforce UI Material workflows for widgets - creating scalable, clear and performant UI Materials for our widgets.
• Act as the central point of contact across multiple disciplines. Partner closely with UX designers, UI artists, gameplay engineers, backend developers, and audio teams to align UI implementation with gameplay vision and technical feasibility.
• Mentor fellow technical designers and cross-functional collaborators. Contribute to growing the Technical UI function, including involvement in hiring and onboarding as the team scales.

Required Qualifications:

• Extensive experience building, debugging, and optimizing UI systems in UE4 or UE5 using Blueprints and UMG. Familiarity with UI materials, animation systems, and widget architecture is essential.
• Ability to analyze and solve sophisticated technical and design problems while collaborating closely with engineers to contribute to the technical roadmap for UI features.
• Deep understanding of data flow, modularity, and performance in UI systems.
• Demonstrated ability to lead initiatives independently, drive decision-making, and take full ownership of complex UI systems.
• Comfortable working in fast-paced environments and evolving pipelines. Eager to prototype, iterate, and respond constructively to feedback.

Relevant Experience:

• Prior experience shipping high-quality UI in a AAA game environment is highly desirable.
• Solid grasp of scripting and programming fundamentals such as C++ or C#.
• Experience contributing to or leading a UI tech design team.

The pay range for this position in California at the start of employment is expected to be between $160,000 - $187,000 per year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations. Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards and eligibility to participate in our 401(K) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program.