Lead Designer: Full Time

Who are Black Block? 🤔

Black Block is a remote-first gaming studio based in Helsinki, Finland, founded by a veteran team whose members have individually contributed to some of the most iconic franchises in gaming, from Angry Birds to Grand Theft Auto. Now united, they are focused on building The Sprawl—a vast, online, open-world city that leverages technology to enhance player-driven ownership, governance, and economies. This ambitious project empowers players through decentralized mechanisms, offering an immersive experience where players can truly own digital assets, influence the game’s economy, and impact its ongoing development.

Who We Are Looking For 🥰

Black Block is seeking a lead designer to join our team in Helsinki or remotely. We’re looking for a seasoned lead designer to work alongside our senior team, turning our vision into clear structured design that can be clearly communicated across the studio and executed on. Being passionate about the future of gaming, we want them to join us in creating immersive, player-driven experiences that push the boundaries of gaming.

Your role

Help build and drive the creative vision and strategic roadmap, crafting game systems, features and iterative improvements

Work with the production team to allocate design tasks and manage a balanced workload

Transform high-level goals into detailed, actionable granular design specifications, communicating these to the team and stakeholders

You will need

In-depth experience designing core game systems, ideally on AAA PC/console titles

Strong feature design experience

Proficiency in Excel for modeling and balancing game systems

Strong understanding of game project cycles and development methodologies

Passionate about game design, with a focus on delivering an exceptional player experience

Bonus points for experience either building MMO’s, economy design or cross-platform game development

Proficient in English.

What you can expect from us

Career 📈

As you would be joining a small team this is a unique opportunity. You will have space to fulfil your creative ambitions and to grow professionally. This is something that is less common in larger organisations. We know that with every new job there are many things to learn. Black Block is committed to giving employees the space and time to hone their craft OR learn new things entirely. This flexibility is something that we believe in strongly, and see as one of our companies defining characteristics.

Balance ❤️

We are building an online world and so it follows that we do not allow ourselves to be hampered by physical limitations. We have an office in the centre of Helsinki and we have employees that are 100% remote. Since the majority of our work is creative it is important to have flexible working hours so that when inspiration strikes, you are ready to take advantage of it.

Benefits 🎩

We value work-life balance with flexible hours and as such are generous when it comes to holidays and paid time off. We regularly have company parties and get togethers. We offer competitive salaries and other incentives, including an employee stock options program to reward your dedication and contributions to the company’s success.

Even if don’t feel that you quite meet all the requirements above, but the position still excites you, and you think you would love to work for Black Block, we still want to hear from you. Passion, ambition and personality will make up for missing one or two of the requirements above.

Ready To Apply? ✨

In you are interested to join our team at Black Block please email: join-design@blackblock.io and attach your resume, the link to your portfolio and a short explanation of why this role appeals to you. We look forward to hearing from you!

Address: Sofiankatu 4 C, 00170, Helsinki, Finland

Lead Designer