Co Op Engineering Jobs in Quebec (NOW HIRING)

[English version, French to follow]

Keywords Studios is a leading provider of technical and creative services to the global gaming industry, with over 13,000 staff across 70+ studios in 26 countries, serving more than 950 clients worldwide.

We partner with many of the industry's leading developers and publishers across the full game development lifecycle-from concept and production through launch and live operations. Within our Create Service Line, world-class studios including Snowed In Studios, High Voltage, Volta, Hardsuit Labs, GameSim, Liquid Development, and Smoking Gun Interactive deliver exceptional art, game development, and audio services across every major genre and platform.

To unify and elevate this capability, we are establishing a lean, highly senior Creative Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Montreal. This marks a strategic shift from traditional co-development support toward end-to-end creative ownership of game vision, systems, and execution strategy across the Americas.

Within this CoE, we are redefining how games are conceived, pitched, and delivered-bringing together world-class studios across Canada, the United States, and Mexico (potentially further reach globally across Keywords Create teams as things progress)under a shared creative vision designed to win new partnerships, elevate execution quality, and shape the future of Keywords' creative offering.

As Principal Design Director - Americas CoE, you are the Systems Master and architect of gameplay excellence across Keywords North America.

You will help shape game experiences from initial concept through production and beyond, defining the gameplay systems, progression frameworks, economies, and player experiences that form the foundation of a project. Whether supporting early-stage pitches, collaborating during development, or advising teams through launch and live operations, you will help ensure design intent remains aligned, scalable, and player-focused throughout the product lifecycle.

Actively translating the creative vision into engaging, scalable, and commercially viable gameplay systems-then partner with studios on execution to bring those systems to life.

From deep systemic RPG economies to accessible co-op loops or live-service retention systems, you define the "fun factor blueprint" that wins pitches and sustains long-term player engagement.

• Partner with the Regional Creative Director to translate product vision into compelling gameplay systems, economies, progression models, and player experiences.
• Design and define scalable gameplay loops, engagement systems, retention frameworks, live-service features, and content strategies.
• Establish design frameworks, principles, and best practices that elevate consistency and quality across projects, genres, and studios.
• Ensure gameplay systems are engaging, balanced, accessible, and aligned with both player expectations and business goals.
• Evaluate and refine systems through player-focused design, hands-on expertise, and data-informed insight.

• Partner with Business Development and creative leadership to concept, document, and pitch innovative gameplay systems to major publishers and partners.
• Translate abstract product vision into clear, structured, and compelling design frameworks for early-stage pitches and proposals.
• Define core mechanics, loops, economies, and progression systems that differentiate new game opportunities.
• Support creation of design documentation, feature breakdowns, and system overviews that clearly communicate gameplay value and feasibility.

• Collaborate with studios across Canada, the United States, and Mexico (potentially further reach globally across Keywords Create teams as things progress) to elevate gameplay design quality and execution.
• Guide and supervise design production across projects in Keywords Create.
• Provide consultative support across gameplay systems, level design, progression, economy design, feature development, and live-service strategy.
• Partner closely with design, engineering, production, and product teams to ensure systems are achievable, scalable, and aligned with project constraints.
• Identify design risks, dependencies, and opportunities early to support stronger production outcomes and decision-making.
• Promote alignment between creative intent and technical execution across distributed teams.

• Drive best practices for retention, progression, monetization, seasonal content, and ongoing player engagement systems.
• Support the design of player-facing systems that balance business performance with meaningful, high-quality gameplay experiences.
• Help studios evolve live games through community feedback, telemetry, and player behavior insights.
• Promote scalable approaches to content delivery, system iteration, and long-term game sustainability.

• Leverage AI-powered tools to accelerate system design, economy simulation, balancing analysis, content planning, and rapid prototyping.
• Use AI-assisted workflows to test gameplay assumptions, evaluate progression models, and explore systemic design solutions before major production investment.
• Champion emerging design methodologies, tools, and technologies that improve efficiency, quality, and player outcomes.
• Stay ahead of evolving player expectations, market trends, and innovations in systems-driven and live-service game design.

• 10+ years of experience in game design, including leadership roles such as Design Director, Game Director, Lead Designer, Principal Designer, or equivalent.
• Proven success designing and shipping commercially successful games across PC & console (mobile and other formats like VR are a plus).
• Deep expertise in gameplay systems, core loops, progression design, economies, level design, retention, engagement, and monetization.
• Strong understanding of both premium and free-to-play design philosophies, player psychology, and live-service ecosystems.
• Demonstrated ability to translate high-level creative vision into structured, scalable, and technically feasible gameplay systems.
• Hands-on experience creating design documentation, feature specs, prototypes, and system frameworks.
• Strong understanding of behavioral design, player psychology, and data-informed decision-making.
• Exceptional communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence multidisciplinary teams without direct management responsibility.
• Experience working across multiple projects, teams, or studios in complex, fast-paced environments.
• Familiarity with modern game engines, production pipelines, and development methodologies.
• Experience leveraging AI tools and workflows for simulation, balancing, prototyping, and design exploration.
• Passion for elevating game design through craft, innovation, and systemic thinking.

This is a hybrid position, however it's currently open to candidates residing in the Greater Montreal Area or willing to relocate to this region. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in Canada.

Salary Range: $185,000-215,000 CAD

Primary working language: English

You will be part of a strategic transformation at Keywords Studios-evolving from co-development execution to true creative leadership across the Americas.

Based in Montreal, you will have:

• The backing of a global industry leader with unmatched scale across the gaming ecosystem
• The agility of a newly formed Creative Centre of Excellence (CoE) designed for speed, focus, and senior-level impact
• The chance to work on a variety of projects
• Direct collaboration with elite North American studios across art, design, engineering, and production
• The opportunity to shape how world-class games are conceived, pitched, and delivered-before they exist and through to execution at scale

Depending on your discipline, your impact will extend across:

• Defining the visual identity of games before production begins
• Architecting gameplay systems that define how games feel, engage, and retain players
• Establishing the creative foundations that guide multidisciplinary teams from pitch through full-cycle development

This is a rare opportunity to shape not just games-but how they are imagined, built, and brought to life.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package that covers Dental Care, Health Care (including out of country coverage), Vision Care, Long Term Disability, Physio, Massage etc.
• Generous leave policies including 4 weeks paid vacation (plus 1 week over the Holiday Season), unlimited sick leave and 2 paid personal days and 1 paid volunteer day. We also provide parental leave top-up and an Employee and Family Assistance Plan that offer 24/7 free and confidential help with your physical and mental health.
• RRSP Matching.
• A dynamic and supportive team environment with a range of experience and an amazing culture

Keywords Studios is dedicated to following a well-established Equal Opportunities Policy. We endeavor to create a workplace which provides for equal opportunities for all employees and potential employees.

PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY

By providing your information in this application, you understand that we will collect and process your information in accordance with our Applicant Privacy Notice. For more information, please see our Applicant Privacy Notice at https://www.keywordsstudios.com/en/applicant-privacy-notice .

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Emplacement : Montreal, QC (hybride/flexible)

Keywords Studios est un fournisseur de services techniques et creatifs de premier ordre pour le secteur mondial du jeu video, regroupant plus de 13 000 travailleurs dans plus de 70 studios etablis dans 26 pays, au service de plus de 950 clients dans le monde.

Nous nous associons a plusieurs des plus grands developpeurs et editeurs tout au long du cycle de developpement de leurs jeux video, des concepts en passant par la production et jusqu'au lancement et aux services en direct. Au sein de notre branche d'activite Creation, des studios de calibre mondial tels que Snowed In Studios, High Voltage, Volta, Hardsuit Labs, GameSim, Liquid Development et Smoking Gun Interactive livrent des services artistiques, audio et de developpement exceptionnels pour tous les genres et plateformes d'importance.

Dans le but d'unifier et de rehausser cette capacite, nous mettons en place un Centre d'excellence creative (CEC) a l'equipe restreinte et tres experimentee a Montreal. Cette initiative marque une rupture strategique avec l'approche de codeveloppement traditionnelle au profit d'une revendication complete de l'aspect creatif de la vision, des systemes et de la strategie d'execution des jeux en Amerique.

Au sein de ce CEC, nous redefinissons la maniere dont les jeux sont imagines, proposes, et realises en rassemblant des studios de calibre mondial du Canada, des Etats-Unis et du Mexique (et potentiellement au-dela en rejoignant d'autres equipes Creation de Keywords au fil du temps) qui partagent une meme vision creative concue pour favoriser de nouveaux partenariats, rehausser la qualite d'execution et faconner l'avenir de l'offre creative de Keywords.

En tant que directeur(-trice) principal(e) de la conception - CEC Amerique, vous serez le maitre ou la maitresse des systemes et le ou la principal(e) architecte de l'excellence en jouabilite de Keywords en Amerique du Nord.

Vous contribuerez a faconner des experiences de jeu, de leur conception initiale a la production et au-dela, en definissant les systemes de jeu, les modeles de progression, l'economie et les experiences de joueur constituant la base de tout projet. Que ce soit en contribuant aux argumentaires de vente initiaux, en collaborant au developpement ou en conseillant des equipes au cours du lancement et des operations en direct, vous contribuerez a garantir que l'intention derriere le design demeure conforme, extensible et axee sur les joueurs tout au long du cycle de vie du produit.

Vous traduirez activement la vision creative en systemes de jeu captivants, extensibles et commercialement viables, pour ensuite travailler de concert avec les studios d'execution pour donner vie a ces systemes.

De l'economie complexe et systemique des jeux de roles aux cycles de jeu accessibles des experiences cooperatives, en passant par les systemes de fidelisation des jeux-services, vous aurez pour tache de definir la  formule fun  qui rend les argumentaires convaincants et qui maintient l'engagement des joueurs sur le long terme.

• Vous associer a la direction creative regionale afin de traduire la vision du produit en systemes de jeu, economies, modeles de progression et experiences de jeu captivantes.
• Concevoir et definir des boucles de jeu extensibles, des systemes d'engagement, des cadres de fidelisation, des fonctionnalites de jeu-service et des strategies de contenu.
• Etablir les cadres, principes et bonnes pratiques de conception favorisant la coherence et la qualite dans l'ensemble des projets, genres et studios.
• Garantir que les systemes de jeu soient engageants, equilibres, accessibles et conformes a la fois aux attentes des joueurs et aux objectifs commerciaux.
• Evaluer et raffiner les systemes par une conception axee sur les joueurs, une expertise pratique et des constats reposant sur les donnees.

• Vous associer au developpement commercial et au leadership creatif pour concevoir, documenter et proposer des systemes de jeu novateurs a des editeurs et partenaires majeurs.
• Traduire une vision abstraite du produit en cadres de conception clairs, structures et convaincants pour les argumentaires et propositions initiaux.
• Definir les mecaniques essentielles, les boucles de jeu, les economies et les systemes de progression permettant aux idees de jeux ...