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Lead Sound Designer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

The Lead Sound Designer acts as the primary sound design point of contact for the project, ensuring audio goals, scope, priorities, quality standards, and needs are communicated and delivered. The ...

Lead Sound Engineer

Minneapolis, MN ยท On-site

$31.63/hr

The Lead Sound Engineer is also responsible for the maintenance of all sound equipment, ensuring ... Maintain the artistic intent of the Sound Designer throughout the run of the production.

Lead Sound Engineer

Minneapolis, MN ยท On-site

$31.63/hr

The Lead Sound Engineer is also responsible for the maintenance of all sound equipment, ensuring ... Maintain the artistic intent of the Sound Designer throughout the run of the production.

Lead Sound Engineer

Minneapolis, MN ยท On-site

$31.63/hr

The Lead Sound Engineer is also responsible for the maintenance of all sound equipment, ensuring ... Maintain the artistic intent of the Sound Designer throughout the run of the production.

Lead Composer/Sound Designer Status: Exempt Please include a link to your portfolio showcasing your best work. Applicants may be asked to complete an audio test for the hiring manager(s). This ...

Game Designer

$158K/yr

Game artists, developers, mathematicians, sound technicians, product marketers, regulatory experts ... In this role, you'll collaborate with a small multidisciplinary team to lead the creation of new ...

At Bose Corporation, we believe sound is the most powerful force on earth - and for over 60 years ... Who we are looking for Bose is seeking a Senior or Lead Industrial Designer to join our Industrial ...

At Bose Corporation, we believe sound is the most powerful force on earth - and for over 60 years ... Who we are looking for Bose is seeking a Senior or Lead Industrial Designer to join our Industrial ...

Game Designer

$154K/yr

Game artists, developers, mathematicians, sound technicians, product marketers, regulatory experts ... In this role, you'll collaborate with a small multidisciplinary team to lead the creation of new ...

At Bose Corporation, we believe sound is the most powerful force on earth - and for over 60 years ... Who we are looking for Bose is seeking a Senior or Lead Industrial Designer to join our Industrial ...

Lead Software Engineer

Phoenix, AZ ยท On-site

$150K/yr

We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer, you will be building exciting games utilizing our ... Working closely with Designers, Artists, and Sound Engineers, you will be tasked with bringing all ...

POSITION SUMMARY An Engineering Lead is responsible for leading a team of designers at the local ... Sound judgment and decision-making skills to evaluate options, assess risks, and make informed ...

Audio Lead, Games Studio

OR ยท On-site +1

$200K - $280K/yr

Manage outsourced musical artists, sound designers and voice actors, and seamlessly integrate their ... an Audio Lead with a proven track record and extensive experience in recording voice-overs ...

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Lead Sound Designer information

See salary details

$42K

$91.2K

$157K

How much do lead sound designer jobs pay per year?

As of Jul 14, 2026, the average yearly pay for lead sound designer in the United States is $91,161.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $66,500.00 and $109,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

How does a Lead Sound Designer typically collaborate with game developers and other creative teams during production?

A Lead Sound Designer works closely with game developers, animators, and narrative teams to ensure that audio enhances the overall player experience. They attend regular meetings to align on project vision, provide feedback on how sound can support gameplay mechanics, and coordinate with programmers to implement audio assets. Effective collaboration often involves managing a team of sound designers, setting audio standards, and troubleshooting technical challenges to maintain audio quality throughout the development process.

What is the difference between Lead Sound Designer vs Sound Designer?

AspectLead Sound DesignerSound Designer
CredentialsTypically requires a bachelor's degree in audio engineering, sound design, or related field; experience in sound productionSimilar educational background; entry-level or mid-level experience
Work EnvironmentLeads sound teams in game, film, or media projects; manages project sound directionExecutes sound design tasks under supervision; collaborates with the team
ResponsibilitiesOversees sound design process, coordinates team, ensures project consistencyCreates sound effects, edits audio, implements sound assets

The main difference is that the Lead Sound Designer manages the sound team and oversees the entire sound design process, while the Sound Designer focuses on creating and implementing sound assets. The Lead role involves leadership and project management, whereas the Sound Designer is more hands-on with sound creation.

What does a Lead Sound Designer do?

A Lead Sound Designer oversees the creation and implementation of audio elements in various media, such as video games, films, or television productions. They manage a team of sound designers, coordinate with directors and producers to understand the creative vision, and ensure high-quality sound effects, music, and dialogue are integrated seamlessly. The Lead Sound Designer is also responsible for setting audio standards, guiding the creative direction of sound, and troubleshooting technical issues related to audio production.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Lead Sound Designer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Lead Sound Designer, you need expertise in audio engineering, sound design principles, and a strong portfolio demonstrating creative and technical ability, often supported by a relevant degree or equivalent experience. Mastery of digital audio workstations (DAWs) such as Pro Tools or Logic Pro, familiarity with middleware like Wwise or FMOD, and knowledge of audio post-production tools are typically required. Leadership, collaboration, and effective communication are standout soft skills for directing teams and working with cross-functional partners. These skills ensure the creation of high-quality, immersive audio experiences that align with project goals and enhance the overall product.
More about Lead Sound Designer jobs
What cities are hiring for Lead Sound Designer jobs? Cities with the most Lead Sound Designer job openings:
What states have the most Lead Sound Designer jobs? States with the most job openings for Lead Sound Designer jobs include:
Infographic showing various Lead Sound Designer job openings in the United States as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 88% Full Time, 7% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 89% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 6% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $91,161 per year, or $43.8 per hour.
Lead Sound Designer

Lead Sound Designer

2K

Frisco, TX โ€ข On-site

Full-time

Re-posted 5 days ago


Job description

The Gearbox Entertainment Company is home to a world-class team that entertains the world with award-winning and genre-defining video games. Our games are entrenched with rich universes that are expanded upon via transmedia storytelling, live experiences, and consumer products. Gearbox Entertainment has become widely known for developing successful game franchises such as Borderlands, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, and Brothers in Arms, as well for continued development of acquired properties including Duke Nukem, Risk of Rain, and Homeworld.
The company was founded as Gearbox Software in 1999 by a team of industry veterans and is headquartered in Frisco, Texas. The Gearbox Entertainment Company is proud to be part of 2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO). For more information, visit www.GearboxSoftware.com.
What We Are Looking For
We are looking for a Lead Sound Designer to help guide the creative, technical, and organizational execution of sound design across one or more projects. This role reports to the Director of Sound Design and partners directly with Audio Leadership, Technical Sound Design, production, and cross-discipline teams to help define, execute, and maintain the project's sonic direction. The Lead Sound Designer acts as the primary sound design point of contact for the project, ensuring audio goals, scope, priorities, quality standards, and needs are communicated and delivered. The ideal candidate is both a strong sound designer and a project level leader. This individual can create excellent content, guide and mentor other sound designers, and translate creative audio goals into shippable results.
Project Responsibilities
  • Serve as the primary sound design point of contact for an assigned project.
  • Partner with Audio Leadership to define, refine, and execute the project's sound design goals.
  • Drive day-to-day project sound design execution while maintaining alignment with broader audio direction.
  • Maintain a cohesive sonic identity across features and systems, ensuring sound design pillars, tone, and standards are upheld.
  • Translate high-level audio direction into clear feature plans, creating sonic style guide documentation and identifying and driving sound design palette building sessions.
  • Work with production to identify and communicate audio scope, risks, dependencies, and priorities.
  • Help identify workflow and pipeline challenges and partner with appropriate teams to resolve them.
  • Coordinate with outsourcing partners and provide feedback, reviews, shotlists, style guides, and quality control.
Team Responsibilities
  • Lead, mentor, and support sound designers across assigned projects, features, or content areas.
  • Review sound design work and provide clear, constructive feedback that raises quality while supporting team growth.
  • Help maintain team morale, trust, and creative momentum through strong communication and thoughtful leadership.
  • Support onboarding, knowledge sharing, and alignment around project audio standards.
Creative Responsibilities
  • Design, edit, process, and mix high quality sound effects.
  • Collaborate with audio leadership on project sound design pillars, tone, mix direction, standards, and technical goals.
  • Take on high level of complexity in sound design work. Will be expected to handle the most forefront game feature sets of audio design such as weapons, character audio, and more with complete autonomy.
  • Create and maintain sound design documentation, including style guides, onesheets, shotlists, and palette references.
  • Lead and contribute to sound jam palette building sessions and creative exploration sessions.
  • Implement content into Wwise and UE5.
  • Record original source and lead or support recording sessions, defining the projects source recording needs.
  • Partner with Technical Sound Design on system behavior and implementation workflows.
  • Locate, diagnose, and troubleshoot issues and audio bugs.
Qualifications
  • Previous experience in leading sound design efforts.
  • 7+ years of professional game audio experience with at least one shipped title.
  • Adept ability at sound design, mixing, editing, and audio design techniques.
  • Strong soft skills and the ability to partner with audio leadership and cross-discipline teams.
  • Excellent understanding of the end-to-end game development pipeline.
  • Must be receptive to sound design feedback from peers and departmental leadership.
  • Awareness of game industry trends, tools, techniques, and player expectations.
  • Well versed at how to create clear and thorough documentation such as style guides or system designs.
  • Ability to communicate creative goals, risks, and priorities across disciplines.
Bonus Experience
  • Audio training and/or degree in audio production.
  • Experience with scripting or programming languages.
  • Post production mix experience.

Gearbox Entertainment is committed to ensuring that all team members work in an environment free from discrimination and harassment, and one that reflects the diversity of the world it strives to entertain. As an equal opportunity employer, Gearbox Entertainment does not discriminate against applicants or employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable law.
Gearbox Entertainment is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals to participate in the job application process, to perform the essential functions of a job, and to enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment equal to those enjoyed by individuals without disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation at any point during the job application process, please contact us for more information.
Please note that 2K Games and its studios never uses instant messaging apps or personal email accounts to contact prospective employees or conduct interviews and when emailing, only use 2K.com accounts.
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Gearbox Studio Quรฉbec rassemble une รฉquipe de talents d'exception, animรฉs par la passion de crรฉer des jeux vidรฉo primรฉs et emblรฉmatiques. Nos univers riches prennent vie ร  travers des rรฉcits transmรฉdia, des expรฉriences en direct et des produits dรฉrivรฉs, offrant aux joueurs des aventures immersives inoubliables. Notre studio est reconnu pour son travail sur des franchises ร  succรจs comme Borderlands, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands et Brothers in Arms, ainsi que pour le dรฉveloppement continu de licences cultes telles que Duke Nukem, Risk of Rain et Homeworld. Gearbox a รฉgalement des bureaux au Canada, dans les villes de Quรฉbec et Montrรฉal. Gearbox Studio Quรฉbec est fier de faire partie de 2K, un label d'รฉdition de Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ : TTWO). Pour en savoir plus, visitez www.GearboxSoftware.com.
Ce que nous recherchons
Nous sommes ร  la recherche d'un concepteur sonore principal pour aider ร  guider l'exรฉcution crรฉative, technique et organisationnelle de la conception sonore sur un ou plusieurs projets. Ce rรดle relรจve du directeur de la conception sonore et travaille en partenariat direct avec la direction audio, la conception sonore technique, la production et les รฉquipes interdisciplinaires pour aider ร  dรฉfinir, exรฉcuter et maintenir l'orientation sonore du projet. Le concepteur sonore principal agit en tant que point de contact principal pour la conception sonore du projet, en veillant ร  ce que les objectifs audio, la portรฉe, les prioritรฉs, les normes de qualitรฉ et les besoins soient communiquรฉs et respectรฉs. Le candidat idรฉal est ร  la fois un concepteur sonore chevronnรฉ et un leader au niveau du projet. Cette personne est capable de crรฉer un contenu d'excellente qualitรฉ, de guider et d'encadrer d'autres concepteurs sonores, et de traduire des objectifs audio crรฉatifs en rรฉsultats concrets pour la sortie du jeu.
Responsabilitรฉs liรฉes au projet
  • Servir de point de contact principal pour la conception sonore sur un projet assignรฉ.
  • Collaborer avec la direction audio pour dรฉfinir, affiner et exรฉcuter les objectifs de conception sonore du projet.
  • Diriger l'exรฉcution quotidienne de la conception sonore du projet tout en restant alignรฉ avec l'orientation audio globale.
  • Maintenir une identitรฉ sonore cohรฉrente ร  travers les fonctionnalitรฉs et les systรจmes, en veillant au respect des piliers de conception sonore, du ton et des normes รฉtablies.
  • Traduire l'orientation audio de haut niveau en plans de fonctionnalitรฉs clairs, en crรฉant la documentation du guide de style sonore et en organisant et menant des sessions de crรฉation de palettes de conception sonore.
  • Travailler avec l'รฉquipe de production pour identifier et communiquer la portรฉe audio, les risques, les dรฉpendances et les prioritรฉs.
  • Aider ร  identifier les dรฉfis liรฉs aux flux de travail et aux pipelines et s'associer avec les รฉquipes appropriรฉes pour les rรฉsoudre.
  • Coordonner les efforts avec les partenaires externes (externalisation) et fournir des commentaires, des examens, des listes de plans, des guides de style et un contrรดle de la qualitรฉ.
Responsabilitรฉs d'รฉquipe
  • Diriger, encadrer et soutenir les concepteurs sonores ร  travers les projets, fonctionnalitรฉs ou zones de contenu assignรฉs.
  • Examiner le travail de conception sonore et fournir des commentaires clairs et constructifs qui rehaussent la qualitรฉ tout en favorisant le dรฉveloppement de l'รฉquipe.
  • Aider ร  maintenir le moral, la confiance et l'รฉlan crรฉatif de l'รฉquipe grรขce ร  une communication solide et un leadership attentionnรฉ.
  • Soutenir l'intรฉgration des nouveaux membres, le partage des connaissances et l'alignement autour des normes audio du projet.
Responsabilitรฉs crรฉatives
  • Concevoir, รฉditer, traiter et mixer des effets sonores de haute qualitรฉ.
  • Collaborer avec la direction audio sur les piliers de conception sonore du projet, le ton, l'orientation du mixage, les normes et les objectifs techniques.
  • Assumer un niveau รฉlevรฉ de complexitรฉ dans le travail de conception sonore. Prendre en charge de maniรจre totalement autonome les ensembles de fonctionnalitรฉs de jeu les plus importants en matiรจre de conception audio, tels que les armes, l'audio des personnages, et plus encore.
  • Crรฉer et tenir ร  jour la documentation de conception sonore, y compris les guides de style, les fiches techniques, les listes de plans et les rรฉfรฉrences de palettes.
  • Diriger et contribuer aux sessions de crรฉation de palettes ("sound jam") et aux sessions d'exploration crรฉative.
  • Intรฉgrer le contenu dans Wwise et UE5.
  • Enregistrer des sources originales et diriger ou soutenir des sessions d'enregistrement, en dรฉfinissant les besoins en enregistrement de sources pour les projets.
  • Collaborer avec l'รฉquipe de conception sonore technique sur le comportement des systรจmes et les flux de travail d'implรฉmentation.
  • Repรฉrer, diagnostiquer et rรฉsoudre les problรจmes et les bogues audio.
Qualifications
  • Expรฉrience prรฉalable dans la direction d'efforts de conception sonore.
  • Plus de 7 ans d'expรฉrience professionnelle dans l'audio de jeu vidรฉo, avec au moins un titre commercialisรฉ ร  votre actif.
  • Compรฉtences expertes en conception sonore, mixage, montage et techniques de conception audio.
  • Fortes compรฉtences relationnelles ("soft skills") et capacitรฉ ร  collaborer avec la direction audio et les รฉquipes interdisciplinaires.
  • Excellente comprรฉhension du pipeline de dรฉveloppement de jeux du dรฉbut ร  la fin.
  • Capacitรฉ ร  recevoir les commentaires de conception sonore de la part de ses pairs et de la direction du dรฉpartement.
  • Connaissance des tendances, outils, techniques de l'industrie du jeu et des attentes des joueurs.
  • Maรฎtrise de la crรฉation d'une documentation claire et approfondie, telle que des guides de style ou des conceptions de systรจmes.
  • Capacitรฉ ร  communiquer les objectifs crรฉatifs, les risques et les prioritรฉs ร  travers diffรฉrentes disciplines.
C'est un plus
  • Formation audio et/ou diplรดme en production audio.
  • Expรฉrience avec des langages de script ou de programmation.
  • Expรฉrience en mixage de post-production.

Gearbox Studio Quรฉbec s'engage ร  offrir un environnement de travail inclusif, รฉquitable et exempt de discrimination, reflรฉtant la diversitรฉ du monde que nous aspirons ร  divertir. En tant que studio soucieux de l'รฉgalitรฉ des chances, nous ne pratiquons aucune discrimination fondรฉe sur la race, la couleur, la religion, le sexe, la grossesse, l'orientation sexuelle, l'identitรฉ ou l'expression de genre, l'origine nationale, l'รขge, l'handicap, l'information gรฉnรฉtique ou tout autre statut protรฉgรฉ par la loi applicable.
Nous nous engageons รฉgalement ร  offrir des accommodements raisonnables aux candidats et employรฉs qualifiรฉs pour leur permettre de participer pleinement au processus de recrutement, d'exercer leurs fonctions essentielles et d'accรฉder aux mรชmes avantages et opportunitรฉs. Si vous avez besoin d'un accommodement ร  tout moment du processus de candidature, n'hรฉsitez pas ร  nous contacter.
Veuillez noter que 2K Games et ses studios n'utilisent jamais d'applications de messagerie instantanรฉe ni de comptes de messagerie personnels pour contacter des candidatโ€ข eโ€ข s ou mener des entrevues. Tous les courriels envoyรฉs proviennent uniquement de comptes @2K.com.
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