Head of Game Design

Values Value is a recruiting company with expertise in game development and is currently looking for an experienced Head of Game Design for the world's first conversational AI tutor for children. This kids' game/ app lets children practice spoken English by conversing with a virtual AI-powered cartoon character. It is the second largest kid’s language app globally, with 20 million downloads last year alone. TIME Magazine included it in its World's Top EdTech Rising Stars of 2024 list. 
As a new Head of Game Design you will organize and lead the app’s game design works to make this product as engaging as TOP mobile games for children to increase its educational value and improve unit economics. Create innovative speech and tap game mechanics for this unique platform built around a voice-based AI-powered animated character, the robot, and his game world. Build, manage, and develop a game design team if it’s needed to achieve the best results.

What are you working on?

• Genres: Kids Games, Puzzle, Hyper-casual, Casual, Educational, Application, Arcade
• Platforms: Mobile, iOS, Android

For which tasks (responsibilities)?

• You will be the first professional Game Designer in the team and will set up everything related to game design. 

• You will create new innovative game mechanics around talking interactive AI character. 

• You will develop the app’s metagame and gameworld to organize students'/players’ lives on the platform, making it super-fun while guiding them through the curriculum developed by educators. Mategame and the game world will be your domain where you’ll have a lot of freedom.

• You will work with educators and product managers to create minigames – which are, in fact, exercises organically written in the app’s game world. Your job will be to make these minigames as fun and engaging as possible while solving educational tasks defined by your educator teammates.  

• You will work directly with developers and the art team to prototype and fine-tune the game.

• You will work with data and interact with young players and their parents to draw inspiration for your work and measure its success. 

• You’ll work with monetization and education teams to make the app even more available to children worldwide by providing more and more free experiences while improving unit economics.   

• You will work with the art director, writers, and creative producer to create a bright and wonderful world of the app, a cool IP that will become an important part of pop culture.

What kind of professional are we looking for?

• Game design expertise in mobile games: 5+ years of experience in game design. Hands-on experience in designing, delivering, and perfecting live and successful mobile games/ mobile apps with thousands of players. 

• Experience with children: Designed games for children under 12 professionally, or at least has own children 3-10 years old.  

• Creative/innovative: Has the ability and finds joy in creating new innovative games rather than copying and reskining existing ones. Ideally, the candidate prefers to innovate rather than copy and reskin.

• User/Player-centric approach: Has the ability and strive to understand players' needs and satisfy them rather than realize the candidate’s own creative ambitions. Actively seeks for players’ feedback. Appreciates playtesting.

• Data-driven. Appreciates data and analytics. Uses numbers in charts to find inspiration and new game design ideas.  

• Business-level thinking: Has the ability to see the business as a whole and to achieve high-level business goals through game design. 

• Efficiency and startup mindset: Achieves success with minimal resources. Prototypes fast, ships MVPs. Fails fast and moves on. 

• Proactivity: Takes initiative, proposes solutions, and acts without hesitation. Does not wait for detailed instructions or specifications to follow. 

• Getting things done: Follows through on commitments. Ships products. Makes sure a problem is solved completely. 

• High standards and ambitions: Strive to be the best, ship the world’s top product, work with A-players, and learn from the best. 

• Teamwork: Values and organizes collaboration. Actively seeks feedback from peers and provides support to them if needed. Hears other stakeholders, educators and marketers. 

• English knowledge. 

Why do we enjoy working here?

• Unique product: A first-of-its-kind conversational AI tutor for children. Virtual tutors are an emerging technology that leverages AI-powered virtual agents and adaptive learning systems to teach independently or in collaboration with human teachers. Currently, this app helps children learn to speak English by conversing with a cartoonish AI-powered character in a mobile app, much like they would with a human tutor over Zoom.

• Successful product: The second-largest kids' language app globally, it has reached №1 in the Kids and Education categories in Latin America, Europe, and MENA. Every week, Buddy is featured in 50+ countries on the App Store and Google Play.

• Mission-driven project: The app aims to help not only children who want to learn a language but also those for whom English is their native language. It also focuses on working with children with speech development delays.

• High-level position: Directly report to the company’s CEO. This is a role as the sole game designer at this stage, offering significant creative freedom and decision-making authority.

• Team building opportunity: The chance to assemble a team according to the project's needs.

• Small team with high capital efficiency: Focused on the company’s product, business, and mission. There are no unnecessary layers of decision-making. Everything you create quickly goes into production.

• Openness: The team works collaboratively and shares everything. At All Hands meetings, all product and financial metrics are openly discussed.

• Contribution and growth: A small team means a large individual contribution.

• Agile startup environment: Stay lean and efficient, prototype fast and affordably, and test everything possible before investing significant resources in full-scale development.

• Remote work or relocation support to Europe

• Flexible schedule

• Paid sick leave and vacation days

• Stock Options available