Senior Combat Designer

Scopely is looking for a Senior Combat Designer to join our Star Trek Fleet Command team, based in Dublin or Barcelona (hybrid) or remotely from London. At Scopely, we care deeply about what we do and want to inspire play, every day – whether in our work environments alongside talented colleagues or through our deep connections with our communities of players. We are a global team of game lovers who are developing, publishing, and innovating in the mobile games industry, connecting millions of players around the world daily. Star Trek Fleet Command is a standout success in the gaming industry. Launched in 2018, our in-house developed 4X MMO has continually evolved, earning its place as one of the top-grossing games on the market. Our next chapter is bold: we’re evolving the traditional 4X experience in STFC — and we need thrilling new combat experiences to power that next step.

Responsibilities

Own the design and balance of combat gameplay that support strategic player decisions across PvE, PvP, and co-op content; Build and refine novel gameplay experiences focused on officers, ship tech, ships, and hostile challenges; Create systemic combat experiences that foster meaningful player agency and long-term investment; Use tools (Excel, Google Sheets) to model combat challenge, economic loops and progression pacing; Collaborate with Experienced, driven and passionate Designers, Product Managers, Analysts, and Engineers to implement features which aim to advance the genre; Evaluate performance using data, player feedback, and your own playtest experience; Design for scale: plan for long-term content extensibility and system health; Mentor junior designers and help strengthen combat design across the organisation

Requirements

A deep passion for combat and gameplay design; 6+ years of experience designing combat and gameplay systems for live, F2P games (preferably MMO, 4X, or strategy genres); Strong ownership mindset – you can own a feature or content stream from vision to launch to iteration; A proven track record of delivering features that balance player fun, engagement, and monetisation; Comfort with KPI targets and using data to inform balance or tuning adjustments; Mastery of spreadsheets and confidence in balancing power curves, pacing, and resource flow; Experience working cross-functionally and navigating live production environments; A positive, thoughtful, and collaborative approach to game development

Nice to have

Experience mentoring or leading junior designers; Familiarity with SQL, scripting, or simulation tools; Character collection or squad RPG experiences; Exposure to live ops systems, event design, or server lifecycle planning; Love for Star Trek, sci-fi, or highly strategic social games; Previous work on alliance or co-op gameplay in large-scale games