Lead Sound Designer

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Total War audio department as a Lead Sound Designer within the central audio team, within our multi-studio facility, based at our headquarters in Horsham, in the heart of West Sussex.

As part of a project audio team, and a member of the sound design discipline, you will collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders to craft compelling sound design experiences across varied exciting projects. You will oversee the complete sound design production effort, its implementation, and the creative and technical advancements for assigned projects, delivering outstanding sound design for the Total War franchise.

Key Responsibilities

Working closely with our game and central audio teams, you will supervise the sound design production on a variety of projects.  As an expert in Sound Design, you will be producing world class assets, designing and implementing creative and technical solutions.  As a leader, empowering your team, leading by example, and ensuring quality benchmarks are met, supporting franchise-wide audio initiatives/strategy.

On a day-to-day basis you will:

• Collaborate with Project Audio Directors and supervise sound design delivery, ensuring conformity to project specific requirements and aesthetics, incorporating franchise led initiatives / strategies
• Oversee and take responsibility for the project(s) sound design scoping and proposing budget requirements, consulting with the sound design director, project audio directors and dev team
• Collaborate with sound design director and Dev managers to prioritise and balance resource against multiple project needs, ensuring quality and timely delivery to all development teams
• Identify, cost and propose project needs for studio and location-based sound effects recording sessions and oversee the planning, execution and delivery of such
• Plan, oversee, and partake in the creation and implementation of all sound design content for your projects, having oversight on all technical areas, ensuring each are fully optimised
• Drive project-based sound design tools development, game audio systems, implementation techniques and their documentation, keeping current with modern trends, technologies, and practices
• Refine the sound design production pipeline and workflows, improving speed, quality, and cost effectiveness consulting with sound design director
• Mix audio content into games with an expert hand, using in-house tools and other 3rd party software and liaise with internal quality assurance staff and Development Managers to ensure all aspects of your teams’ content is fully tested
• Mentor direct reports on craft, game tools and systems, collaborating with sound design director to develop career and training plans for team, including recruitment
• Conduct regular 1:1’s with direct reports
• Promote positive, collaborative, and autonomous workflows across the team and wider disciplines, welcoming feedback

Knowledge, Skill and Experience

Essential

• Experience of multiple shipped full cycle games in a sound design capacity
• Experience in a sound design/audio leadership role in a video game development team
• Experience mentoring sound designers, providing constructive feedback, shaping career progression and training
• Able to work pragmatically and multi-task projects; be able to plan and schedule sound design efforts while remaining quality focused adhering to deadlines
• Expert level creative sound design skills and a high level of technical standards with the ability to plan and deliver whole audio systems while being quick to master new in-house tools and software for integrating/mixing content
• A wide experience of implementing and optimizing game audio (using commercial or in-house tools)
• Experienced with commercial or in-house audio engine solutions, workflows and practices[Wwise, FMOD, Unreal, Unity, ADX2 etc]
• Creative and logical thinker, looking to advance craft and quality and proactively able to identify problems and drive solutions
• Effective communication, listening and interpretation skills
• Strong attention to detail, organised and methodical
• Passionate about video games

Desirable

• AAA Experience
• Experience supervising/leading others in a professional capacity
• Experience with studio and location-based sound effects recording – a keen sound recordist
• Experience as part of a centralised team• Experience as part of a centralised team
• Experience with Reaper, ProTools, Waves plugins, Fabfilter, Izotope RX software etc
• Experienced Wwise user
• Experience mixing in 5.1 and multi-channel formats for linear movie/cutscene work
• Knowledge and familiarity of Total War brand 

Nice to have

• Experience programming software / hardware synthesizers
• Visual scripting experience i.e. Node graph-based or Blueprints

Please note that all audio applicants are required to submit a sound design show reel in support of their application, demonstrating excellence and creativity with sound design. Unfortunately, applications cannot be progressed without an accompanying show reel.  This position is a game ‘sound design’ role and does not involve any music production, or music related sound design.

About Creative Assembly

It’s an exciting time to be a part of our craft-led studio as we push boundaries, creating deep and detailed experiences that last. 

Our teams are diverse from across the world, from trainees to industry veterans who constantly challenge us and make sure we are striving for the best within our games and our studio life. We are united through our shared values of Quality, Focus, Teamwork, Respect and Trust and we win awards for our culture and our people-centric approach, having won a Best Place to Work Award for six consecutive years. We invest in our people, the studio, and our projects. We are a company that’s secure and safe – you don’t need to worry about job security at CA.

Flexible working at Creative Assembly includes hybrid, fully remote within country of employment for eligible roles, and in-studio. We recognise that there is no one-size-fits-all approach and empower our teams to define the working patterns which work best for them, which may mean different things for different teams and roles and at different times.

We’ll give you the creative freedom, tools, support, and development to achieve your potential. 

Our studios are based in Horsham, UK and Sofia, Bulgaria, including several bespoke state-of-the-art audio suites and a dedicated motion capture facility.
 
We offer many benefits to support you and your family including:

• Flexible working: hybrid, fully remote within country of employment for eligible roles, and in-studio working
• Work from Anywhere for a temporary period each year (restrictions apply such as VISAs)
• Enhanced holiday allowance, maternity and paternity breaks, flexibility with our core hours, and no-notice holidays
• Bespoke relocation package for you and your dependents, with support throughout the process from our dedicated Relocation Specialists
• Private medical and dental insurance, life insurance, permanent health insurance, critical illness cover and free health care screening
• Generous holiday allowance plus full studio closure over the Christmas and New Year period, and all UK Bank holidays
• Annual discretionary studio bonus
• Join our award-winning education and social responsibility programme; the Legacy Project, as an industry ambassador to mentor and educate others
• Defined career development pathways and personalised training support including SEGA Dev Day, internal masterclasses, prestigious creative workshops, on-site training with renowned specialists and global conference attendance
• Opportunity to join our Diversity and Inclusion Network – an employee-led group
• Season ticket travel loans and cycle to work scheme with free bike servicing and discounted car valet service on site
• Free games and merchandise plus access to our extensive games library
• Free breakfast in the studio every day - toast, bagels, pancakes, cereals, yoghurts, fresh fruit, smoothies, juices, milkshakes and more in our fully stocked kitchen
• Wellbeing support with an employee assistance programme and onsite confidential sessions
• In-studio heavily subsidised massage therapy
• Discounts for home technology, travel insurance, corporate gym membership, cinema tickets, holidays, trips out and Ikea vouchers, and many local businesses including estate agents
• Studio parties for you and your family; such as our Summer Festival, Christmas Party plus a separate Children’s Christmas Party. We also have Cinema days and wrap parties for game releases
• Studio community activities such as life drawing, creative writing, Pilates, Walking Challenges, Couch to 5k, basketball, game and movie evenings, board game club, 5-a-side football, CA Choir, Sword fighting (yes, sword fighting) and loads more.

Our studio sites have disabled access. We are an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief.