Games Workshop is recruiting a new Technical Designer for Warhammer 40,000, a designer-cum-editor who will “be responsible for establishing quality standards by developing tools to improve efficiency, and ensuring the mathematical and logical robustness of our game mechanics”. If you think you can do a better job making Warhammer 40,000 “fair, balanced, and enjoyable” than the hardworking designers at Games Workshop HQ have achieved so far, now’s your opportunity to put your money where your mouth is.
According to the job description on the Warhammer careers website, the new post holder will be “responsible for the technical accuracy and integrity of our rules across all publications, from Codexes to balance updates to the Core Rules”. As GW describes it, the role “is part rules editor, part tools developer, and part rules writer” who can “communicate complex mechanics with absolute clarity”.
This responsibility cashes out in a variety of ways. The post-holder will “develop and contribute to our rules standards”, which could refer to a style guide of official wording and terminology for the writing team, or to best-practise documents and reference materials that set parameters for how rules should be designed. With teams working on multiple Warhammer 40k codex releases simultaneously, that kind of documentation is necessary to keep everything standardized.
One task that falls to the Technical Designer is going to particularly interest fans: they will “develop and maintain points and efficiency calculations. While I dislike Games Workshop’s policy of not naming the authors and artists who develop its books, I can well imagine the Technical Designer wanting anonymity. This post-holder could easily become the lightning rod for fan complaints any time the balance of Warhammer 40k is (or appears to be) out of whack.
While Games Workshop doesn’t list many essential attributes for applicants, it looks like skill with data analysis and even computer coding will be valuable. The job description specifies the post-holder will “create automated testing and validation tools”. On what platforms, and for what subjects, isn’t specified. Maybe GW wants a tool that will speed up proof-reading; maybe the designers have asked for tools that will let them input hypothetical stats and get back charts about how units will perform; perhaps someone wants a way to simulate whole games of Warhammer 40k to brute-force data collection.
As is typical, Games Workshop does not list the remuneration for the role. Applicants must be able to work full time from Games Workshop’s HQ in Nottingham, UK. The listing is open to applications until 5pm PDT / 8pm EDT / midnight GMT on Sunday October 25.
What would you do in this role? Have a chat in the Wargamer Discord community!
Source: Wargamer
