About the Position

As Head of Game Design at Twin Harbour Interactive, you're the person the franchise's design quality runs through. You set the bar across the full portfolio, build the systems that hold it, and develop the designers who deliver it. The design decisions that shape this franchise over the next five years will come from the team you develop and the standard you set.

You'll lead a team of Game Design Leads across four live titles and make sure the discipline grows alongside the franchise. You report directly to the Executive Director of Production.

Responsibilities

Lead the Game Design Department - Your Game Design Leads are your direct reports, and your impact runs through them. Hire and develop the people who set the direction, own the headcount plan and budget, and anticipate what the department needs next: skills, tooling, and where the gaps are.
Shape the Design Vision - Set the long-term direction for game design at Twin Harbour. The philosophy you develop should be clear to the team, durable across the full portfolio, and concrete enough to influence real decisions. That includes understanding how design choices affect the game's ability to attract new players and keep long-term ones.
Work Across the Studio - Partner with Heads of Product, Producers, and other department heads so design can actually deliver what each production needs. Sort out friction early, before it becomes someone else's problem.
Own the Craft Standard - Define and enforce the design quality bar across all productions. Set the frameworks and review processes that give the franchise a coherent design identity.
Build an Inspiring Culture of Trust - Create the conditions where designers feel safe raising problems, pushing back, and asking for help. Look at who gets heard, who gets developed, and who gets the stretch assignments.
Make Feedback Real - Keep it timely and grounded in the work, not a box-ticking exercise. Stay close enough to both the team and the game to catch signals early, and use data and instinct together to act before they become bigger problems.
Lead with Clarity - Clarity is how trust gets built and ownership becomes real. Set the tone across the department, make sure the franchise's direction is understood by the people executing it, and surface problems early.
Drive AI Adoption - Actively find where AI tools can improve design workflows, prototyping, and iteration speed. Model the behavior. Bring the team with you.

Requirements

Deep, firsthand knowledge of strategy games, grand strategy, 4X, or adjacent, on PC or mobile, as a player and as a designer. You understand what keeps long-term strategy players engaged and coming back.
7+ years in game design, with several of those leading designers or teams as a Lead Game Designer, Design Director, or Head of Game Design. If you've had outsized impact in a slightly shorter time, we'd still like to hear from you.
A track record of building and keeping strong design teams, including the harder conversations around performance, career redirection, and organizational change.
You can set a quality bar, run reviews, and hold it across multiple concurrent productions, not just produce good work yourself.
Hands-on experience with budgeting, headcount planning, and resource forecasting at a department level.
Clear, trusted communicator with genuine AI affinity. Peers, reports, and leadership all get a straight answer from you. You're already using AI tools in your design practice and thinking about where they go next.

Nice to Have

You've taken at least one F2P or long-running live title through multiple live-ops cycles and can point to clear impact on retention, revenue, and key metrics like D1/D7/D30 and LTV.
Deep experience in systems design and balancing, designing for complexity, longevity, and player mastery in live games.
Fluent in event-driven live-ops, including seasonal cadences, segmentation, and A/B testing.
Hands-on prototyping experience, whether that's system-sim tools, spreadsheet modeling, or light scripting to validate designs.

About the Company

Twin Harbour Interactive is a global strategy game powerhouse, shaping the future of long-term multiplayer gaming. With offices in Hamburg and Malta, we design strategy games that bring people together – across borders and generations.

Whether you’re an expert tactician or an imaginative world-builder, there’s a place here for you to grow, thrive, and leave your mark.

Department: Game Design

Locations: Hamburg (St. Pauli), San Ġiljan, Malta

Remote status: Hybrid

Studios: Twin Harbour Interactive

Employment contracts: Full time

We Offer

A Global Team, A Shared Purpose: Our strength lies in our diversity. With over 30 nationalities represented across our two locations, we’re united by a shared passion for strategy games and a bold vision for the future.
Work Your Way: Whether you're crafting code from a harbor-view desk in Hamburg or fine-tuning design details under the Maltese sun, we support flexible hybrid work models that empower you to do your best work – wherever you are.
Grow With Us: At Twin Harbour, your journey matters. Our Career Path Framework and mentorship culture provide the clarity and feedback you need to take the next step – whether you’re deepening your expertise or branching into new disciplines. We invest in your growth with language courses, e-learning platforms, and support for conferences and training.
We’re Human First: We believe that great teams are built on trust, respect, and good humor. From game nights to casual drinks, quiz nights, and karaoke, we don’t just work together – we connect, play, and support each other like a true crew.

Join Twin Harbour Interactive

Where Strategy Meets Vision.