Technical Designer – Combat & Gameplay Feel; Unreal Engine

Technical Designer – Combat & Gameplay Feel (Unreal Engine
5) Location

Dubai, UAE (On-site preferred; remote considered for exceptional candidates with strong timezone alignment)

Stray Shot is an ambitious third-person shooter built in Unreal Engine 5, blending fast-paced extraction gameplay, battle royale action, team death match, and intense boss encounters. We're pushing high-fidelity visuals and responsive combat to make every shot, hit, and fight feel impactful and addictive. Join a passionate team in Dubai to elevate the core player experience.

We're seeking a Technical Designer with strong ownership mindset to take end-to-end responsibility for making combat — especially boss fights and enemy behaviors — look stunning, feel incredibly satisfying, and deliver that "juicy" third-person shooter polish. You'll own the full pipeline: prototyping, implementing, tuning, integrating feedback layers, identifying and resolving asset gaps (e.g., missing animations, VFX, or sounds), and driving cross-team alignment until the combat feels perfect in-game.

This is Blueprints-heavy work in UE5 with a focus on rapid iteration and subjective feel, not deep engine-level C++ programming.

• Take full end-to-end ownership of combat polish features (boss fights, enemy behaviors, hit feedback, etc.): from initial prototyping and design intent through final implementation, tuning, integration, and ship-ready quality.
• Prototype and implement responsive combat mechanics and boss/enemy behaviors using Unreal Engine 5 (primarily Blueprints, data-driven systems).
• Own the "feel-good" tuning loop: hit reactions, impact feedback, recoil, aim/momentum preservation, input buffering, procedural elements — iterating until it feels snappy, weighty, and rewarding.
• Set up and refine combat animation systems (Montages, Blend Spaces, notifies, Control Rig basics, IK) — and if animations are missing or need tweaks, proactively align with animators to define requirements, provide feedback, and integrate updates.
• Layer juicy visual/audio feedback: hit-stop, camera shakes, Niagara particles, synced sound cues — and if VFX or sounds are incomplete/mismatched, drive alignment with VFX artists and sound designers to spec, iterate, and ensure perfect sync.
• Design and implement boss fight patterns/phases (telegraphs, vulnerability windows, minion spawning, state transitions) with strong emphasis on readability, pacing, satisfaction, and end-to-end execution.
• Rapidly iterate via play testing: identify feel issues, adjust timings/values/effects, and own the fixes until combat passes subjective polish benchmarks.
• Create/support simple tools or data setups (data tables for behaviors/stats) to enable efficient tuning and future-proofing.
• Collaborate cross-discipline as the combat owner: work closely with animators, VFX artists, sound designers (and programmers when needed) to fill gaps, provide clear direction/feedback, and ensure assets integrate seamlessly for the best possible player feel.
• Ensure combat polish holds up in multiplayer contexts (extraction, battle royale, team modes).

• 4+ years professional experience as a Technical Designer, Combat Designer, or similar in Unreal Engine projects (UE4/UE5 strongly preferred).
• Proven portfolio/reel demonstrating end-to-end combat ownership
  : examples of juicing hits, polishing boss fights, or third-person action feel — showing before/after passes, asset integration, and cross-team collaboration results.
• Strong UE5 hands‑on skills:
  Blueprints mastery, animation integration, Niagara/particle systems, camera tools, behavior trees/EQS for enemy logic.
• Demonstrated ownership mindset: you take features from concept to final polish, proactively spotting/fixing gaps (e.g., "this hit needs better VFX — let's align with the artist") rather than handing off prematurely.
• Deep passion for game feel — you can diagnose why combat feels "off" and drive iterations (including cross-team) to make it exceptional.
• Experience in third-person shooters/action games — bonus for boss fight polish and end-to-end delivery.
• Excellent collaboration and…