Lead Sound Designer

Overview

MachineGames is looking for a Lead Sound Designer to join our audio team!

As a Lead Sound Designer at MachineGames, you will be working in a tight-knit audio team under the supervision of our Audio Director.

In collaboration with the rest of the audio team, you will own and drive the creation and integration of game audio within our AAA titles.

You will have the opportunity to work on all game audio aspects, from early design phase to final mix, while adhering to team values and best practices.

To thrive in this role, we believe that you love all things audio related and you are keen to take on the responsibility of ownership over larger areas of the sound of the project and drive that forward on your own initiative in collaboration with the Audio Director.

Our studio is located in central Uppsala, Sweden which is a small and vibrant city 40 minutes north of the capital, Stockholm. It has a historical heritage reaching back to pre-medieval times.

Our studio has a legacy of being down to earth and free from big egos, our everyday work as well as our long-term goals are driven by our studio values:

- We value Team performance over individual performance
- We practice an open door policy
- We deliver what we promise
- We give constructive and actionable feedback
- We practice ownership and accountability
- We learn from our mistakes.

This is a permanent position starting as soon as possible. We will support your relocation and/or your application for work permit if you do not have one or are not an EU citizen and/or not currently residing in Sweden.

The role is onsite at our HQ office in Uppsala with the option to work in a hybrid capacity.

Responsibilities

• Reporting to the Audio Director, lead the creation and implementation of audio assets and features on your project.
• Work closely with the Audio Director to define, refine and achieve the project audio goals.
• Line management responsibility for audio staff assigned to you.
• Design, create and implement high quality audio assets.
• Support sound design needs for linear cutscenes and supporting media if needed.
• Help to drive forward development and improvements in audio features, working with the Audio Director and Audio Programming resources where necessary.
• Be aware of platform resource limitations and actively seek to optimize where possible.
• Define and clearly communicate needs you have from other departments (code/animation etc.).
• Ensure the game mix is maintained as the game matures, to the requirements agreed upon with the Audio Director.
• Seek to record, edit and archive as often as possible.
• Organize, run and attend recording sessions in pursuit of project goals, working with the Audio Director where necessary.
• Proactively seek to improve sound design workflow and keep up to date with industry trends and standards.
• Ensure that work is effectively backed up and archived.
• Liaise with audio outsource partners and vendors when required.
• Proactively support, guide and train others in the Audio department.
• Be actively engaged in all aspects of the soundscape for our games.

Qualifications

• A minimum of one full development cycle experience on a AAA title or equivalent credited as a lead or principal/senior.
• A high degree of competence in Reaper and/or equivalent DAWs.
• Strong experience with Wwise or equivalent audio engine.
• Strong understanding of audio processing, signal paths, and interactive mixing techniques.
• Can comfortably engage in audio work and communication outside of pure sound design (e.g. technical audio feature development, game feature design collaboration with other disciplines).
• Can edit, process and help to implement VO if required.
• Can edit, process and help to implement music if required.
• Strong experience in studio and field based recording techniques.
• Strong analytical listening and feedback skills.
• Excellent communication skills in English, both written and verbal.
• Portfolio demonstrating previous work suitable for the position.
• CV in English.
• Musical proficiency is a bonus!

We embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion in everything we do – from recruiting for our studios, publishing and operations to fostering safe and respectful workplaces that encourage collaboration. Our culture is based on principles of respect, inclusion, and fair treatment and we welcome anyone into our family without regard to race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age.

Our diversity fuels our innovation and inspires us to create game worlds that bring us closer to the global community of players we serve.