Game Design Director $400,000 USD/year Pay is set based on global value, not the local market.
Most roles = hourly rate x 40 hrs x 50 weeks
Description
Founders School is launching a new kind of high school in New York City with a bold commitment: students will earn $1 million in profit before they graduate, or their tuition will be refunded. But the ambition reaches well beyond a single school. We are creating the first business simulation game in which every significant advancement is unlocked by mastering authentic entrepreneurial abilities—pricing, marketing, hiring, and operations.
This is the founding leadership position at the heart of that ambition. You will control the game's creative direction, product strategy, and development team while collaborating directly with Founders School leadership. Your role is to evaluate the concept we have built, determine what falls short, and help shape a stronger vision before leading the team that executes it.
The challenge is unprecedented in both games and education. You must create a simulation that players genuinely want to engage with for ten consecutive hours while demonstrably improving their ability to operate a real business. Most games achieve entertainment. Most educational tools fail to sustain engagement. We believe both outcomes are achievable, and we are searching for the person who can deliver them.
You will also help establish how contemporary games are developed. AI should be integrated into every phase of your creative workflow, from design exploration and balance testing to prototyping, content generation, playtest analysis, and production.
If you have always aspired to build the game you will be remembered for, this is that opportunity. If that resonates with you, we want to connect.
What you will be doing
• Establish and own the creative vision, gameplay systems, and product strategy for a business simulation game that teaches authentic entrepreneurial skills through deeply engaging gameplay.
• Assemble and manage a senior game development team, recruiting outstanding talent and fostering a culture that ships rapidly and iterates continuously.
• Collaborate with Founders School leadership, educators, and entrepreneurs to convert real-world business principles into compelling gameplay mechanics.
• Apply AI across the entire development lifecycle to accelerate design, balance tuning, prototyping, content creation, and production processes.
• Achieve concrete milestones, including a playable vertical slice within 12 months, successful playtests with teenagers, and a scalable platform for future simulation games.
What you will NOT be doing
• Developing another derivative simulation game with conventional mechanics and minimal real-world impact.
• Spending months drafting design documents rather than shipping playable experiences.
• Operating within a large studio where creative decisions are delayed by multiple approval layers.
• Treating AI as an optional productivity enhancement rather than a fundamental component of your creative process.
• Building educational software that players endure instead of games they authentically enjoy.
Key responsibilities
Direct the creation of the world's most compelling business simulation game by assembling the team, establishing the vision, and delivering a product that transforms players into better entrepreneurs through gameplay.
Success in Your First Year
• Within 6 months, you have shipped a playable vertical slice where players advance through authentic business skills by completing meaningful gameplay challenges.
• Initial playtests demonstrate that teenagers consistently describe the game as enjoyable before realizing how much they are learning.
• You have recruited and onboarded the founding game development team, with consistent, high-quality releases.
• Within 12 months, you have launched a closed beta with over 1,000 players, achieved 40%+ 30-day retention, and established a development rhythm capable of shipping new simulation experiences sustainably.
Candidate requirements
• Experience shipping at least one commercially successful game that players authentically loved, ideally on a team of 10 or fewer.
• Proven experience leading multidisciplinary game development from concept through launch.
• Deep expertise designing simulation, sandbox, systems-driven, strategy, or management games.
• Daily hands-on application of generative AI tools to accelerate game design and development, with the ability to demonstrate recent examples of how you have integrated AI into your workflow.
• Passion for entrepreneurship and a sincere belief in the value of building profitable businesses.
• Strong leadership, communication, and hiring capabilities.
• Willingness to work on-site in New York City.
• Able to work in the US without sponsorship.
Nice to have
• Experience shipping sandbox, tycoon, builder, management, or simulation games.
• Experience designing products for players under 18.
• Experience integrating education or skill development into entertainment products.
• Experience working with high-profile brands, creators, or licensed intellectual property.
• Track record of scaling a game team from early concept through successful launch.
Applying for a role? Here’s what to expect.
Crossover's skill assessment process combines innovative AI power with decades of human research, to take the guesswork, human bias, and pointless filters out of recruiting high-performing teams.
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Prove real-world 
job skills.
Interview with the hiring manager.
Pass
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Accept job offer.
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