Lead Product Designer - Games

Mattel is building future-forward play experiences, and you can help shape what comes next. This onsite-in-El Segundo role offers a senior individual contributor position where you will lead complex design programs across gameplay systems and physical product design, partnering across disciplines to turn ideas into compelling games and tangible experiences.

This is a Lead Product Designer - Games role with $115,000 - $144,000 per year and 7+ years of relevant experience. The team works in-office Monday through Thursday, with work from home on Fridays.

What you’ll do

• Design and develop new gameplay experiences across family, party, strategy, and card games.
• Own complex projects end-to-end, from early concept exploration and prototyping to playtesting, refinement, and final product execution.
• Use game design principles, player psychology, consumer insights, and player behavior knowledge to create experiences that are simple to learn, rewarding to play, and built for repeat engagement.
• Build and test prototypes quickly, improving mechanics, pacing, accessibility, and overall player experience using playtesting and consumer feedback.
• Spot opportunities to reinvent established brands and create new ways to play.
• Translate gameplay into intuitive physical products, components, and interactions.
• Develop clear design solutions using sketching, model making, CAD, rendering, prototyping, and other visualization tools.
• Partner with Engineering and Packaging to balance creativity with manufacturing feasibility, quality, cost, and sustainability.
• Make detailed decisions across materials, component design, ergonomics, visual hierarchy, tactile interaction, and the overall product experience.
• Review prototypes and production samples to preserve design intent and gameplay integrity through manufacturing.
• Provide creative leadership by setting design direction, guiding teams through ambiguous or complex challenges, and leading constructive critique and design reviews.
• Mentor and support Product Designers and Senior Product Designers through feedback, collaboration, and hands-on problem solving.
• Communicate design strategy and recommendations clearly to cross-functional partners and senior stakeholders.
• Drive projects from concept through commercialization while managing multiple parallel workstreams and maintaining creative quality and attention to detail.
• Build strong partnerships across Marketing, Consumer Insights, Engineering, Packaging, Licensing, and external development partners.
• Anticipate risks, solve complex design challenges, and make informed tradeoffs throughout development.
• Improve design tools, workflows, critique practices, and development approaches to enable faster iteration and stronger collaboration.

What you’ll need

• 7+ years of experience designing tabletop, card, party, strategy, family games, toys, or related physical consumer products, with demonstrated strength in both game and product design.
• Experience leading the complete game development process, including ideation, mechanics, prototyping, playtesting, balancing, iteration, and commercialization.
• A strong portfolio showing sophisticated problem solving, compelling physical product design, and the ability to translate ideas into clear, engaging play experiences.
• Deep understanding of player motivation, game systems, probability, progression, accessibility, and player experience design.
• Knowledge of consumer product development, manufacturing processes, materials, tooling, and production constraints.
• Proven ability to lead through influence, provide meaningful creative direction, and elevate the work of other designers without relying on formal authority.
• Strong communication, storytelling, critique, and presentation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple complex projects, navigate ambiguity, and maintain momentum in a fast-paced development environment.
• Passion for games, curiosity about how people play, and a desire to create products that bring people together.

Technologies you’ll use

• CAD
• Rendering
• Prototyping

Bonus points

• Experience shipping commercially successful tabletop or card games.
• Experience facilitating structured playtesting, game balancing, and consumer research.
• Experience working across licensed entertainment brands or global product development organizations.
• Familiarity with modern tabletop gaming trends and mechanics across hobby and mass-market categories.
• Experience mentoring designers or serving as a creative lead across multidisciplinary development teams.
• A genuine love of games and play, including inventing mechanics, hosting game nights, collecting modern board games, or believing in the power of play to bring people together.

Location: El Segundo, CA (onsite). Work setup: In-office Monday–Thursday, work from home Fridays.