Game Director

• Who We Are

Maze Theory is a UK-based XR studio built by veterans of PlayStation, Activision, EA, Disney, and the BBC, with one shared conviction: the best stories in the world deserve to be stepped inside, not just watched. Over the last several years we've brought Doctor Who, Peaky Blinders, and Thief into mixed reality, picking up BAFTA, DICE, TIGA, and Venice Immersive recognition along the way. We're now in the final stretch of our most ambitious project yet — Project Hail Mary: Journey Among the Stars, an original mixed-reality story co-written with Andy Weir — and quietly starting the next one behind it.

The Role

This is a two-chapter job, and we want someone who's genuinely excited about both halves of it.

Chapter one: help land Project Hail Mary. You'll join at a pivotal moment — the mission is close to launch, the crew is deep in the final systems checks, and we need a director's eye that can hold quality, scope, and morale steady all the way to release, working alongside our team rather than starting from a blank page.

Chapter two: once Hail Mary ships, you take the conn. You'll assume full creative and production ownership of our next flagship original title - shaping it from early vision through to a shipped, memorable game and it's the first title where the vision in the room is yours to set.

In short: we're not hiring a caretaker for the back half of one project. We're hiring the person who closes out a landmark title with craft and care, then builds what comes next.

Requirements

• A shipped track record as Game Director, Creative Director, or a comparable senior leadership role, ideally with at least one title carried from mid-production through launch.
• Direct experience in VR, MR, or AR — you understand why a mechanic that reads perfectly on a flat screen can fall apart the moment it's in someone's hands and around their body.
• A genuine command of narrative-led game design; you can hold a story's integrity and a combat or puzzle system's integrity in your head at the same time.
• Proven people leadership: you've run a department or a multidisciplinary team through a full production cycle and people would happily work for you again.
• Fluency with the mechanics of production — milestones, budgets, risk registers — without losing the creative thread underneath them.
• The judgment to know when a project needs a steady hand versus a bold one, and the self-awareness to be honest with yourself and your studio about which is needed when.

Bonus points for:

– Experience directing licensed or author-collaborative IP (we work closely with rights holders and original authors).

– A background in physical/action game design —movement systems, or embodied traversal.

– Public speaking or conference presence (GDC, Gamescom, PAX, Venice Immersive) — you'll be a face of Maze Theory's creative reputation.

– Award recognition (BAFTA, DICE, TIGA, or similar) for shipped work.

What You'll Own

• End-to-end creative and production accountability for the assigned title, from vision document through certification and launch.
• Translating narrative, art, design, and technical ambitions into a single coherent, shippable vision — and defending that vision under real production pressure.
• Leading a multidisciplinary team (design, art, narrative, engineering, QA) day to day: setting priorities, unblocking decisions, and keeping morale and momentum intact through crunch points and quiet ones alike.
• Partnering with production on schedules, milestones, and budget, and acting as the point of contact with publishing, licensing, and platform partners where the project touches them.
• Championing the physical, embodied side of VR/MR design — presence, comfort, spatial storytelling, and mechanics that only work because the player's whole body is in the scene.
• Running structured playtests and postmortems, and having the discipline to cut a feature you love when the data or the room tells you to.
• Mentoring leads and senior designers, and representing Maze Theory's creative voice externally at events, press, and partner reviews.

Benefits

• Competitive Salary
• Remote-first Studio
• Unlimited holidays
• Private Healthcare with Vitality
• Working alongside a friendly, flexible, and highly talented team
• Opportunity to work on big-name IPs