Job description

The Opportunity: Mattel is looking for an experienced and imaginative Senior Manager, Product Design to help shape the future of one of the world's most iconic games portfolios. From UNO, Pictionary, Scrabble, Phase 10, Skip-Bo, Blokus, KerPlunk!, and beyond, you'll lead the design of play experiences that entertain millions of players around the world. This is a leadership role for someone who understands that great games don't happen by accident. They are built through thoughtful mechanics, relentless iteration, meaningful playtesting, and exceptional product design. You'll lead a team responsible for transforming ideas into physical products that are intuitive to learn, rewarding to master, and unmistakably Mattel. Working across Design, Marketing, Engineering, Consumer Insights, Packaging, Licensing, and Operations, you'll help define what families and friends will be playing for years to come. What Your Impact Will Be: Gameplay & Innovation • Lead the design and development of new gameplay experiences across Mattel's portfolio of family, party, strategy, and trading card games. • Guide projects from early concept exploration through prototyping, playtesting, refinement, and final product execution. • Apply game design principles, player psychology, behavioral science, and consumer insights to create experiences that are simple to learn, rewarding to play, and built for repeat engagement. • Champion rapid prototyping and iterative development, using playtesting and consumer feedback to continuously improve mechanics, pacing, accessibility, and overall player experience. • Identify opportunities to reinvent classic brands while developing entirely new ways to play. Product Design Excellence • Lead the physical design of products, translating gameplay into intuitive, beautifully crafted components and experiences. • Partner closely with Engineering and Packaging to balance creativity with manufacturing feasibility, quality, cost, and sustainability. • Drive thoughtful decisions around materials, component design, ergonomics, visual hierarchy, and tactile interaction. • Review prototypes and production samples to ensure the integrity of the gameplay experience is preserved through manufacturing. Creative Leadership • Lead, coach, and develop a team of Product Designers, creating an environment where curiosity, experimentation, and creative excellence thrive. • Establish clear priorities while balancing multiple development programs across varying timelines and levels of complexity. • Foster a culture of constructive critique, collaboration, and continuous learning. • Build strong partnerships across Marketing, Consumer Insights, Engineering, Packaging, Licensing, Operations, and external development partners. Execution & Continuous Improvement • Drive projects from concept through commercialization, ensuring products launch on time, on budget, and at the highest quality standards. • Anticipate risks, solve complex design challenges, and make informed tradeoffs throughout development. • Improve design processes, workflows, and best practices that enable faster innovation and stronger collaboration across the Games organization. What We’re Looking For: • 8+ years of experience designing tabletop, card, party, strategy, or family games, with a strong understanding of what creates engaging, enduring gameplay. • Experience leading the complete game development process, including ideation, game mechanics, prototyping, playtesting, balancing, iteration, and product commercialization. • 3+ years of experience leading and developing high-performing creative teams. • Demonstrated success bringing physical consumer products from concept through manufacturing. • Strong 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 influence cross-functional teams and successfully lead complex product development programs. • Strong communication, storytelling, and presentation skills. • Passion for games, curiosity about how people play, and a desire to create products that become part of family traditions. Bonus Points If You Have • 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. • A genuine love of games and play, whether that's inventing mechanics, hosting game nights, collecting modern board games, or simply believing that bringing people together through play is one of the best jobs in the world. Don’t meet every single requirement? At Mattel, we are dedicated to an inclusive workplace and a culture of belonging. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to apply. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles. Join Mattel's Talent Community and start receiving exciting updates about our company, our employees, and our culture. Also, interested in signing up for job alerts? Do so here! How We Work: We are a purpose driven company aiming to empower generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. We live up to our purpose employing the following behaviors: • We collaborate: Being a part of Mattel means being part of one team with shared values and common goals. Every person counts and working closely together always brings better results. Partnership is our process and our collective capabilities is our superpower. • We innovate: At Mattel we always aim to find new and better ways to create innovative products and experiences. No matter where you work in the organization, you can always make a difference and have real impact. We welcome new ideas and value new initiatives that challenge conventional thinking. • We execute: We are a performance-driven company. We strive for excellence and are focused on pursuing best-in-class outcomes. We believe in accountability and ownership and know that our people are at their best when they are empowered to create and deliver results. Who We Are: Mattel is a leading global toy and family entertainment company and owner of one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world. We engage consumers and fans through our franchise brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Thomas & Friends, UNO, Masters of the Universe, Matchbox, Monster High, MEGA and Polly Pocket, as well as other popular properties that we own or license in partnership with global entertainment companies. Our offerings include toys, content, consumer products, digital and live experiences. Our products are sold in collaboration with the world’s leading retail and ecommerce companies. Since its founding in 1945, Mattel is proud to be a trusted partner in empowering generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. Mattel’s award-winning workplace culture has been recognized by Forbes, Fast Company, Newsweek, Great Place to Work, TIME, and more. Visit us at jobs.mattel.com and www.instagram.com/MattelCareers . Beware of recruiting scams: Mattel will only contact you through official @mattel.com or @smartrecruiters.com email addresses and will never ask for payment or sensitive personal information during the hiring process. Mattel is an Equal Opportunity Employer where we want you to bring your authentic self to work every day. We welcome all job seekers, and all applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, veteran and protected veteran status, disability status, and or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law. Pursuant to the Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act, qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment. The pay range for this position is between $154,000 and $193,000 annual. The pay range is indicative of projected hiring range, however base pay will be determined based on a candidate’s work location, skills and experience. Mattel offers competitive total pay programs, comprehensive benefits, and resources to help empower a culture where every employee can reach their full potential. Videos to watch: The Culture at Mattel Corporate Philanthropy

Requirements

Must-haves

Working across Design, Marketing, Engineering, Consumer Insights, Packaging, Licensing, and Operations, you'll help define what families and friends will be playing for years to come.
Gameplay & Innovation
Lead the design and development of new gameplay experiences across Mattel's portfolio of family, party, strategy, and trading card games.
Guide projects from early concept exploration through prototyping, playtesting, refinement, and final product execution.
Apply game design principles, player psychology, behavioral science, and consumer insights to create experiences that are simple to learn, rewarding to play, and built for repeat engagement.
Champion rapid prototyping and iterative development, using playtesting and consumer feedback to continuously improve mechanics, pacing, accessibility, and overall player experience.
Identify opportunities to reinvent classic brands while developing entirely new ways to play.
Product Design Excellence
Lead the physical design of products, translating gameplay into intuitive, beautifully crafted components and experiences.
Partner closely with Engineering and Packaging to balance creativity with manufacturing feasibility, quality, cost, and sustainability.
Drive thoughtful decisions around materials, component design, ergonomics, visual hierarchy, and tactile interaction.
Review prototypes and production samples to ensure the integrity of the gameplay experience is preserved through manufacturing.
Creative Leadership
Lead, coach, and develop a team of Product Designers, creating an environment where curiosity, experimentation, and creative excellence thrive.
Establish clear priorities while balancing multiple development programs across varying timelines and levels of complexity.
Foster a culture of constructive critique, collaboration, and continuous learning.
Build strong partnerships across Marketing, Consumer Insights, Engineering, Packaging, Licensing, Operations, and external development partners.
Execution & Continuous Improvement
Drive projects from concept through commercialization, ensuring products launch on time, on budget, and at the highest quality standards.
Anticipate risks, solve complex design challenges, and make informed tradeoffs throughout development.
Improve design processes, workflows, and best practices that enable faster innovation and stronger collaboration across the Games organization.
8+ years of experience designing tabletop, card, party, strategy, or family games, with a strong understanding of what creates engaging, enduring gameplay.
Experience leading the complete game development process, including ideation, game mechanics, prototyping, playtesting, balancing, iteration, and product commercialization.

Nice-to-haves

Bonus Points If You Have

Application prep

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Platform: smartrecruiters
Effort: medium