Gameplay Polish & Technical Designer/Artist (f/m/d)

kaleidoscube

The role involves taking blocked-out scenes in Unreal Engine and driving them to shipping quality through Sequencer work on animation integration, camera work, effects placement, pacing, and small moving details. kaleidoscube is an award-winning indie studio making atmospheric story-driven games, including A Juggler's Tale and the upcoming RECUR.

Location: Stuttgart
Level: Contract
Employment: Contract
Salary: €42K - €50K
Date added: 2026-09-30
Last checked: 2026-10-17

Overview

kaleidoscube is hiring a Gameplay Polish & Technical Designer/Artist (f/m/d) Blog Newsletter Browse Jobs Art & Animation Audio Business & Operations Design Marketing & Community Production Programming QA & CS Writing Post a Job Back to all jobs See allDesignjobs Gameplay Polish & Technical Designer/Artist (f/m/d) kaleidoscube Apply for this Job Apply for this Job URL copied! This position has been closed. No items found. Posted September 30, 2026 Contract Stuttgart, DE or Europe Hybrid 42k–50k EUR annually Help us turn RECUR's blocked-out scenes into polished, shippable scenes in Unreal Engine. RECUR is playable end to end. The systems work, the animations exist, the levels are blocked out and the beats are in place. Some areas are final, and it is what you can see in our trailers. Our next step is to get every part of the game up to that level. We’re looking for one experienced person to spend nine months with us helping us out here! You would take blocked-out scenes and turn them into final ones. You are not building environment art, you are building what happens inside those environments. Timing, camera, choreography, animation implementation, effects, pacing, mood. Most of our game runs on Unreal Sequencer. Not just cutscenes, but the puzzles and time manipulation: the animations, the effects, the destruction. Sequencer is where most of the polish takes place, and it’s where you’d most of your time. What this role is

Taking a scene and driving it to shipping quality: owning it end to end, deciding what it needs and then doing it.
Working in Sequencer: Refining the sequences that drive this scene: integrating character animations, destruction, little details, staging.
Building details that spark joy: Is the box just falling down or bouncing a bit when it lands? Can the machine wiggle and create little comic “poofs” when you walk past it? Is steam coming out of the air conditioning or does some wind make papers fly around? We want you to have these ideas and add moving details that players love to discover.
Camera work: framing, blending, movement, transitions between shots and scenes. In a game like ours the camera is a large part of the direction and atmosphere.
Effects integration: placing, triggering and tuning existing VFX so they read clearly and hit at the right moment. (We are not asking you to author shaders and particles, though understanding how they work is a plus).
Pacing and readability: making sure a puzzle or a traversal beat reads clearly, and that the rhythm between tension, quiet and discovery holds across a scene.
Keeping an eye on performance and stability as scenes get denser, and flagging problems early.
Working directly with the other designers: this is a small team, so you’ll have real ownership and short decision paths.

What we’re looking for

Deep, hands-on Unreal Engine experience, with Sequencer being your best friend: you should be fast and confident in it. And yes, it has its pain points :/
Experience integrating animation and effects into scenes
A strong eye for camera, timing and staging
You’ve shipped or significantly contributed to at least one game, ideally in an indie or small-team context where you wore several hats
You can look at an unfinished scene and know what it needs. We don’t want to give you a “list of tasks”, but want you to also have an instinct for why a moment isn’t good and what would fix it
Good communication in English

Nice to have

Ideally, you can work with us in our office in Stuttgart, Germany
Experience with cinematic platformers, narrative games, or anything else where mood and direction carry as much weight as mechanics
An eye for lighting, setting mood, and knowing your way around Unreal light baking
Blueprint and level scripting
Niagara
Experience in technical design, technical animation, simulation

What this role is not

It’s not environment or level art, we have that covered
It’s not authoring shaders and fx from scratch
It’s not a pure design role either, it sits between roles

What we offer you

Fixed-term role until August 2027 (about 9 months)
Full-time (40h/week) or part-time, we’re flexible
An inspiring and creative work environment
27 vacation days per year*
Gross annual salary of 42k–50k EUR, depending on experience*
Flexible work hours, with core hours from 9:45 AM to 4:00 PM (Berlin Time)
Remote within EU possible after mutual alignment
Coverage of public transportation costs and meal subsidies (if you are based in Germany)
Additional company health and dental insurance (if you are based in Germany)

*Based on full-time (40h/week) for a full year. Pro-rated for the contract length and for part-time hours. How to apply

Send us

A short note on a scene, moment or mechanic in any game that you think was polished exceptionally well. Tell us what makes it work for you and why you like it! This gives us a feel on how you think and what you like.
Your portfolio or reel. If you can show us a scene as you received it and as you left it, that would be awesome, but its of course not a must.
Your CV or a list of projects and what you did on those.

Please apply by 31 October 2026 via the button below. About kaleidoscube kaleidoscube is an award-winning indie studio focussing on atmospheric stories and clever mechanics. After charming players with puppet-string puzzle platformer “A Juggler’s Tale,” we twist time and reality in our upcoming adventure mystery “RECUR." Featured Game s RECUR is a time-bending journey to the end of the world and back. Run, jump, and manipulate time to solve puzzles as the apocalypse unfolds. Can you stop the clock on disaster? Lead Abby the string puppet through a bruised, but beautiful fairy tale world in A Juggler's Tale. Solve riddles, evade traps and shake off pursuers on the way to find freedom. Can Abby take control of her fate with all the strings attached? Apply for this Job Apply for this Job URL copied! Click the Apply button to auto-fill the email address into your email program or right-click and "Copy Email Address" to paste on your own. Learn With kaleidoscube No items found. More Jobs at kaleidoscube It looks like this team may not have any current job openings. Sign up for our newsletter and we'll be sure to let you know when they post a new role. You may also wish to check for open roles on their website. Recent Game & Level Design jobs [Makera Games is hiring a Game Designer (Systems & LiveOps)to join their team into work fromthetheAnywhereGame Designer (Systems & LiveOps)Makera Games | AnywhereLearn More](/careers/makera-games-game-designer-systems-liveops) [Torpor Games is hiring a Lead Game Designer (m/f/d)to join their team into work fromthetheBerlin, DELead Game Designer (m/f/d)Torpor Games | Berlin, DELearn More](/careers/torpor-games-lead-game-designer-m-f-d) Meeple Corp is hiring a Game Designerto join their team into work fromthetheBath, UK or GMT ± 2Game DesignerMeeple Corp | Bath, UK or GMT ± 2Learn More [AstroNomad Studios is hiring a Senior Systems Game Designerto join their team into work fromthetheNorth AmericaSenior Systems Game DesignerAstroNomad Studios | North AmericaLearn More](/careers/astronomad-studios-senior-systems-game-designer) [Collective Ace Group is hiring a Lead LiveOps & Monetization Designerto join their team into work fromthetheAnywhereLead LiveOps & Monetization DesignerCollective Ace Group | AnywhereLearn More](/careers/collective-ace-group-lead-liveops-monetization-designer) Job Hunting Tips & Tricks [This Resume Landed an Interview at Amazon in <24 HoursHow do you write a resume that stands out from the crowd and gets the attention of hiring managers? Here's an approach that has consistently worked for me.Nathan BosiaPeople PersonRead more](/learn/this-resume-landed-an-interview-at-amazon-in-less-than-24-hours) [Cover Letters, Love ‘em or Leave ‘em?A job posting is an expression of pain. They have specific gaps they’re looking to fill. Your job is to communicate you understand their pain and can alleviate their suffering.Jean LeggettCareer Strategist & Leadership CoachRead more](/learn/cover-letters-love-em-or-leave-em) [Should you customize every one of your job applications?W‍ith more people applying for even fewer jobs, roles are being filled faster than ever. Which makes it that much more important to customize your resumes and cover letters.Nathan BosiaPeople PersonRead more](/learn/how-to-customize-your-resume-and-cover-letter) [A Rejection Letter: Giving Feedback to Every ApplicantWhat's it like reviewing and responding to 118 job applications? A little like this. Plus some tips and tricks to improve your next application from the POV of a hiring manager.Nathan BosiaPeople PersonRead more](/learn/a-rejection-letter-giving-feedback-to-every-applicant) Next Indie games are cool. So are the people that make them. Make cool games. Be cool people. Work With Indies. Thank you for joining! New issues are sent every Wednesday! Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again. *Sign up to receive a weekly digest of new indie career opportunities. WORK WITH INDIES We’ve been lucky to have some incredible jobs working at and partnering with some of the biggest brands in video games. But we’ve never had more fun and been more fulfilled than when we were working with indie game developers. Everyone in games should have that much fun. Our hope is that Work With Indies will connect job seekers with the most rewarding, most inspirational, and most fun jobs they've ever had. NAVIGATION

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