Experience Design Manager

About Us Fanatics is building a leading global digital sports platform. We ignite the passions of global sports fans and maximize the presence and reach for our hundreds of sports partners globally by offering products and services across Fanatics Commerce, Fanatics Collectibles, and Fanatics Betting & Gaming, allowing sports fans to Buy, Collect, and Bet. Through the Fanatics platform, sports fans can buy licensed fan gear, jerseys, lifestyle and streetwear products, headwear, and hardgoods; collect physical and digital trading cards, sports memorabilia, and other digital assets; and bet as the company builds its Sportsbook and iGaming platform. Fanatics has an established database of over 100 million global sports fans; a global partner network with approximately 900 sports properties, including major national and international professional sports leagues, players associations, teams, colleges, college conferences and retail partners, 2,500 athletes and celebrities, and 200 exclusive athletes; and over 2,000 retail locations, including its Lids retail stores. Our more than 22,000 employees are committed to relentlessly enhancing the fan experience and delighting sports fans globally.  About the Role We're looking for a Experience Design Manager to own the end-to-end user experience across our mobile game portfolio, including Topps® BUNT, NBA Collect by Topps®, WWE SLAM by Topps® and more. This is a hybrid IC and leadership role: you'll be deeply hands-on in craft while guiding a team of designers. You'll report to the Senior Director, Games and serve as the UX authority on your projects, partnering closely with Design, Product, Engineering, and Art to shape experiences that are intuitive, expressive, and deeply satisfying to play. The ideal candidate thinks in moments, not just screens. You understand that great game UX is the sum of motion, sound, pacing, and visual clarity working together, and you know how to craft those moments of joy that make a player feel smart, rewarded, and eager to keep going. You bring a strong game design sensibility to your UX work and have a rare ability to take complex systems and translate them into interfaces that feel immediately readable and approachable for players of all backgrounds. What you'll do: Leadership Own UX vision and direction for our mobile game titles, from feature concepts through live operations Define and maintain UX standards, patterns, and best practices across the team Present design decisions clearly to stakeholders and leadership, articulating the "why" behind your work Collaborate with the Senior Director, Games to align UX strategy with product and business goals Directly manage UI/UX Designers, providing regular feedback, mentorship, and career development support Lead design feedback sessions and foster a culture of quality, curiosity, and constructive iteration What you'll do: Craft Produce high-quality UX flows, wireframes, prototypes, and final UI layouts. You're comfortable doing the work, not just directing it Craft moments of joy within the player experience, thinking holistically across motion, visual feedback, and sound to ensure UI interactions feel alive, rewarding, and cohesive Design expressive, visual, motion-forward UI systems that reinforce game feel, collaborating with audio and animation to ensure every interaction lands with intention Collaborate with engineers to implement UI with precision, advocating for quality through to ship Drive player research, usability testing, and data analysis with cross-functional teams to validate and evolve your designs Design for broad audiences: welcoming to casual players while remaining satisfying to experienced ones Basic Qualifications 8+ years of UI/UX design experience, with at least 2 years in mobile gaming A strong portfolio demonstrating mobile game UI/UX with a clear point of view, showing not just how but "why," including motion and moment-to-moment feedback that drove meaningful improvements to player experience A game design sensibility that informs your UX decisions: player psychology, pacing, and rewards, not just information hierarchy and layout Proven experience distilling complex game systems (progression, economy, social, meta) into clean, scannable, and expressive interfaces Strong proficiency in Figma; experience with motion/prototyping tools Leadership and mentorship experience Excellent communication and presentation skills. You can align a room and defend a design decision with clarity and confidence Deep understanding of mobile platform conventions, constraints, and player behavior across iOS and Android Preferred Qualifications  Experience across multiple game genres and audience demographics (casual, mid-core, etc.) Familiarity with Unity UI implementation pipelines Exposure to live ops, A/B testing, and data-informed design iteration Background or strong interest in game design A passion for sports and collectibles is a huge plus How we think about this role Great mobile game UX isn't just about usability, it's about feeling. We're looking for someone who understands that a well-timed animation, satisfying sound effects, and a clear visual hierarchy aren't separate concerns; they're one experience. You think about what a player feels at every touchpoint, and you have the craft and cross-discipline fluency to make those moments land. You're as comfortable sketching flows on a whiteboard as you are aligning with engineering on implementation details or mentoring a design team. Ensure your Fanatics job offer is legitimate and don’t fall victim to fraud.  Fanatics never seeks payment from job applicants. Feel free to ask your recruiter for a phone call or other type of communication for interview, and ensure your communication is coming from a Fanatics email address (including @collectfanatics.com).  For added security, where possible, apply through our company website