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Director, Game Design - Trading Card Games (TCG)

Fanatics

Fanatics

Design
Los Angeles, CA, USA · New York, NY, USA · Seattle, WA, USA
USD 173k-216k / year
Posted on Dec 25, 2025

About the Team

Fanatics TCG is a new trading card game business, the newest member of the Fanatics Collectibles family. We are here to build the best TCG studio and games in the world.

If you have passion, and skill, and if you believe trading card games represent the very best of what games have to offer, please reach out to us.

Role Summary

The Director of Trading Card Game Design is responsible for setting and owning the creative vision, design strategy, and long-term roadmap for Fanatics Collectibles’ TCG. This role leads the TCG design organization and partners closely with Product, Brand, Licensing, and Production to bring a scalable, distinctive game to market.

Responsibilities

  • Define and own the overall game vision, design philosophy, and player experience
  • Lead and scale the TCG design team across systems, set design, and play design
  • Establish long-term content, mechanic, and balance roadmaps
  • Oversee major design decisions across core rules, expansions, and formats
  • Partner cross-functionally to align game design with brand, business, and operational goals
  • Represent Design at the executive level and with external partners

Qualifications & Experience

  • Minimum 10 years of professional game or TCG design experience
  • Minimum 5 years in people leadership roles
  • Proven experience shipping and supporting a successful trading card or competitive game
  • Experience launching new IP and scaling live game ecosystems

Skills & Abilities

  • Deep expertise in TCG systems, balance, and collectible game economies
  • Strong creative vision paired with analytical decision-making
  • Executive-level communication and leadership skills
  • Ability to lead ambiguity and build teams from early-stage concepts

Location & Compensation

Achieving our goals requires strong collaboration and partnership between our teams and internal stakeholders. To best support this, the person who accepts this role is expected to be onsite in-office five days per week.

The salary range for this position is $173,000 - $216,000, which represents base pay only and does not include short-term or long-term incentive compensation. When determining base pay, as part of a final compensation package, we consider several factors such as location, experience, qualifications, and training.

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 at www.fanaticsinc.com/careers


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.

Fanatics Collectibles is a new model and vision for the hobby, fundamentally changing the experience for current and future collectors, leagues, and players across many U.S. and international professional and college sports. The organization has long-term, exclusive rights to design, manufacture and distribute trading cards for several sports and entertainment properties, including MLB, MLBPA, the Premier League, MLS, UFC, Formula 1 as well as Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars, among others. In January 2022, Fanatics Collectibles announced the acquisition of Topps, establishing the preeminent licensed trading card brand as the cornerstone of Fanatics’ trading cards and collectibles business, and jumpstarted its MLB and MLBPA rights to design, manufacture and distribute trading cards