Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
Design roles are less commonly featured in SaaS listings, and this one stands out because it sits in a digital product ecosystem where “live” iteration matters. Fanatics TCG is described as a new trading card game business, which signals a build phase: defining core mechanics, creating expandable content systems, and establishing design practices that can support ongoing releases—work that parallels how SaaS products evolve through frequent updates.
For a SaaS-minded professional, the career value is in developing repeatable frameworks for balancing, clarity, and player engagement—disciplines that map closely to product thinking. The emphasis on playtesting, tuning, and post-launch updates reflects an operating model where feedback loops and continuous improvement are central, offering experience that transfers to other subscription and service-based digital products where retention and iteration are key.
This role is best suited to a senior designer who prefers hands-on contribution while collaborating tightly with adjacent functions such as art, narrative, and production. It will fit someone motivated by structured experimentation, documentation, and maintaining coherence across expansions, rather than one-off creative delivery. The on-site expectation also signals a working style oriented around close, day-to-day partnership.
The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.
Job Description
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 Senior Game Designer is a hands-on contributor responsible for designing cards, mechanics, and gameplay experiences that support the overall vision of Fanatics Collectibles’ trading card game while ensuring clarity, balance, and player engagement.
Responsibilities
- Design cards, mechanics, and expansion themes
- Participate in playtesting, tuning, and balance iteration
- Collaborate with art, narrative, and production partners
- Contribute to design documentation and best practices
- Support post-launch updates and ongoing gameplay improvements
Qualifications & Experience
- Minimum 5 years of professional game or TCG design experience
- Shipped experience on at least one card or competitive game
- Strong understanding of balance, probability, and player psychology
- Experience working in collaborative, cross-functional teams
Skills & Abilities
- Strong creative instincts paired with attention to detail
- Ability to iterate quickly based on feedback and data
- Excellent collaboration and communication skills
- Passion for trading card games and player-focused design
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.
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
