"Assistant Professor or Associate Professor of Computer Game Design and Development"

Assistant Professor or Associate Professor of Computer Game Design and Development

Job ID: 289841

Location: Marietta, Georgia

Full/Part Time: Full Time

Regular/Temporary: Regular

About Us

For more than 60 years, Kennesaw State University has been known for its entrepreneurial spirit and sense of community. A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State is located just north of Atlanta and combines a suburban setting on two metro-Atlanta campuses in Kennesaw and Marietta. As one of Georgia's largest universities, Kennesaw State offers undergraduate and graduate degrees to over 50,000 students. Our high-impact research, and Division I athletics also draw students from throughout the region and across the globe. A member of the University System of Georgia, Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2) committed to becoming a world-class academic institution positioned to broaden its academic and research missions and expand its scope on a local, regional, and national level.

Our university's vibrant culture, career opportunities, rich benefits, and values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity, and accountability make us an employer of choice. As part of the University System of Georgia, Kennesaw State exemplifies the power and promise of a student-centered, research-driven university. In addition, Kennesaw State supports the University of Georgia's core values of accountability, excellence, integrity, and respect. We are searching for talented people to join Kennesaw State University in our vision. Kennesaw State is launching a new strategic plan in 2024-2025. For more information, visit https://www.kennesaw.edu/.

Location

Our Kennesaw campus is located at 1000 Chastain Road NW, Kennesaw, GA 30144. Our Marietta campus is located at 1100 South Marietta Parkway, Marietta, GA 30060.

Department Information

As our world grows more connected and complex, the Department of Software Engineering and Game Development makes our world more creative too. A leader of innovative software development methodologies and first-rate games, we construct reliable, secure and modern software and imagine immersive, extended realities and lush simulations. Our faculty's breadth of expertise, buoyed by the resource richness of the greater Atlanta area, offers our students support, opportunities and memorable moments to build magic.

Job Summary

Kennesaw State University is now accepting applications for a full-time, tenure track faculty position as Assistant Professor or Associate Professor of Computer Game Design and Development in the Department of Software Engineering and Game Development with a preferred start date of January 2026. Rank is determined at the time of hiring and will be commensurate with credentials. This is a nine-month contracted position. This position is for work to be performed in the state of Georgia.

Responsibilities

• Teach undergraduate and/or graduate courses in the area of Computer Game Design and Development
• Service reasonable for the tenure-track Assistant Professor or Associate Professor rank as assigned by the department
• Scholarship/Research expectations include actively seeking external research funding, guiding undergraduate and graduate research and publishing research results to prestigious conferences and journals

Teaching assignments will be based on earned degrees and SACSCOC Faculty Credentials Guidelines.

Required Qualifications

Minimum Required Qualifications Include:

• PhD degree, or the foreign equivalent, in software engineering, computer science, or a related discipline is required at the time of hire.

Additional qualifications to be considered for an Associate Professor position:

• Established Research Program in computer game design and development or closely related fields (e.g., serious games, XR/VR/AR, AI in games, game-based learning, procedural content generation).
• Strong Record of Peer-Reviewed Publications in top-tier conferences and journals (e.g., ACM SIGGRAPH, IEEE Transactions on Games, ACM Transactions on Graphics, CHI, etc.).
• Sustained External Funding Success, with a history of securing competitive research grants from agencies such as NSF, NIH, DoD, or industry partners.
• Excellence in Teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, preferably with evidence of curriculum development, instructional innovation, or teaching awards.
• Student Researcher Mentoring Experience that includes guiding graduate and undergraduate researchers, advising Master's theses and/or supervising PhD students to successful completion.
• Collaborative Engagement with interdisciplinary teams or industry partners, contributing to applied or translational research in game development.
• Service Contributions to the academic community (e.g., journal editorial boards, conference program committees, accreditation work, or departmental leadership).

Required Documents to Attach

1. CV
2. Cover Letter
3. Unofficial Transcripts (Official Transcripts and Official International Course-by-Course Evaluations Due Upon Hire)
4. Names, phone numbers, and email addresses of at least 3 references
5. Teaching philosophy and how you will advance student success at KSU
6. Research interest

Apply Before Date

Review of applications will begin immediately. For full consideration, please apply by October 5, 2025.

Contact Information

For questions about this faculty opening, please contact Dr. Lei Zhang, lzhang24@kennesaw.edu.

For technical support or assistance completing a job application, please contact the Shared Services Center at (877) 251-2644 or support@usg.edu.

For questions about a specific job posting at Kennesaw State University, please contact the search chair listed under the contact information section on each posting. For general questions about faculty jobs please email facultyjobs@kennesaw.edu.