Lead Programmer

Punk Science Studios Inc.; Halifax; Hybrid; CAD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Punk Science Studios Inc. is seeking a programming lead to own code, architecture, and team health. You’ll write code, define standards, and guide a small team of programmers while collaborating with stakeholders and clients.

You will set tooling and AI usage norms, communicate clearly, and ensure robust architecture and gameplay systems across platforms. Nova Scotia/PEI remote work is supported.

Qualifications

• Five or more years of Unity experience.
• Led or mentored programmers in past roles.
• Experience shipping at least one commercial title.

Responsibilities

• Write code and solve hard problems, mentoring a small team.
• Mentor and manage a team of programmers and coordinate with Production.
• Define and maintain coding standards and technical documentation.
• Own technical direction: engine, architecture, and core systems.
• Coordinate with stakeholders and set realistic estimates.
• Run code reviews and pair with programmers to raise standards.
• Own performance and stability targets across platforms.
• Participate in hiring, interviews, and onboarding new programmers.
• Set how the team uses AI coding agents and tooling.

Skills

Unity experience

Shipped titles

SOLID principles

AI tooling

Mentorship

Communication skills

Git

CI for game builds

Profiling

Client communication

Leadership

Tools

Git

CI/CD for game builds

Unity Editor tooling

Netcode / multiplayer tooling

Job description

Engineering · Fully remote · Nova Scotia or PEI · Full-time

You're responsible for the code, the architecture, and the effectiveness of the programmers and AI agents who write it. Seventy percent building and solving hard problems, thirty percent leading and improving a small team.

A lead's job is to keep the codebase and the people who work in it healthy at the same time. You will spend most of your week writing code and taking on the problems nobody else can, and the rest making the programmers around you better and keeping production honest about what is possible.

You will be the first programming lead at the studio, so you will set the standards you then hold everyone to: how code is reviewed, how systems are designed, how human-first AI tooling is used, and how a small team ships without burning out.

You report to the Studio Director and, on client work, to the client's stakeholders.

What you'll do

• Your camera's always on, even if theirs isn't
• Split your time roughly 70/30: writing code and taking on hard problems, then mentoring and managing a small team of programmers
• Work well with Production team members and settle issues between programmers and stakeholders before they become problems
• Design and build game systems and gameplay, and own the architecture they sit in
• Oversee and coordinate a team of programmers and the project-level processes around them
• Define and maintain the team's coding standards, review process, and technical documentation
• Own a project's technical direction: engine and package choices, project structure, and the architecture of core systems
• Break features down with production into estimates the team can actually hit, and flag risk early
• Run code reviews and pair with programmers so the standard is taught, not just enforced
• Own performance and stability targets across shipping platforms
• Take part in hiring: interviews, work-sample review, and onboarding new programmers
• Set how the team uses AI coding agents and tooling, and keep the output to the same standard as hand-written code

What you bring

• Five or more years of Unity experience
• At least three shipped commercial titles
• Familiar with SOLID principles, with a strong leaning toward producing high-quality code
• You're excited about AI tooling and agentic workflows, and you embrace them
• You enjoy mentorship and encouraging other developers
• Good-humoured, optimistic and adaptable
• A servant-leader
• Expert C# and a working knowledge of Unity internals: the player loop, the job system, Burst, addressables, and URP
• You've led or mentored programmers before, formally or otherwise, and can describe what you would do differently
• You can design a system on paper, explain the trade-offs in plain language to a producer, and then build it
• You are comfortable in the hot seat, talking to a client about what you're doing and why
• You're unafraid of profiling and fixing frame-time, memory, and GC problems on a real target
• Fluent with git branching strategies, code review, and CI for game builds
• You've shipped through at least one platform submission: Steam, console certification, or mobile store review
• You're notable for your excellent communication skills; most of our decisions are made in text
• Resident of Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island

Nice to have

• Multiplayer or networking experience: Netcode for GameObjects, Photon, FishNet, or client-server authority in general
• Console development and certification experience (Xbox XR, PlayStation TRC, Switch lotcheck)
• Experience with Unity editor tooling and designer-facing workflows
• Some C++ or another engine, for perspective
• You've worked in a fully remote team before

What we offer

• Fully remote within Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
• Health and dental benefits
• The hardware you need to do the job
• Three weeks' vacation plus the Christmas holidays

Punk was never about who you are .It was about what you made.

To put it simply, we want you to be proud that you work for Punk Science and eager todo your best work every day.

If you need an accommodation at any point in the process, say so in yourfirst email. It will be arranged without fuss.