Server Engineer

Lightfox Games; Vancouver; Hybrid; CAD 105,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health/vision/dental coverage

RRSP matching

Equity

Job summary

Lightfox Games in Vancouver is seeking a Server Engineer to join a hybrid team working on an unannounced mobile game for a world-class IP. You will design and maintain scalable server-side systems powering player data, live ops, matchmaking, and social features.

Collaborate with Gameplay Engineers, Designers, and Producers to ship backend features end-to-end, ensure reliability, observability, and performance as the player base grows.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend ownership on shipped online or mobile title.
• Strong proficiency in Typescript and another backend language (Go, Python, or Rust).
• Experience designing and maintaining RESTful or real-time APIs.
• Familiarity with GCP and/or Firebase deployment, monitoring, and scaling.
• Ability to collaborate cross-functionally and solve problems in ambiguity.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable server-side systems powering core game features.
• Collaborate with Gameplay Engineers, Designers, and Producers to implement and ship backend features.
• Own backend features end-to-end, from design through testing and live support.
• Build and maintain reliable, observable, and performant services with scalability in mind.
• Contribute to backend architecture decisions and establish engineering standards.

Skills

Backend ownership

Typescript

Go

Python

Rust

RESTful APIs

Real-time APIs

Networking fundamentals

GCP

Firebase

AI tools / LLMs

Databases (SQL & NoSQL)

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Ownership mindset

Tools

Unity

GCP

Firebase

Job description

Lightfox Games is seeking a talented and enthusiastic Server Engineer to join our Vancouver based team to work on an unannounced mobile game for a world-class IP and Publisher. This role is hybrid out of our Vancouver studio with approximately 50% of time expected in-person.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable server-side systems that power core game features including player data, live ops, matchmaking, and social features
• Collaborate closely with Gameplay Engineers, Designers, and Producers to implement and ship backend features that support a great player experience
• Own backend features end-to-end, from technical design and implementation through testing, deployment, and live support
• Build and maintain reliable, observable, and performant services with an eye toward scalability as the player base grows
• Contribute to backend architecture decisions and help establish engineering standards for a growing team

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, including meaningful backend ownership on at least one shipped online or mobile title
• Strong proficiency in Typescript and at least one other backend language, such as Go, Python, or Rust
• Experience designing and maintaining RESTful or real-time APIs, with a solid understanding of networking fundamentals
• Familiarity with GCP and/or Firebase tech stack, including deployment, monitoring, and scaling
• Understand the "Why" of the features you're building, and collaborate with the team to find creative solutions to enhance development speed and quality
• Solid understanding of databases (both relational and NoSQL) and experience optimizing for performance, high scalability, and reliability
• Experience leveraging AI tools and LLMs to accelerate backend development, code review, or documentation workflows
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, comfortable working cross-functionally in small, fast-moving teams
• Self-motivated and comfortable with ownership in an ambiguous, early-stage environment

Nice to have

• Experience building backend systems for mobile free-to-play games, including live ops infrastructure, event systems, or economy services
• Experience with real-time multiplayer or social features such as guilds, leaderboards, or co-op systems
• Familiarity with Unity and experience integrating server-side systems with a Unity client

Compensation

CA$105,000 - CA$135,000 depending on experience, plus health/vision/dental coverage, RRSP matching, and equity.