Lead Full Stack Engineer

2K; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading game development company in Cambridge is looking for a Lead Engineer to champion technology principles and guide engineering teams. You'll be responsible for delivering complex projects, mentoring engineers, and ensuring high-quality code standards. The successful candidate will have extensive experience in Java backend development and the ability to communicate technical solutions. Join a creative team dedicated to crafting engaging online games.

Benefits

Private Healthcare, including Dental Plan

Minimum 6% Pension contributions

Life Insurance

Flexible working hours

25 days annual leave + Bank holidays

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in leading engineering teams for games or software projects.
• Proficiency in Java and its ecosystem.
• Solid debugging, profiling, and code optimization skills.

Responsibilities

• Guide engineers through mentoring and coaching.
• Lead delivery of complex engineering projects.
• Collaborate with product and production teams.

Skills

Leading engineering teams

Java backend development

Mentoring and coaching

System design

Analytical and problem-solving skills

Debugging and code optimization

Version control and CI/CD knowledge

Tools

GIT

Perforce

Bamboo

Job description

Location: Cambridge, UK (remote-friendly within the UK) with occasional travel to the office once per quarter.

The Central Technology organisation is responsible for the core technologies that power RuneScape Franchises including Old School RuneScape and RuneScape 3, delivering game technology, scalable implementations and tools that accelerate every product and every team to deliver for our players.

The Player Gateway team is responsible for enhancing and optimising the player experience of Jagex titles from the initial visit to engaging directly with the game for new, returning, or active players.

As a Lead Engineer will champion Jagex technology principles by guiding and supporting engineers through mentoring, coaching, goal setting, and development planning. As Lead engineer you will work with product and production teams as primary technical contact.

What you'll be doing:

Technical Duties

• Contributes to and supports all areas of the Software Development Lifecycle, including writing secure-by-design, production ready code, automated testing, code review and deployment, ensuring all aspects meet the high standards, principles and practices for their team
• Works with other Lead Engineers, Principal Engineers and the Technical Director to set code, automation, API, cloud infrastructure and system design standards and principles for the department
• Ensures that solutions meet technical requirements and product needs, matching team capabilities, evaluating off the shelf and in-house built solutions which best fit the needs of the business
• Takes technical accountability for the team’s output and its continued excellence in all technology areas
• Leads the delivery of complex engineering projects for their team – collaborating with other Leads, architects and principal engineers across the business
• Support the engineers in breaking down their work into sensible, manageable and easily estimated stories that can deliver product value within the sprint
• Delivers solutions to complex engineering challenges and incidents for their team
• Proactively identifies opportunities to improve our systems, services, and processes. Effectively communicates these, collaborating across teams to deliver improvement
• Proactively contributes to Discipline Crafts and support their continued improvement
• Provides On-Call support to troubleshoot and resolve out-of-hours production issues

Management Duties

• Acts as a role model for engineers, living the company values and behaviours
• Recruitment responsibilities
• Responsible for the growth of engineers through coaching, mentoring, setting personal and professional objectives and providing constructive, candid feedback to those they manage
• Perform skill gap analyses and facilitate training mechanisms to ensure engineers have both the technical and soft skills required
• Facilitate the procurement of new software and tooling where needed
• Work as part of the leadership team, ensuring the right balance between product, production and engineering to deliver on business value within your team

What we're looking for:

• Extensive experience leading engineering teams to deliver games or large software projects
• Proficiency in Java and understanding of its ecosystem with experience in Java backend development
• Demonstrable ability to mentor others and contributing to the team’s continuous improvement by sharing and refining best practices
• Proven experience working closely with non-engineering stakeholders and communicating technical solutions in an easy-to-understand manner
• Proven ability to design complex systems using appropriate patterns, solving architectural and system-level problems to high quality standards
• Experience working on established code bases
• Analytical mind and strong problem-solving skills
• Solid debugging, profiling and code optimization skills
• Good knowledge of version control and CI/CD systems e.g. GIT, Perforce, Bamboo

What we offer:

When you join Jagex you can look forward to a generous Perks & Benefits package including:

• Private Healthcare, including Dental Plan.
• Minimum 6% Pension contributions.
• Employee Assistance Programme & onsite Counselling.
• Life Insurance.
• Discretionary annual performance bonus.
• Enhanced family leave policies from day 1.
• Flexible working hours.
• 25 days annual leave + Bank holidays & the option to buy/sell holidays + so much more!

About Jagex:

Jagex is a leader in developing and publishing deep, engaging online games that connect millions of players worldwide. Best known for the RuneScape franchise, which includes two of the world’s longest running and most successful MMORPGs, in Old School Runescape and Runescape, and the open-world survival crafting game, Runescape: Dragonwilds; we have proven success in delivering immersive Forever Games and fostering strong player communities.

We strive to foster an inclusive workplace built on trust, autonomy, and a shared passion for creating forever games.
Our values guide everything we do: We Embrace Fellowship by collaborating and sharing openly. We Hone our Craft by always learning and improving; we Honour our Vows by being honest and transparent; we are our Customers’ Heroes by striving to understand our team & player needs, and we Seize The Day by making the most of every opportunity.

With over two decades of experience, and over 400 people in our team, we continue to innovate in live game development, leveraging data-driven insights, and a commitment to player-first game design. We have a diverse and talented team where creativity, collaboration, and community-driven game development drives everything we do.

As part of Jagex, you’ll have the opportunity to work on a globally successful franchise, contribute to exciting new projects, and be part of a company that hugely values both our employees and our players.