Tech Lead - XR Rapid Prototyping

Nexus Studios; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Nexus Studios seeks a Tech Lead for a remote role focusing on immersive prototype development. You'll lead technical direction, working closely with creative teams to deliver visually compelling XR experiences. Ideal candidates have 10+ years in software development with strong real-time graphics proficiency.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software development experience, including senior roles in XR.
• Strong experience in GLSL or equivalent shader languages.
• Deep familiarity with Kotlin for spatial computing.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical vision for immersive prototypes and demos.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate concept goals into technical builds.
• Mentor development team on best practices and system coherence.

Skills

Software Development

Real-time Graphics Programming

Technical Delivery

Strong Communication Skills

Creative Mindset

Job description

Location: Remote – able to work 10am – 7pm UK time
Type: 5-6 months initial contract
Start Date: July 2025

Nexus Studios is a global creative studio working with award-winning directors across animation, artful live-action and immersive to redefine the boundaries of entertainment. Our work has received accolades from BAFTA, Emmy, Grammy, Academy Awards to name a few. We work with the world’s leading cultural brands and have a deep rooted history in innovation, XR and crafted storytelling.

The Role:
We’re assembling a nimble, highly creative prototyping team to develop short-cycle immersive demos in support of a larger product development effort. These demos are designed to inspire and impress prospective partners—visually rich, experience-driven, and technically feasible showcases that convey what the final product will offer.

As Tech Lead, you’ll be in a client-facing role and will shape and steer the technical direction of this small prototype team, ensuring fast, beautiful, and inventive results while remaining pragmatic and focused on delivering within tight iteration loops. You’ll work closely with the Technology Director and Creative teams, and serve as both technical lead and hands-on contributor.

This is a unique opportunity for a creative technologist or engineering lead with a passion for real-time visuals, fast prototyping, and bleeding-edge immersive platforms.

What You'll Do:

• Lead the technical vision and architecture for a series of immersive prototypes and interactive demos.
• Attend regular client meetings along side the Technology Director, product Tech Lead and wider team to assist in presenting the technical aspects of work being performed on the demo(s).
• Collaborate with creative stakeholders to understand concept goals, translating them into feasible, visually compelling technical builds.
• Rapidly explore new frameworks, APIs, and SDKs for spatial interaction, real-time rendering, and UI/UX within XR natively with Kotlin and Jetpack Compose.
• Manage and mentor the senior developer and technical artist on best practices, system coherence, and build pipeline consistency.
• Own and guide code standards, build system setup, and versioning for the demo team.
• Partner with the Technology Director and Product Tech Lead to maintain alignment with the long-term product roadmap, without sacrificing creative freedom.
• Ensure demos are performant, stable, and visually impressive, even if built on temporary or experimental systems.
• Identify and de-risk technical unknowns early through previsualisation, mockups, and hands-on prototyping.
  

What You Will Bring:

• 10+ years of professional software development experience, including 4+ years in senior/lead roles in XR, games, real-time visualization, or creative technology environments.
• Proven ability to manage small teams while also contributing hands-on to technical delivery.
• Strong experience in real-time graphics programming, including GLSL or equivalent shader languages.
• Deep familiarity with Kotlin or similar languages for spatial computing and immersive interaction.
• A creative and experimental mindset—comfortable pushing visual boundaries while maintaining tech realism.
• Experience with rapid iteration and shipping prototypes or MVPs under tight timelines.
• Strong communication skills, especially across cross-functional creative and technical teams.
• Comfort with evaluating and integrating new SDKs and platform features quickly.
  

Preferred Experience:

• Prior work on experience-based XR/AR/VR demos or interactive installations.
• Familiarity with spatial computing SDKs and device-native capabilities.
• Collaborative experience in mixed teams of designers, artists, and developers.
• Strong grasp of real-time rendering constraints, mobile GPU performance, and optimizing for immersive displays.
• Comfort with Unity
  

This is a Nexus-led role, embedded within a forward-thinking, creatively ambitious initiative. You’ll shape how we imagine the future of immersive experiences—and help others see it, feel it, and believe in it.

If you're energized by the intersection of creativity and code, and love turning technical possibilities into magical prototypes, we'd love to hear from you.

Nexus Studios is proud to work with extraordinary talent as an equal opportunity employer. We embrace individuals of all backgrounds regardless of gender, race, age, abilities or sexual preferences. Our recruitment process is merit-based, ensuring fair treatment to every applicant.