Game Developer Manager

Akima; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Pinnacle Solutions, an Akima company, seeks an experienced Game Developer Manager to lead our game developer team within the Virtual Programs business area. This hands-on leadership role focuses on mentoring, scheduling, and scaling a high-performing team for military training applications.

You will own personnel tasking, production planning, and cross-project resource allocation, working with SMEs, ISDs, and leads to drive design quality and efficient execution across concurrent projects.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in game development with 4+ years in lead/supervisory role.
• Proficiency in Unity and/or Unreal.
• US citizen able to obtain Secret clearance.
• Strong communication across disciplines.
• Experience with production pipelines and cross-project planning.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor game development team with day-to-day guidance.
• Own production planning, task breakdown, resource allocation.
• Define and evolve development pipeline for multiple projects.
• Ensure technical quality and performance budgets.
• Contribute to content creation for virtual instruction and test tools.
• Ensure engine-specific content integration in Unity/Unreal.
• Collaborate with engineering and design to meet goals.
• Review deliverables with actionable feedback.
• Improve team workflows and adopt real-time rendering tech.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline

Tools

Unity

Unreal Engine

Jira

Git/SVN/Perforce

C#/C++/Lua

Job description

Pinnacle is seeking an experienced and driven Game Developer Manager to lead our game developer team within our Virtual Programs business area. This role is ideal for a hands‑on leader who thrives in a technical, mission-focused environment and is motivated to build, mentor, and scale a high-performing team.

This Game Developer Manager will lead the game developer team, owning personnel tasking, production planning, and cross‑project resource allocation. Working closely with Subject Matter Experts, Instructional Systems Designers, Software Engineering Leads, Art Leads, QA, and Program Managers, this role will define development schedules, ensure design quality and technical accuracy, and drive efficient execution across multiple concurrent efforts.

In addition to people leadership and production management, the Game Developer Manager will actively contribute to content creation for virtual instruction, setting technical standards, content implementation in game engine, and a custom development tool set. Daily work will require experience in Unity 3d and/or Unreal game engines and the ability to learn custom frameworks and toolsets.

Success in this role requires the ability to operate in a fast‑paced, highly collaborative production environment, balancing realism, performance, and instructional fidelity while supporting the evolving needs of military training customers.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage game development team, providing technical direction, mentorship, performance feedback, and day‑to‑day production guidance.
• Own game development production planning and execution across multiple projects, including task breakdown, resource allocation, schedule development, and dependency coordination in partnership with engineering, design, and production leads.
• Establish, document, and evolve the game development pipeline, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and scalability across platforms and projects.
• Set and enforce technical quality standards for game development, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and performance for training‑focused applications.
• Serve as a hands‑on contributor, creating and reviewing virtual training content, based on provided reference and subject‑matter‑expert input.
• Oversee the implementation of game developer content into Unity and Unreal Engine, ensuring content meets performance budgets, virtual trainer standards, and engine‑specific requirements.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with engineering and design teams to support interactive training goals, instructional fidelity, and technical constraints.
• Review and approve deliverables, providing clear, actionable feedback and ensuring they meet both development and customer‑driven requirements.
• Continuously improve team capabilities, tools, and workflows to support evolving project demands and emerging real‑time rendering technologies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in game design, Game Development, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.
• 10+ years of professional experience in Game Development, with at least 4+ years in a lead or supervisory role managing game developers and production pipelines.
• Advanced proficiency in Unity and/or Unreal.
• Proven ability to balance hands‑on production with leadership responsibilities in a fast‑paced, collaborative environment.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to coordinate across disciplines and translate technical requirements into actionable development tasks.
• Understanding of software development best practices, including version control, code review, and testing methodologies.
• Proficiency in debugging, performance analysis, and optimization tools within game engines.
• Experience in Software and Hardware integration and testing.
• Must be a US Citizen with the ability to obtain a Secret Security Clearance.
• Any clearance requirements for this position are established by the government contract.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting simulation, training, or serious games projects and familiarity with military vehicles, aircraft, or technical platforms is strongly preferred.
• Experience developing and establishing standards and performance guidelines for real‑time applications.
• Experience using Jira (or similar project management tools) to plan, track, and manage tasks, sprints, and dependencies across multiple projects and team members.
• Familiarity with file versioning and asset management workflows (e.g., Git, SVN, Perforce), with the ability to define, enforce, and troubleshoot team‑wide source control practices.
• Strong scripting skills in C#, C++, and LUA.
• Familiarity with VR/AR development for training applications.

Company Description

Work Where it Matters

Pinnacle Solutions, an Akima company, is not just another federal contractor. As an Alaska Native Corporation (ANC), our mission and purpose extend beyond our exciting federal projects as we support our shareholder communities in Alaska.

At Pinnacle Solutions, the work you do every day makes a difference in the lives of our 15,000 Iñupiat shareholders, a group of Alaska natives from one of the most remote and harshest environments in the United States.

For our shareholders, Pinnacle Solutions provides support and employment opportunities and contributes to the survival of a culture that has thrived above the Arctic Circle for more than 10,000 years.

For our government customers, Pinnacle Solutions delivers comprehensive services for general construction and renovation, as well as civil and marine construction.

As a Pinnacle Solutions employee, you will be surrounded by a challenging, yet supportive work environment that is committed to innovation and diversity, two of our most important values. You will also have access to our comprehensive benefits and competitive pay in addition to growth opportunities and excellent retirement options.