Lead Gameplay Engineer

Striking Distance Studios; San Ramon (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 206,000; Full time

Job summary

Striking Distance Studios in California is seeking a Lead Gameplay Engineer to guide a cross-disciplinary team in delivering robust gameplay features and systems. You will lead planning, development, and execution of game modes, engine work, and architecture, while mentoring engineers and ensuring high-quality code.

You will collaborate with design and UI to integrate gameplay with player experiences, drive technical design, and ensure the team adheres to best practices and documentation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in software engineering, computer science, or equivalent.
• 7+ years of games industry experience; 3+ years in a leadership role.
• Advanced leadership skills including empathy, strategic thinking, organization and conflict resolution.
• At least 1 year of experience with Unreal Engine and knowledge of game development workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of Gameplay Engineers to create best in class game modes.
• Plan, develop, and execute the game, engine and architecture.
• Mentor junior engineers and review code quality and design documents.
• Collaborate with design to implement features and systems (controls, abilities, AI, RPG).
• Write clear, maintainable, portable code and communicate status to leads and QA.

Skills

Leadership

Unreal Engine

C++

3D math

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in software engineering or computer science

Tools

Unreal Engine

Job description

Welcome to Striking Distance Studios! Driven by people, inspired by challenges, and relentless to deliver creative excellence. We are a AAA development studio located in the San Ramon Hills of the San Francisco Bay Area. With the release of our first title, The Callisto Protocol, we are excited to continue to grow our team.

To us excellence is not a skill, but an attitude!

Opportunity

Striking Distance Studios is looking for a Lead Gameplay Engineer to work in a cooperative, cross-disciplinary team environment to help the team implement a wide variety of features and systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of Gameplay Engineers to create best in class Game Modes.
• Lead the overall planning, development, and execution of the game, engine and architecture.
• Establish tech projects, initiatives, and processes in conformance with the studio’s goals and objectives.
• Take new products and features from the design phase to release.
• Work across disciplines to build, refactor and maintain a variety of robust, flexible, and well-architected gameplay features, including controls, abilities, AI, and RPG systems.
• Prototype and implement different game modes.
• Work with design team on different features like 3Cs, combat systems, inventory, etc. to get the best player experience.
• Implement metagame features, including save systems, game settings, etc.
• Work with UI engineers to integrate HUD elements with gameplay features in the best way.
• Review the work of other engineers and provide mentorship on your area of knowledge.
• Create and maintain technical design documents.
• Delve into code written by other engineers and take ownership of existing systems as needed.
• Keep current on technological developments and advancements.
• Research and develop coding techniques and algorithms.
• Collaborate with technology director on technical design and feature roll out.
• Write clear, maintainable, portable, and highly performant code.
• Communicate accurate status updates to your team leads, producers, and QA regarding tasks/features you are responsible for.
• Adhere to team coding standards and best practices.
• Foster a culture of open, honest, and respectful communication across all disciplines.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in software engineering, computer science, or equivalent.
• At least 7 years of games industry experience and preferably 3 years or more in a similar role.
• Advanced leadership skills, including high empathy, strategic thinking, positivity, organization, responsibility and conflict resolution skills.
• At least 1 year of experience with Unreal Engine.
• Experience shipping games on current generation consoles (PS5 or XSX) and PC.
• Expert ability to be self-directed, focused and detail oriented.
• Expert C++ skills.
• 3D math skills.
• Expert verbal and written communications skills.
• A demonstrable love / passion for playing and making video games.
• A highly communicative and collaborative disposition.

Reasonable Accommodation

KRAFTON Americas is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, the Company will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to apply for an open position, perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact the HR Talent team at KRAFTON Americas, to begin the interactive process.

EEOC Statement

KRAFTON Americas provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type.

Compensation

In California, the expected salary range for this position is $150,000-$206,000. The listed expected salary range represents a good faith estimate and the actual pay may depend on a variety of job-related factors that can include experience, education, skills, and location.

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply at jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Krafton we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be the right candidate for this or other roles.