Lead Software Engineer, Educational Games

University of Wisconsin-Madison; Madison (WI); On-site; USD 63,000 - 77,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous PTO

Health, dental, vision, life insurance

Tax-advantaged savings accounts

Wisconsin Retirement System

Job summary

University of Wisconsin–Madison is seeking a Lead Developer who combines strong software engineering with technical leadership. This role is ~70% hands-on development and ~30% leadership, mentoring, and coordination to build core game systems and guide engineering practices.

Field Day Lab creates educational games and digital tools for teaching and learning, collaborating with educators and researchers to design interactive experiences that blend game-based learning with scholarship across

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software development experience, including games and interactive applications.
• Experience with Unity and strong game development principles.
• Proficient in C#, JavaScript, and Python; adaptable to other languages.
• Experience prototyping games from concept through implementation.
• Ability to read, understand, and refactor code efficiently.
• Ability to translate goals into technical plans and engineering solutions.

Responsibilities

• Prepares program documentation and training requirements
• Maintains and troubleshoots applications, systems, or websites
• Implements data structure and systems performance strategies
• Reviews design specs, codes new apps, and enhances existing apps
• Develops or modifies technical specifications for low-complexity projects using disciplined software development practices
• Tests and debugs programs, and prepares systems test data

Skills

Unity

C#

JavaScript

Python

Game prototyping

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Git

Testing frameworks

Job description

University of Wisconsin–Madison is seeking a Lead Developer who combines strong software engineering with technical leadership. This role is ~70% hands-on development and ~30% leadership, mentoring, and coordination to build core game systems and guide engineering practices.

Field Day Lab creates educational games and digital tools for teaching and learning, collaborating with educators and researchers to design interactive experiences that blend game-based learning with scholarship across