Lead Technical Director, World Systems

Blizzard Entertainment; Irvine (CA); Hybrid; USD 159,000 - 293,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) with company match

Paid holidays and vacation

Mental health & wellbeing programs

Relocation assistance (if required)

Job summary

Blizzard Entertainment is assembling a team to build the next chapter of STARCRAFT, returning to a universe forged in interstellar war. This mission offers something new: crafting an original story-driven, open-world shooter while honoring the legacy of one of Blizzard's most beloved games.

As Associate Technical Director in Irvine, you will lead World Systems architecture, guide engineers, and ensure performance and quality.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in game engineering, with at least 3 years in a leadership or managerial role within the gaming industry or a related field.
• Proven ability to lead and inspire a team, manage multiple projects, and collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Experience shipping large game systems and content workflows for a modern, large-scale AAA game with focus on long‑term maintenance, efficiency and quality.
• A proactive mindset focused on quality, continuous improvement, and stewardship driving development with clear requirements and pragmatic plans.
• Advanced proficiency in C++ programming, debugging, profiling, and performance optimization.
• Strong understanding of gameplay architecture, real‑time systems, and modern software engineering practices.
• Experience finding success and alignment when faced with uncertainty and conflicting or evolving priorities.
• Communicating ideas clearly, learning from others, and giving meaningful feedback.
• Experience with performance analysis and code / content optimization workflows.
• Experience working with Unreal Engine
• Shipping games on multiple platforms, including consoles
• Familiarity with Blizzard games and Blizzard's approach to gameplay quality.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with other discipline directors to establish, drive and deliver on World Systems vision and development roadmap.
• Support cross-functional gameplay and content teams in bringing their vision to life, creating an interesting, complex, and challenging world.
• Prioritize, review and direct work of a cross-disciplinary World Systems team on a day-to-day basis.
• Drive architecture and content creation toolset to ensure team productivity and high quality of results.
• Ensure engineering team is collaborating with content creators and other gameplay teams to understand their needs and develop an aligned technical approach.
• Hire and grow engineers and engineering leaders, providing guidance and fostering a collaborative, innovative environment.
• Direct responsibility for technical quality, stability and performance of World Systems implementation.
• Partner with other leads and directors to improve team culture, align technical approach and provide direct support when needed.

Skills

C++ programming

Leadership

Unreal Engine

Game architecture

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Unreal Engine

Job description

Blizzard Entertainment is assembling a team to build the next chapter of STARCRAFT, returning to a universe forged in interstellar war. This mission offers something new: crafting an original story-driven, open-world shooter while honoring the legacy of one of Blizzard's most beloved games.

As Associate Technical Director in Irvine, you will lead World Systems architecture, guide engineers, and ensure performance and quality.