Principal Game Engine Team Lead, Platform

Worldscape; Redmond (WA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Meaningful equity

Medical, Dental and Vision insurance

401k plan

Flexible time off

Job summary

Worldscape is seeking a senior physics engineering leader to guide real-time simulation for distributed data and intelligent agents. You will own physics architecture, data models, and solver strategies across engine and simulation systems, driving performance and reliability at scale.

You will collaborate with art, design, AI, and platform teams to deliver physics-driven gameplay, advanced rendering pipelines, and robust tooling.

Qualifications

• Education: BS/MS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Physics, Mathematics (or equivalent).
• 10+ years in real-time/game physics engineering; 2+ shipped titles with substantial physics ownership.
• Expertise in modern C++ and data-oriented design.
• Experience with collision detection techniques and physics integration with animation and rendering pipelines.
• Strong collaboration and leadership skills across multidisciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead physics architecture team: define data models, simulation loops, solvers, and integration points.
• Deliver core physics features including collision detection, vehicle dynamics, and atmospheric physics.
• Build physics-driven gameplay interactions, authoring tools, and runtime hooks.
• Own performance: profile, optimize, budget frame time and memory; drive multi-threading and SIMD efforts.
• Establish test suites, validation practices, and robust, stable simulations; manage edge cases.
• Develop tools, visualizers, and pipelines to accelerate designer iteration and QA.
• Collaborate with back-end, AI, data pipelines, and platform teams; communicate trade-offs.
• Provide mentorship, code reviews, and set coding standards across teams.
• Oversee real-time rendering pipelines and shader work; ensure engine integrations.
• Guide junior engineers and ensure high craftsmanship; manage subsystems like lighting and materials.

Skills

C++ expert

data-oriented design

memory management

profiling/debugging

rigid-body dynamics

collision detection

animation integration

multi-threading

SIMD/vectorization

cross-disciplinary leadership

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science/Software Engineering/Physics/Math

Tools

VTune

PIX

Nsight

RenderDoc

HLSL

GLSL

ShaderLab

Shader Graph

Job description

Worldscape is a cutting-edge platform designed to unify distributed data, sensors, and intelligent agents across cloud, on-prem, and edge environments. By combining geospatial intelligence, physics-based 3D simulation, and reward-driven AI, Worldscape enables organizations to build immersive digital twins for predictive modeling, scenario planning, and adaptive decision-making. With a zero-trust security framework, seamless integration with legacy systems, and robust developer tools, Worldscape empowers rapid deployment of agentic applications that drive resilience and efficiency in sectors like logistics, telecom, defense, and infrastructure.

Key Attributes:

• Innovation Mindset: Passion for pushing the boundaries of real-time physics in interactive simulation.


• Leadership & Mentorship: Ability to guide developers, set technical direction for an area, and enforce best practices


• Problem-Solving: Creative and analytical approach to complex simulation challenges


• Communication: Clear articulation of technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities:

• Run a team that owns the physics architecture: Define data models, simulation loops, solver strategies, and integration points across engine and simulation systems


• Deliver core physics features: Collision detection (broad-phase/narrow-phase), entity controllers, vehicle dynamics with an emphasis on orbital mechanics, particles/fluid mechanics (with an emphasis on atmospheric dynamics)


• Integrate with simulation logic (gameplay) & animation: Build physics-driven interactions, authoring tools, and runtime hooks (e.g., inverse kinematics, state machines, event systems)


• Performance ownership: Profile, optimize, and budget frame time and memory across platforms; lead multi-threading/Job System/SIMD efforts; evaluate GPU compute opportunities


• Stability & robustness: Establish test suites, golden scenarios, and verification and validation practices; reduce edge-case instability (stacking, tunneling, jitter, constraint drift)


• Tooling & workflow: Build/debug tools, visualizers, probes, and authoring pipelines that accelerate designer iteration and QA efficiency


• Cross-functional leadership: Partner with back-end, AI, data pipeline, and platform teams; communicate constraints/trade-offs; align milestones with production


• Mentorship & standards: Guide engineers via code reviews, design docs, and coding standards; cultivate a high bar for craft, documentation, and reproducibility


• Quality & live support: Own crash triage and regression control for physics; support content changes post-launch without destabilizing the simulation


• Design, implement, and optimize real-time rendering pipelines (e.g., forward, deferred, ray tracing)


• Develop and maintain shaders using HLSL, GLSL, ShaderLab, or Shader Graph


• Responsible for graphics API Integration work with low-level APIs like DirectX 11/12, Vulkan, Metal, or OpenGL ES


• Guide junior and mid-level engineers, conduct code reviews, and enforce best practices across studio teams


• Take responsibility for major subsystems (e.g., lighting, post-processing, material systems)


• Work closely with artists, designers, and other engineers to align visual goals with technical feasibility


• Help technical artists create efficient content workflows and troubleshoot visual issues


• Translate deep technical topics into actionable insights for studio and platform teams and leadership.

Professional Qualifications:

• Education: BS/MS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Physics, Mathematics (or equivalent practical experience)


• Experience:10+ years in real-time/game physics engineering; 2+ shipped titles with substantial physics ownership (AA/AAA preferred)


• Programming: Expert C++ (modern standards), data-oriented design, memory management, profiling/debugging (VTune, PIX, Nsight, RenderDoc, etc.)


• Rigid-body dynamics,collision detection (GJK, SAT, continuous collision detection/time of impact), integration schemes (semi-implicit Euler, RK, constraint solvers)


• Numerical stability, error control, and performance trade-offs under real-time constraints


• Engine Integration: Experience integrating physics with animation (animation blending, IK), gameplay systems, and rendering pipelines


• Performance: Multi-threading/job systems, SIMD/vectorization, cache-friendly data structures, frame/memory budgeting across platforms


• Collaboration: Proven ability to lead cross-disciplinary efforts and communicate complex technical topics clearly.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 15+ years’ experience in Modern Game Engines & Middleware: Unreal Engine (Chaos), Unity (DOTS/Physics), Havok, Bullet, PhysX; custom engine experience strongly preferred


• 10+ years’ experience in Advanced Simulation: Fracture systems, granular materials, vehicle tire models, buoyancy/aero effects; GPU compute (CUDA, compute shaders)


• Experience with existing physics models and systems integration


• Networking: Deterministic simulation strategies, rollback/prediction, server authority models, cross-platform latency mitigation


• Console/Platform: Shipping experience on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC; familiarity with platform TRCs/TCRs and performance certification


• Tooling & Scripting: Python/C#/Lua for tools and editor extensions; in-engine visualization/debugging overlays


• Optimization Expertise: Broad-phase structures (sweep-and-prune, BVH), island building, sleeping strategies, CCD tunneling avoidance; job scheduling and affinity tuning


• Content Pipelines: Collaboration with design/tech art to create authoring guidelines for physics assets; LOD strategies for physics complexity.

Why Worldscape?

There is nothing more important to Worldscape than our culture. It is the fundamental means by which we will succeed as an organization. Talent, ability, drive, experience, knowledge cannot be maximized without first embracing the culture we espouse and will live every single day. Worldscape offers great benefits, opportunities for continued growth, and the ability to directly affect change in our organization and be part of a high-growth startup at a pivotal stage.

What we offer:

• Competitive salary and meaningful equity


• Attractive benefits package


• Flexible time off policy


• Medical, Dental and Vision insurance


• HSA health insurance options


• 401k plan


• Basic and Voluntary Life Insurance


• Fast paced environment with flexibility and ownership

Worldscape is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, race, religion, pregnancy, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.

Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check. We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as experience, skills, and qualifications. In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for performance-based bonuses and equity awards.