Principal Research Engineer, Unreal Assistant

Epic Games; Cary (NC); On-site; USD 200,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

LT Disability & Life Insurance

401k with company match

Mental health program (Modern Health)

Unlimited PTO

Sabbatical after 7 years

Job summary

Epic Games seeks a Principal AI Engineer to design and ship LLM-driven agents inside Unreal Engine, including engine-side tooling and cloud backend integration. You will work across the full stack to deliver end-to-end features and shape the future of AI-powered tools in the engine.

You will mentor teammates and collaborate with engineers across engine, tooling, and backend domains, driving reliability, safety, and innovation in AI-assisted game development.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science or related field
• Strong software engineering background with Unreal Engine experience or engine architecture
• Experience building or shipping products powered by LLMs (agents, tool-calling, RAG, prompts) or strong concept of how LLMs work

Responsibilities

• Design and build LLM-driven agents and tools inside Unreal Engine, including engine-side C++/Python tooling and editor scripting
• Architect and extend the cloud-hosted agent harness, services, and database mediating between LLMs and the engine
• Work across the full stack (engine tooling, cloud backend, web UI) to ship end-to-end features
• Evaluate and integrate emerging LLM capabilities into Epic’s engine and tooling
• Define technical direction for reliability, safety, and evaluation of LLM-driven engine automation
• Mentor engineers across game engine internals and LLM system design

Skills

C++

Python

LLM integration

Cloud-native

Web APIs

Engine tooling

Editor scripting

Full-stack thinking

Communication

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Unreal Engine

LLM tooling

Cloud Platforms (AWS/Azure)

Databases

Job description

WHAT MAKES US EPIC?

At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating.

Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development.

ENGINEERING - UNREAL ENGINE

What We Do

Unreal-powered projects have been on the bleeding edge of real-time entertainment for over 20 years. Our team of engineering experts are always innovating to improve the tools and technology that empower content developers worldwide.

What You’ll Do

We’re looking for a Principal Al Engineer who builds products that integrate Al into Unreal Engine. You’ll design and ship the full stack of systems that let LLMs act inside the engine (from end to end, not just a single layer), bringing depth in game engine architecture, cloud services, and how LLMs actually work.

In this role, you will

• Design and build LLM-driven agents and tools that operate directly inside Unreal Engine, including engine-side C++/Python tooling and editor scripting
• Architect and extend the cloud-hosted agent harness, services, and database that mediate between LLMs and the engine
• Work across the full stack (engine tooling, cloud backend, and the web UI used to drive and monitor agents) to ship end-to-end features
• Evaluate and integrate emerging LLM capabilities (tool use, multi-agent orchestration, context management) into Epic’s engine and pipeline tooling
• Define technical direction for the reliability, safety, and evaluation of LLM-driven engine automation
• Partner closely with engine, tools, and backend engineers, and mentor others on both game engine internals and LLM system design

What we’re looking for

• Strong software engineering background with hands-on experience in a game engine (Unreal Engine strongly preferred), including engine architecture and tooling/editor scripting
• Practical experience building or shipping products powered by LLMs (agents, tool-calling, RAG, prompt/context engineering), or a strong conceptual understanding of how LLMs work
• Experience with cloud-native services and infrastructure: web APIs, databases, and service architecture and deployment
• Excellent programming skills across C++ (engine-side) and Python and/or a web backend language
• Ability to work full-stack and reason about tradeoffs across engine code, backend services, and a web front end
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• BS/MS in Computer Science or a related field

EPIC JOB + EPIC BENEFITS = EPIC LIFE

Our intent is to cover all things that are medically necessary and improve the quality of life. We pay 100% of the premiums for both you and your dependents. Our coverage includes Medical, Dental, a Vision HRA, Long Term Disability, Life Insurance & a 401k with competitive match. We also offer a robust mental well-being program through Modern Health, which provides free therapy and coaching for employees & dependents. Throughout the year we celebrate our employees with events and company-wide paid breaks. We offer unlimited PTO and sick time and recognize individuals for 7 years of employment with a paid sabbatical.

ABOUT US

Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company. For over 30 years we’ve been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic’s award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world-class talent.

Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic!

Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy here.

Note to Recruitment Agencies: Epic does not accept any unsolicited resumes or approaches from any unauthorized third party (including recruitment or placement agencies) (i.e., a third party with whom we do not have a negotiated and validly executed agreement). We will not pay any fees to any unauthorized third party. Further details on these matters can be found here.