Principal Services Engineer

Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 218,000 - 327,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the gaming industry is seeking a Principal Services Engineer to develop game-facing services and drive architectural planning. The role involves collaborating with a dedicated team to create innovative gaming experiences within a vibrant and inclusive environment. Candidates must have experience in distributed systems and strong communication skills, with knowledge in Rust considered essential.

Benefits

Medical benefits

401(k) matching

Paid time off

Wellness program

Employee discounts for Sony products

Bonus potential

Qualifications

• Experience with distributed systems in high-scale environments required.
• Strong skills in Rust to develop and maintain code.
• Ability to communicate effectively across technical backgrounds.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain production-quality backend game services.
• Design services architecture for live games.
• Collaborate with a cross-disciplinary team on features.

Skills

Distributed systems

Rust

Communication

Debugging

Collaborative teamwork

Tools

Docker

Git

UNIX command line

Job description

PlayStation isn’t just the Best Place to Play — it’s also the Best Place to Work. Today, we’re recognized as a global leader in entertainment producing The PlayStation family of products and services including PlayStation5, PlayStation4, PlayStationVR, PlayStationPlus, acclaimed PlayStation software titles from PlayStation Studios, and more.

PlayStation also strives to create an inclusive environment that empowers employees and embraces diversity. We welcome and encourage everyone who has a passion and curiosity for innovation, technology, and play to explore our open positions and join our growing global team.

The PlayStation brand falls under Sony Interactive Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.

Are you on a mission to create games that bond players together into deeply invested communities? Would you like to work on something comedic with lighthearted and whimsical characters? Do you enjoy the challenge of solving complex, non-deterministic problems with simple, pragmatic solutions?

As a Principal Services Engineer for teamLFG, you will drive the development of game-facing services from prototype to production, from requirements gathering and architectural planning to implementation and scaling. Most importantly, you will work with a fun, dedicated, and passionate cross-discipline team devoted to turning a creative dream into a new franchise at PlayStation.

We look for candidates who value joining a mission-focused team with a diverse set of backgrounds, experiences, interests, and viewpoints.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Build and maintain production-quality backend game services
• Design a comprehensive, pragmatic services architecture, covering all aspects of a live-services game (including sessions, matchmaking, player data, and service partitioning)
• Collaborate daily with a cross-disciplinary team to design the services features for the game
• Effectively write clear, concise, and accurate technical documentation and email communication, with the ability to summarize complex topics and achieve alignment across multiple teams
• Calmly deal with production incidents, participating in an on-call rotation after launch

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Production experience with distributed systems (or other non-deterministic software architectures) in a high-scale, high-latency environment
• Ability to communicate with customers of different technical and non-technical backgrounds to help them navigate technology and achieve their goals
• Ability to diagnose complex system failures using logging and metrics
• Ability to write, debug, and maintain code in Rust
• Embrace a “we” culture in addition to being an outstanding collaborator and communicator

NICE-TO-HAVE SKILLS

• Experience with “games as a service” online game development
• Experience leading (direct management, mentoring, or guiding) engineers
• Ability to write, debug, and maintain code in C++
• Working knowledge of Docker, Git, and the UNIX command line (including shell scripting and system configuration)

Please refer to ourCandidate Privacy Notice for more information about how we process your personal information, and your data protection rights.

At SIE, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location.

Please note that the base pay range may vary in line with our hybrid working policy and individual base pay will be determined based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.

In addition, this role is eligible for SIE’s top-tier benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, matching 401(k), paid time off, wellness program and coveted employee discounts for Sony products. This role also may be eligible for a bonus package. Click here to learn more.

This is a flexible role that can be remote, with varying pay ranges based on geographic location. For example, if you are based out of Seattle, the estimated base pay range for this role is listed below.

$218,000 - $327,000 USD

Equal Opportunity Statement:

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond.

PlayStation is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.

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