Senior Engine Programmer

Rushdown Studios; City of Saratoga Springs (NY); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

9 paid holidays + Flexible PTO

Annual video game budget

401(k) retirement plan

Parental leave

Job summary

Rushdown Studios in Saratoga Springs, NY is seeking a Senior Engine Programmer to build, optimize, and maintain core game engine systems using modern C++. You will work with our team to support multiple games and ensure high performance across PC and consoles.

The role rewards self-motivated team players who can juggle tasks, communicate well, and ship maintainable, portable engine code. This is a hybrid role with local office preference on Tue-Thu, or remote for eligible Eastern US candidates.

Qualifications

• Four years of professional C++ experience building and maintaining engine tech.
• Experience shipping commercially released games and writing clean, portable code.
• Strong fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and concurrency.
• Familiarity with real-time rendering and GPU/CPU performance profiling.
• Experience with multithreaded programming and parallel processing.
• Willingness to put player experience first and communicate proactively.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain core game engine systems using modern C++.
• Write clean, maintainable code easily understood by external developers.
• Evaluate new technologies to improve workflows, engine capabilities, and performance.
• Collaborate with external programmers to optimize features and performance.
• Resolve crashes and bottlenecks on PC and console platforms.

Skills

C++ programming

Engine development

Performance profiling

Multithreading

Algorithms & data structures

Real-time rendering

Collaboration

Communication

Tools

Unreal Engine

Python

Lua

Job description

Founded by games industry veterans, Rushdown was created with a simple philosophy in mind: We believe that when talented developers are consistently challenged and given clear ownership of their work, extraordinary things will happen. As a co-dev game studio, we now focus on solving some of the most difficult problems that face multiplayer games — and we bring our experience working on games like PUBG, League of Legends, and Rocket League with us. We truly love the work we do and we want to funnel our passion and expertise into features and games that billions of players will enjoy worldwide.

Our Role

Rushdown Studios is looking for a Senior Engine Programmer to join us in support of our partner studio! In this role, you’ll work alongside our team to build, optimize, and maintain central technologies capable of servicing multiple games with unique needs.

Our ideal candidate is a self-motivated and demonstrated team player with the ability to juggle and jump between different tasks as necessary. Prior game development experience is required for this role, but we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all of the requirements listed below!

Work Location: Rushdown Studios is based in Saratoga Springs, NY and we have a strong preference for local candidates willing to work from our office on a hybrid basis (i.e., Tuesday-Thursday) or fully remote candidates in the Eastern United States. However, we're always open to expanding our list of remote-eligible states for the right candidate, as well.

Disclaimer: Please note that this is not a gameplay engineering role.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain core game engine systems using modern C++.
• Write clean and intuitive code that can easily be understood by external developers and extended in the future.
• Evaluate new technologies and tools capable of improving software development workflows, engine capabilities, and runtime performance.
• Collaborate with external programmers to enable their features to run as quickly and efficiently as possible.
• Solve crashes, performance bottlenecks, and other problems on both PC and console.

Requirements

• Four (4) years of professional experience with C++, including industry experience building and maintaining proprietary game engine technology.
• Experience developing and shipping commercial games, as well as the broader ability to write clear, maintainable, and portable code.
• Strong understanding of mathematics, analytics, and computer science fundamentals (e.g., data structures, algorithms, concurrency).
• Familiarity with real-time rendering systems and GPU/CPU performance profiling, analysis, and optimization.
• Experience with multithreaded programming, synchronization, and parallel processing.
• Willingness to selflessly put player experiences first — before even your own code and ego.
• Proactive approach to communication, particularly when it comes to unblocking yourself and navigating obstacles as part of a team.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience with multiple game engines, including Unreal Engine.
• Knowledge of 3D graphics, animation, game AI, or gameplay tooling.
• Familiarity with scripting languages (e.g., Python, Lua) for game development.
• Experience with console development, including optimizing for specific platforms and navigating related performance constraints.

Benefits:

• Compensation: $100,000-150,000/year. Please note that final base pay will ultimately depend upon a combination of factors, including your prior experience, general qualifications, and broader skill set.
• 9 Paid Holidays plus Flexible PTO and Annual Winter Break Closure
• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Annual Video Game Budget
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• Paid Parental Leave

EEO Statement

At Rushdown Studios, we believe that we're made better by each of the different perspectives that our team members bring to the table. We said it above, and we'll say it again: We want to hear from you, even if you don't meet all of the requirements for a specific role.

We're also an equal opportunity employer and we do not discriminate on the basis of race; color; ancestry or national origin; religion; physical or mental disability; age; sex, including pregnancy; sexual orientation; gender, gender identity, or gender expression; medical condition; genetic information; or marital, military, or veteran status.