Software Engineer/Developer

UWMSN University of Wisconsin Madison; United States; On-site; USD 63,000 - 77,000; Full time

Job summary

UW‑Madison's Field Day Lab seeks a Lead Developer who combines strong software engineering with technical leadership. This role is about 70% hands-on development and 30% mentoring, guiding engineering practices, and shaping the technical direction of educational game projects.

You will build core game systems, review designs, and coordinate with designers, researchers, and educators to create interactive learning experiences grounded in classroom realities.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in professional software development, including games.
• Expertise with Unity and game development principles.
• Advanced proficiency in C#, plus JavaScript and Python.
• Experience prototyping games from concept to implementation.
• Ability to read, refactor, and optimize code.

Responsibilities

• Prepares program documentation and training requirements.
• Maintains and troubleshoots applications, systems, or websites.
• Implements data structure and systems performance strategies.
• Reviews application design specifications, codes new applications, and makes enhancements to existing applications.
• Develops or modifies technical specifications for low‑complexity projects using disciplined software development practices.
• Tests and debugs programs, and prepares systems test data.

Skills

Unity

C#

JavaScript

Python

Game development

Mentoring

Technical leadership

Documentation

Team collaboration

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Unity engine

Git

Job description

Job Category

Academic Staff Employment Type: Regular

Job Summary

We are seeking a Lead Developer who combines strong software engineering skills with technical leadership. This role is approximately 70% hands‑on development and 30% technical leadership, mentoring, and coordination. The successful candidate will build core game systems while guiding engineering practices, supporting other developers, and helping shape the technical direction of multiple educational game projects.

Field Day Lab

Field Day Lab is a research and development group at the University of Wisconsin‑Madison that creates educational games and digital tools for teaching and learning. Their focus is on designing interactive experiences that blend game‑based learning with academic research, aiming to engage students and teachers in subjects such as science, history, and social studies. The lab collaborates with educators, scientists, and other researchers to develop these digital tools, often grounded in real‑world data and classroom environments. They explore how games can enhance learning by providing students with interactive, immersive environments where they can experiment, explore, and apply concepts in new ways.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Prepares program documentation and training requirements
• Maintains and troubleshoots applications, systems, or websites
• Implements data structure and systems performance strategies
• Reviews application design specifications, codes new applications, and makes enhancements to existing applications
• Develops or modifies technical specifications for low‑complexity projects using disciplined software development practices
• Tests and debugs programs, and prepares systems test data
• Ability to maintain a regular onsite presence at 1025 W. Johnson Street, Madison, WI multiple days each week, with the specific onsite schedule determined during the interview process based on operational needs

Department

School of Education / Wisconsin Center for Education Research- Field Day Lab

Compensation

Minimum: $70,000 Commensurate with qualifications and experience.

This position offers a comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off, competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance, tax‑advantaged savings accounts, and participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 7 years of professional software development experience, including experience developing games and interactive applications.
• Demonstrated expertise with Unity and a strong understanding of game development principles.
• Advanced proficiency in C# and experience with additional programming languages such as JavaScript and Python, with the ability to adapt to new programming languages as needed.
• Experience independently developing game prototypes from concept through implementation.
• Ability to read, understand, and refactor code efficiently.
• Experience translating project goals into technical implementation plans and engineering solutions.
• Experience leading technical decision‑making for complex software projects.
• Demonstrated leadership experience mentoring, coaching, and providing technical guidance to software developers.
• Experience breaking large projects into technical workstreams, estimating engineering effort, prioritizing and assigning tasks, tracking progress, providing coaching and feedback to ensure timely completion.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams, including designers, artists, producers, researchers, and educators.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including writing and maintaining clear documentation.
• Ability and comfort at moving across domains and mathematically model them into simulations.
• Experience mentoring interns or early‑career developers.
• Experience building rapid prototypes and creating a culture of experimentation where prototypes are viewed as learning tools rather than miniature products, enabling the team to iterate quickly and discard ideas that are not working.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Game Development, or a closely related field.
• Experience leading development teams or serving as a technical lead.
• Experience with mathematical modeling or simulation development.
• Experience with educational games, serious games, or learning technologies.
• Experience collaborating in research or academic environments.
• Experience with audio editing and recording software.
• Experience establishing engineering best practices, code review processes, and development workflows.

Education

Bachelor's Degree, Computer Science preferred

Eligibility

Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e., a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment.

UW‑Madison is not an E‑Verify employer and therefore is not eligible to employ F1 STEM OPT Extension participants.

Employment Verification

Employment may require a criminal background check.

It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment.

Confidentiality

The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released.

See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).

Safety and Campus Policies

The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on‑campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. UW‑Madison will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the University of Wisconsin Police Department.

Institutional Statement on Diversity

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW‑Madison.

We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community.

We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin‑Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin‑Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies.

We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply.

For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy‑related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre‑employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to.

Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

Work with purpose, make an impact, and grow your career.

The University of Wisconsin‑Madison offers a wide range of professions that cover various interests and skill levels. We employ everything from accountants to arborists, chefs to custodians, editors to electricians, graphic designers to groundskeepers, HR associates to HVAC technicians, librarians to locksmiths, mechanics to medical assistants, painters to police officers, web designers to welders, and absolutely everything in between! No matter what you are looking for professionally, chances are you will not only find it but will thrive at it while working at the University of Wisconsin‑Madison.

Contact Information

Sarah Gagnon Games Studio Creative Director [e-mail]