Software Engineering Manager - Games

Apple; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple is seeking a dynamic engineering manager to lead the Game Center team, focusing on social and connected gaming experiences across Apple platforms. This role involves overseeing the development of GameKit and ensuring a seamless experience for players. You’ll advocate for games within Apple, working closely with teams to deliver solutions that resonate with the development community.

The ideal candidate has a strong background in team management, API development, and a passion for enhancing the developer experience.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to hire and mentor high-performing teams.
• Experience delivering developer-facing APIs.
• Deep passion for improving developer tools.
• Exceptional communication and collaboration skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Solid understanding of performance optimization.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Game Center engineering team.
• Champion developer needs while advancing Apple's vision.
• Collaborate with teams to define frameworks and services.
• Design and guide creation of modern frameworks.

Skills

Team management

API development

Game industry expertise

Developer experience enhancement

Communication skills

Analytical skills

Concurrency optimization

Tools

Swift

Objective-C

Job description

Summary

Apple Games is seeking a dynamic engineering manager to lead the Game Center team, driving the next generation of social and connected gaming experiences across Apple platforms. This role oversees the development of GameKit, a core technology that empowers game developers while delivering seamless, engaging experiences for players in the new Apple Games app and gaming overlay. You’ll guide a talented team working at the intersection of Apple’s platform services and the games developers are creating for millions of players worldwide.

Description

In this role, you’ll balance creativity with technical rigor—translating developer feedback into solutions that align with Apple’s strategic objectives. You’ll work side-by-side with your manager and leaders across Apple to advocate for games as a first-class experience on our devices, ensuring our technologies resonate deeply with the global game development community. This is an opportunity to lead a talented team at the heart of Apple’s gaming efforts and help define how great games are built and experienced on our platforms.

Responsibilities

• As the manager of the Game Center engineering team, you will play a pivotal role in shaping Apple’s gaming ecosystem—championing the needs of developers while advancing Apple’s vision for exceptional player experiences. You’ll collaborate closely with teams across Apple to define and deliver frameworks, APIs, and services that make it easier and more rewarding to build games for our platforms. With a strong understanding of both developer workflows and system-level architecture, you’ll design and guide the creation of modern, elegant frameworks that developers love to adopt.

Minimum Qualifications

• Proven ability to hire, develop, and mentor high-performing engineering teams
• Track record of delivering developer-facing or internal APIs that power great products
• Experience in the game industry, either building games or shipping technologies for game developers
• Deep passion for improving the developer experience and enabling creativity through better tools and frameworks
• Exceptional communication skills—able to collaborate effectively with both technical and non-technical partners
• Strong analytical, debugging, and problem-solving skills
• Solid understanding of multithreaded concepts, concurrency, and performance optimization

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with iOS or macOS development using Swift or Objective C is preferred but not required.