Sr. Engine Engineer

Socket.dev; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Level is a learning technology company focused on building an optimized C++ engine for mobile and constrained hardware. The role centers on stripping down and rewriting engine components to meet platform limits while maintaining performance for a larger game and learning platform based on a fork of Godot.

You will work beneath the gameplay layer, modify engine/runtime technology, and optimize memory, render pipelines, and load times.

Qualifications

• Proven C++ expertise in game/engine contexts.
• Extensive work below gameplay layer on engines.
• Experience optimizing for mobile hardware constraints.
• Familiarity with iOS/Android hardware limits is a plus.
• Strong profiling skills for CPU, GPU, memory, boot time.
• Experience modifying core engine/runtime components.
• Ability to debug across hardware generations.
• Excellent system design and architectural thinking.
• Candidates from Unity/Unreal with native-level work are preferred.

Responsibilities

• Get inside the engine to determine needed functionality and what to remove or rewrite.
• Profile and optimize engine/runtime for CPU, GPU, memory, loading, power.
• Modify engine/runtime tech to meet mobile and constrained-hardware needs.
• Work on memory allocators, footprint, asset streaming, lazy loading, texture compression, rendering optimization.
• Address draw calls, GPU pipelines, shaders, CPU/GPU synchronization, multithreading, frame pacing.
• Collaborate with platform graphics APIs (iOS/Metal, Android/Vulkan/OpenGL ES) and debug device-specific issues.
• Improve startup, load time, binary/package size, across device generations.
• Make architecture/design decisions for low-powered hardware.
• Experiment with AI-assisted development tools to improve workflows.

Skills

Strong C++ experience

7+ years engine/runtime

iOS/Android shipping

Constrained hardware knowledge

Profile/optimize CPU/GPU/memory

Modify engine/runtime tech

Debug device-specific issues

Architecture & systems design

Below-engine experience (native work)

Job description

Level is a learning technology company dedicated to helping students build real academic and life skills with confidence and joy. We combine proven curriculum principles with world class interactive design to make meaningful practice something students want to come back to, not something they struggle through.

We support what teachers, schools, and parents are already doing by increasing student engagement with high quality, standards aligned practice that reinforces classroom learning. That’s why we’re building:

For students: Rewarding and motivating learning experiences that meet students where they are to build real academic proficiency.

For educators: Tools that fit naturally into instruction and help students stay engaged while reducing teacher workload.

For parents: Activities that help your kid catch up or get ahead, build confidence, and minimize homework battles, whether learning at school or at home.

We are committed to helping every person maximize their potential and live a life of meaning. It’s a difficult problem that requires brilliant people and tremendous effort over time.

Level is looking for a C++ engine engineer who can make engine lean, efficient, and reliable on mobile and other constrained hardware. We are building a larger game and learning platform on a forked version of Godot, and this role focuses specifically on identifying what the engine actually needs for our product, what can be stripped out, and what must be rewritten or optimized so it performs well on lower-powered devices. This is a role for someone who has worked underneath the game/application layer, with experience working inside an engine and changed how it behaves on constrained hardware.

What You Will Do:

• Get inside our engine and determine what functionality is actually needed for our product, and what can be removed, rewritten, or optimized

• Profile and optimize engine and runtime performance across CPU, GPU, memory, binary size, loading time, and (where relevant) battery/power

• Modify underlying engine/runtime technology to meet mobile and constrained-hardware requirements

• Work on memory allocators and footprint, asset streaming, lazy/asynchronous loading, texture compression, and rendering optimization

• Address draw calls, GPU pipelines, shaders, CPU/GPU synchronization, multithreading, and frame pacing

• Work with platform graphics APIs (iOS/Metal, Android/Vulkan/OpenGL ES) and debug device-specific problems

• Improve startup and load time, binary/package size, and performance across a range of device generations and capabilities

• Make architecture and systems design decisions specific to lower-powered hardware constraints

• Actively experiment with and adopt AI-assisted development tools to improve engineering workflows

Qualifications

Need to Have:

• Strong professional C++ experience

• 7+ years of game engine or runtime experience, including comfort working below the gameplay/application layer

• iOS and/or Android shipping experience is a plus

• Experience with constrained hardware and a strong understanding of mobile hardware limitations

• Experience profiling and optimizing for CPU, GPU, memory, loading, asset footprint, binary size, and frame rate

• Experience modifying underlying engine or runtime technology (not just building features on top of one)

• Experience debugging device-specific problems across different hardware generations

• Strong architecture and systems design skills

• For candidates from Unity or Unreal backgrounds: demonstrated experience going below the engine's abstractions (e.g., native C/C++ work, IL2CPP, native plugins, or modified engine source), not solely C#/Blueprint-level mobile shipping experience

Nice to Have:

• Direct experience taking an engine or runtime and stripping down, customizing, or optimizing it for target mobile hardware

• Experience with Godot: core contribution, C++ engine development, mobile/platform contributions

• Background on a proprietary mobile engine team, where engine internals (memory, rendering, asset systems, platform abstraction, threading) had to be understood deeply

• Experience modifying Unreal Engine source itself

• Experience with battery/power optimization and low-end device optimization

• Curiosity about and hands-on experimentation with AI-assisted development tools