Audio Engineer (Senior/Principal)

What's the one game you couldn't put down? The game that connected you with friends, and made you feel like you belonged? If a game has ever defined a chapter of your life, then you already know the spark we’re chasing. Our mission is to ignite that same feeling for players; the thrill of competition, the joy of community, and the belonging of finding your own corner of a larger world.

Great games begin with people who dare to dream big. If that sounds exciting, you might be exactly who we’re looking for.

Bonfire is a group of experienced and ambitious developers, proud to be creating our first original IP: Arkheron. It is a fast-paced, competitive PVP game set in a surreal dark fantasy world where 15 teams of three battle their way up the Tower. In a world built from memories, you will loot powerful items to create and adapt a unique build-out that will change your strategy and combat experience with every Ascension.

The best way to understand our Engineering team is in their own words — here’s how they describe their work.

On the Engineering team at Bonfire, it is about more than code. For us, it's essential to build a deep understanding and intuitive sense of what makes our game special through our players' hearts and minds. Guided by this sensibility, we form close partnerships with artists and designers to challenge ourselves, exploring creative and fun ways to evolve the game together. We ruthlessly prioritize what matters most and continually weigh trade-offs in our pursuit of making both playing and building our game feel great.

As an Audio Engineer, you’ll design and build the systems that bring Arkheron’s world to life through sound. This role is ideal for someone who loves sound but thinks like an engineer: you are just as excited about crafting systems for dynamic mixing as about the final experience players hear. You’ll join a thoughtful, flexible engineering team that values collaboration, creativity, and technical excellence. While your initial focus will be on audio systems, you’ll also have opportunities to branch into other parts of the game and engine as the project grows.

YOU’LL CONTRIBUTE BY:

• Profiling, debugging, and performance tuning audio features across platforms.
• Working with our heavily customized Unity engine and unique audio integration through creative problem-solving and system-level thinking beyond using stock Unity or Wwise.
• Designing runtime audio systems that respond to gameplay and world logic.
• Integrating audio middleware (primarily Wwise) more deeply into our engine and pipelines.
• Building tools and scripting solutions to help sound designers iterate quickly and efficiently.
• Partnering with engineers and content teams to align audio with system architecture.
• Driving performance improvements and dynamic mix systems to ensure great results across platforms.

WE’RE EXCITED ABOUT YOU BECAUSE YOU:

• Have strong engineering fundamentals, with fluency in C#, C++, and scripting languages like Python or Lua.
• Have some level of hands-on experience with Wwise including integrations, authoring workflows, and dynamic mixing systems which will be a desirable asset and with greater familiarity offering even more value.
• Have experience working on audio systems in games or interactive applications, especially in live-service or iterative development environments which can be very helpful in this role, but not required.
• Thrive in cross-disciplinary environments, and enjoy supporting content creators with tools and systems that unlock creativity.
• Proven track record of communicating clearly and collaboratively with creative partners, and have a track record of translating artistic goals into thoughtful technical solutions.
• Think in systems, and can architect scalable, modular solutions for runtime audio behavior.
• Love solving complex, sometimes ambiguous, problems with both technical rigor and creative empathy.

THIS MIGHT NOT BE THE ROLE FOR YOU IF:

• You’re happiest working heads-down in engineering spaces, without much back-and-forth with creative partners.
• Audio doesn’t spark your curiosity, or you’re not excited about how tech can bring sound to life.
• You’d rather stick to standard Unity or Wwise workflows, since this role leans heavily on customized systems and problem-solving.
• You find ambiguity and iteration frustrating instead of energizing, especially when collaborating across disciplines.

YOU’LL LOVE WORKING AT BONFIRE BECAUSE WE:

• Embrace bold challenges with creativity and courage, making the tough calls to build a game we’re proud to play every day.
• Keep fun at the core: we play Arkheron daily, staying grounded as players. If it’s not more fun than yesterday, we fix it. We don’t chase trends; we listen by playing.
• Stay truly independent, with decisions driven by the team — not by investors or a board.
• Thrive in a culture of passion, trust, and shared ownership; where transparency matters and egos don’t.

The base salary range for this role is $215,000 - $263,750. Depending on your experience and level (whether you’re closer to mid-level or principal), your offer may land above or below that range. We don’t just look at years on a résumé — we think about the impact you can have on the team and the game. Of course, compensation at Bonfire goes beyond salary. Every new teammate receives equity, plus a full benefits package and some extra perks to make work (and life) better. When we connect, we’ll happily walk you through the full details.

Want to get a feel for what it’s like to work here? You can check out more about our culture, team, benefits, and perks at www.bonfirestudios.com. And don’t worry — anything you share with us in the application process is just for recruiting and won’t be shared. You can read more in our privacy policy.