Senior Architect (Unreal Engine)

At NaturalMotion, we make games that wow people. We innovate to create previously impossible experiences that would not exist without us. We take pride in making titles that reach a large audience and creating communities that last. For the past seven years, NaturalMotion Studios has been named one of the Best Places to Work in the UK games industry by gamesindustry.biz. We are proudly part of the Zynga & Take-Two Interactive family.

At NaturalMotion, we make games that wow people. We take pride in making titles that reach a large audience and in creating communities that last. For the past seven years, NaturalMotion Studios have been named as one of the Best Places to Work in the UK games industry by gamesindustry.biz

We embrace a hybrid work environment. Within this role, you would work 2 days per week (Tuesday and Wednesday) and the remaining days at home. This role will be Connected to one of our offices in either London or Brighton.

Job Purpose

We are looking for an experienced Senior Architect/Technical Director to join us at NaturalMotion/Zynga to develop our next project using the Unreal Engine on mobile devices and other platforms, building upon the success of Star Wars: Hunters. We are seeking an Architect or hands-on Technical Director who excels at architecting and coding large AAA F2P games, and who proactively seeks out solutions, as well as encouraging ideas from others.

Key Roles & Responsibilities

• Drive the definition of the technical architecture for the game on the client side and the coordination with our server technology
• Contribute to sever technology architecting over time
• Collaborate with product managers and producers on analysing feature set complexity, planning releases and delivering code solutions on schedule
• Work with the Art, UX and UI disciplines, to improve tools and processes for content creation, import pipelines, prototyping, production and testing
• Ensure the creation of well-designed, adaptable and testable software for mobile and other platforms
• Sometimes architect and write production ready code yourself
• Mentor Senior and Principal engineers from a technical perspective, developing the next generation of Architects
• Fostering a tech approach that embraces sustainable live operations, a regular cadence of game updates, and high-quality rapid releases
• Ensure the correct management of technical debt
• Capture and share knowledge across the team, NaturalMotion and Zynga

Required Experience & Skills

• Developed and released multiple games with Unreal Engine, in an architect or hands-on technical director type role, with at least one Game as a Service
• Deep experience with C++, plus a detailed understanding of mobile CPU and GPU hardware
• You are an authority when it comes to AAA game architecture
• Expertise in multiple areas, such as - NPC behaviour, AI, multiplayer, UI / UX, meta game systems, F2P game mechanics, graphics, tools, systems, and game engines
• Have deep understanding of design patterns, memory / performance optimisation, and importantly, how to summarise and share your knowledge
• A great understanding of mentoring engineers of all levels throughout the game development cycle
• Deep experience of being a strategic problem-solver, and be able to collaborate with peers across disciplines when problems stretch across different areas
• Ability to present technical challenges, recommendations, and solutions to game leadership level

Desirable Experience & Skills

• Worked on PC and console projects
• Experience with Server systems and architectures
• Worked on third or first person shooter games

What we offer you

• Competitive salary and discretionary annual bonus scheme
• Create next-gen games that will be played and loved by millions of players around the world
• Work in a family-oriented, collaborative team that invests in your development and growth on-the-job
• A diverse team of friendly, fun and supportive co-workers
• Flexible working hours & crunch-free working culture
• Summer/Winter parties and weekly Happy Hour in the studio
• 26 days holiday + bank holidays, 2 paid personal days
• 6 months of fully paid maternity/adoption leave or 16 weeks of fully paid paternity leave (eligibility criteria apply)
• Pension plan with a double matching employer contribution (capped at 8%)
• Private medical insurance, dental insurance and healthcare cash plan
• Life insurance, accident insurance and long-term disability insurance
• Company Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) (eligibility criteria apply)
• Fitness Reimbursement plan worth £600 per annum
• Charitable Giving Platform to which the Company contributes a 2:1
• Annual season ticket advance and cycle to work scheme

We are an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to building a diverse and talented workforce. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, medical condition, disability, or any other class or characteristic protected by applicable law. We welcome job-seekers, players, employees, and partners from all backgrounds to join us!

We will consider all qualified job-seekers with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with physical or mental disabilities in order to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.  Please contact us at accommodationRequest@zynga.com to request an accommodation associated with your application for an open position.

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We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, which means we are committed to creating and celebrating diverse thoughts, cultures, and backgrounds throughout our organization.  Employment with us is based on substantive ability, objective qualifications, and work ethic – not an individual’s race, creed, color, religion, sex or gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, alienage or citizenship status, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, status as a victim of domestic violence or sex offenses, reproductive health decision, or any other characteristics protected by applicable law.

As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to providing the necessary support and accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities, health conditions, or impairments (subject to any local qualifying requirements) to ensure their full participation in the job application or interview process. Please contact us at accommodationrequest@zynga.com to request any accommodations or for support related to your application for an open position.

Please be aware that Zynga does not conduct job interviews or make job offers over third-party messaging apps such as Telegram, WhatsApp, or others.  Zynga also does not engage in any financial exchanges during the recruitment or onboarding process, and will never ask a candidate for their personal or financial information over an app or other unofficial chat channel.  Any attempt to do so may be the result of a scamp or phishing attack, and you should not engage.  Zynga’s  in-house recruitment team will only contact individuals through their official Company email addresses (i.e., via a zynga.com, naturalmotion.com, smallgiantgames.com, themavens.com, gram.gs email domain).