[Vector North] Principal Game Programmer

Responsibilities

A Principal Game Programmer takes design, schemes, and ideas, and turns this creative vision into reality. Besides implementing entrusted features, they also extend existing systems and fix bugs.

In this leadership role, they become an integral part of the team within their area of expertise. The Principal Game Programmer works closely with other team members, often from different departments. As an individual with a robust technical background, they play a crucial role in planning, estimating, and implementation discussions, providing guidance and mentorship to less experienced programmers. They are the team's driving force, taking responsibility for the team’s output and ensuring alignment with the technical vision set by the Lead Programmer.

Implement Technology

• Efficiently integrate and maintain desired features, especially in the gameplay area.
• Work on assigned implementation tasks mostly independently.
• Integrate internal or 3rd party technologies.
• Drive the technical direction of projects, making high level design decisions.

Enable Progress

• Cooperate with other team members, help to estimate tasks.
• Identify and highlight technical debt, risks and issues.
• Provide related information and share knowledge to the team and leadership accordingly.
• Follow existing development processes and work with the team on continuous improvements.
• Mentor and guide team members, fostering their growth and development.

Maintain Quality

• Participate in code reviews and peer programming to increase code quality.
• Support a culture of ongoing informal feedback.
• Work together with other team members to optimise performance and stability across disciplines.
• Document given parts of technology according to company standards.
• Ensure best practices are followed and establish new standards.
• Take responsibility for the overall quality and output of the team.

Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with the Lead Programmer to ensure alignment with the technical vision.
• Act as a liaison between the programming team and other departments to facilitate effective communication and collaboration.
• Drive the team towards achieving project goals, ensuring all efforts are aligned with the overarching technical strategy.

Attributes

As gameplay-focused generalist programmer with solid technical qualification in a growing studio, this role demands the ability to both draw upon a deep set of experiences and learn new skills, facing challenges independently and in collaboration with the rest of the team.

Besides technical expertise, this principal role requires the capacity and willingness to participate in building supportive culture and establishing best practices.

Required

• 10+ years games industry programming experience.
• Experience development with UE in C++.
• Experience developing multiplayer games.
• At least one specialisation in a typical game development domain (Network, AI, Physics)
• Solid problem-solving and analytical skills.
• High level (cross-discipline) goal oriented.
• Communication in verbal and written English.
• Self-motivation, strong work ethic, and ability to work independently.
• Collaborative mindset.
• Proven leadership and mentoring abilities.
• Proficiency in documentation and communication.

Welcomed

• Passion for games.
• Experience working in a hybrid / remote environment.
• Confident in prototyping and researching new technologies.
• AAA / console game development experience.
• Proficiency in documentation and communication.
• Working knowledge of Perforce or Atlassian software development and collaboration tools.
• Experience working in diverse, multinational teams.
• Practical experience using a variety of programming languages and tools.
• Encounter full cycle of the game development, from prototyping to post-release project maintaining.
• Healthy creativity in problem-solving and the ability to think outside of the established solutions.
• Curious and innovative mindset.

This position is an opportunity to lead and shape the technical direction of our games, influencing both the development process and the team culture.