This opportunity is for a 12-month temporary full-time position in Chicago, IL or Orlando, FL. Iron Galaxy employees are all working from home through mid-2021 due to COVID-19. This WFH policy extends to anyone that Iron Galaxy hires between now and then. All new-hire onboarding is being done remotely, and any equipment that you might need for projects at Iron Galaxy will be shipped directly to you.

Iron Galaxy Studios is seeking experienced Lead Programmers to join our world-class engineering team. We are a well-established independent game developer who has worked with the titans of our industry to ship more high-caliber games than any other indie developer. We’re known for our excellent work on Killer Instinct, as well as helping to bring Skyrim, Overwatch and Diablo III to the Nintendo Switch. We pride ourselves on being a studio that does amazing work while maintaining an inclusive culture and supporting work-life balance for our employees.

Programmers at Iron Galaxy work on a wide variety of projects, including creating new games from the ground up, co-developing games with partners, and porting existing games to new platforms. Our projects tend to have shorter development cycles; it’s not uncommon for a programmer to work on more than one project in a year. We’ve found that this helps keep things fresh and provides opportunities to utilize experience gained from previous projects.

As a Lead Programmer, you will be expected to lead a small to medium-sized team, estimate and schedule work, contribute directly to features and systems, and provide guidance and feedback to help your team grow. You should be comfortable navigating an unfamiliar codebase. While you may have one or more areas of expertise, you aren’t afraid to venture into other domains. In addition to your technical skills, you should have strong communication skills, and work well with diverse cross-functional teams.

This opportunity is available in either Orlando, FL or Chicago, IL.

Core Responsibilities: Responsibilities vary based on project, and we will also aim to place you on projects that play to your strengths while also giving you room to grow. Here are some examples of what a Lead Programmer might be expected to do:

Provide feedback and mentorship to direct reports
Identify and schedule work for a project, system, or feature
Create a technical design document for a new system or feature
Review a game design document for a feature and provide feedback
Implement low-level subsystems for a new platform
Implement a new feature or system, or extend an existing one
Lead an evaluation team to provide information for a project bid

What else are we looking for? Here’s our wishlist for the ideal candidate. If you possess most of these qualities, you may very well be the one we’re looking for:

Previous leadership/management experience
Significant experience at a game studio (any size)
Deep understanding of C/C++
Strong debugging skills
Development experience on at least one game console
Able to adapt to new codebases and platforms
Passion for personal development and mentoring others

Iron Galaxy Studios is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe that a diverse workforce and inclusive work environment are essential to making great games and being awesome in everything we do. Therefore, we actively support equal access to career opportunities for all people regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status, national origin, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We prohibit retaliation against individuals who present discrimination complaints to Iron Galaxy management or relevant government agencies. We strongly encourage women, people of color, individuals with disabilities and veterans to apply to all of our job openings.