We’re BossAlien, part of the NaturalMotion family, our mission is to bring AAA console visuals and deep, compelling gameplay to mobile platforms. As a key member of our team, you will have the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse team of experienced developers and utilize leading-edge technology and content pipelines. In 2018 & 2019, NaturalMotion Studios were named one of the Best Places to Work in the UK games industry by gamesindustry.biz.

Job Purpose

We are looking for a Lead Gameplay Engineer with vision and experience in building original games, who proactively seeks to contribute ideas and solutions to break new ground using Unreal Engine.

Your genuine interest in the fast-paced world of games development means you stay current and up to date with the latest trends, techniques, and practices.

Your high personal standards ensure you are always striving to deliver robust, efficient, intuitive systems that you and your team are proud of. You work well in a team environment, and understand that the most productive engineer isn’t the one who writes the most code. You communicate clearly and effectively, voice your opinions and listen respectfully to others’ points of view. You are comfortable working on challenges of different sizes and complexity and stay focused on the task at hand.

Key Roles & Responsibilities

Design and architect new game systems.
Creating reliable, scalable, and high-performance systems and tools to enable gameplay experiences.
Influence the overall strategy for software development for the team, and refine systems throughout the development cycle of the project.
Collaborate with designers, artists, and other engineers for feature development.
Work with other programmers to find the right architectural, framework and gameplay solutions for our games.
Work with the project technical leadership to set the direction for architecture, testability, performance and modularity in Unreal, and keep the team executing on that strategy.
Collaborate with other disciplines, including Artists and Designers, to ensure they have low friction workflows, and can contribute effectively.
Help our project get through the various stages from concept to release and own key areas of the game and it’s architecture.
Balance hands on code development time with actively leading the team and ensuring features being built integrate with the architecture and move the vision forward.
Actively monitor the game and development processes to identify and champion potential improvements.

Required Experience & Skills

Experience as an engineer shipping multiple games in a commercial environment.
Concept-to-Live experience of all phases of a game development project
Excellent C++
Expertise with UE4, particularly with gameplay related systems.
Experience with network game client/server architecture.
Solid architecture, system design, and analytical skills.
Ability to handle multiple competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Self-motivated and energetic team player with a very strong work ethic and cooperative attitude.
Code to clearly defined performance and memory usage specs.
Excellent 3D math skills.
Strong communication skills.
Ability to write clear, maintainable, portable code.
Strong debugging skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present complex technical information in a clear and concise manner to a variety of audiences including designers, artists, QA and other developers.
Knowledge of software engineering/architecture and design patterns.
Passionate about games and game development.

Desirable Experience & Skills

Experience shipping on non-mobile platforms (Windows, Switch, PS4, Xbox One).
AAA project credits
Shooter and/or Character Action game experience
Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience.

What do we offer?

Competitive salary, discretionary annual bonus scheme and Zynga stock allowance
Contributory pension scheme
25 days holiday, plus public holidays and Christmas shutdown
Private medical care and healthcare cash plan
Life insurance and critical illness insurance
Discounted gym membership and free weekly yoga class
Flexible working hours
Free fruit, snacks & soft drinks provided daily, as well as free lunch on Fridays
Annual season ticket loan and cycle to work scheme
Summer and Christmas parties and Happy Hour every Friday

NaturalMotion is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, pregnancy, marital status or veteran status