This job listing expired on May 28, 2021
Tweet

Company Description

Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Ubisoft Reflections is a lead studio with a 35-year heritage and known for technical innovation, creating immersive worlds and vehicle & driving technology. The studio has collaborated with creative teams from other Ubisoft studios from around the world to contribute to the creation of some of the industry’s most acclaimed AAA games, the most recent of which include Watch Dogs Legion, Tom Clancy’s The Division & The Division 2, Assassins Creed Syndicate, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands as well as ground-breaking in-house projects, such as the award-winning Grow Home and Grow Up series.

Job Description

The Online Technical Director will provide leadership and technical direction for the online aspects of a project, have ultimate responsibility and accountability for the online technical aspects of the project.

Responsibilities

  • Define the online technological vision for the project and lead the online technical design of a project or new features and tools when current options do not meet project needs;
  • Be accountable for the online technical deliverables of the project;
  • Demonstrate exemplary leadership and motivation to the entire technical department on online topics;
  • Provide mentorship to all individuals on online topics and support the Technical Director in running a cohesive and effective department;
  • Act as the point of contact for all online technical matters at director-level discussions for the project;
  • Ensure the coherence, efficiency, scalability, modularity and compatibility of the online features developed by the department;
  • Promote good software architectural practices such as design patterns, data modelling, data organisation, and correct use of templates;
  • Define good programming practices and coding standards, and ensure they are enforced within the engineering team through regular peer code reviews;
  • Determine any necessary engine, game and tool enhancements to meet the project’s online needs and ensure the feasibility of these upgrades;
  • Direct programming leads in analysing and resolving issues pertaining to the engine, game, tools and/or middleware if needed;
  • Communicate the technical constraints of the technology to team members to inform them on production options and related best practices. Focussing on online features;
  • Ensure the game’s optimal performance (frames per second, memory consumption, bandwidth, disk IO, etc.), including post-launch. Focussing on online features;
  • In keeping with technical constraints, ensure that project teams have the tools required to produce the required content. Focussing on online features;
  • Evaluate existing engines and tools to determine their strengths and weaknesses and recommend those that best meet project objectives and expectations. Focussing on online features;
  • Anticipate online technological advances, understand the issues brought about by new hardware and propose software systems that support these changes and possibilities;
  • Be an advocate and ambassador for technology sharing across projects;
  • Assist the Technical Director in representing the department to Ubisoft and the wider game development industry;
  • Assist the Technical Director in reviewing the game and development processes to identify potential improvements.

Qualifications

Skills and Knowledge

  • Ability to see the strategic and wider picture;
  • Good analytical and decision-making skills;
  • Ability to resolve complex issues;
  • Self-motivated and pro-active with a strong work ethic;
  • Excellent oral, written and interpersonal communication skills;
  • In-depth knowledge of common algorithms, data structures and patterns, and the ability to apply them to problems while keeping constraints and performance in mind;
  • Outstanding programming skills, with good knowledge of object-oriented development, design patterns, etc.;
  • Proven ability to analyze unfamiliar code of significant complexity to understand and extend or improve the functionality of an existing module;
  • Extensive knowledge of hardware and leading video game tools, consoles and technologies;
  • In-depth knowledge of different software development methods such as Test-Driven Development, Unit Testing, Agile etc.;
  • In-depth experience in solving typical online issues related to latency, bandwidth usage and synchronization of game objects;
  • In-depth knowledge in online topics such as community support, e-commerce, DLC and security;
  • Expertise in analysis and debugging, being able to track down complicated issues on object replication, proposing tooling to simplify the debugging of these issues for all engineering team members;
  • Expertise on online backend architecture;
  • Expertise in cloud architecture: cloud management systems, container systems, services and machine scalability;
  • Awareness and familiarity with online cost control.

Relevant Experience

  • Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject or equivalent industry experience;
  • 10 years’ experience in coding or other relevant experience;
  • Experience working within various game engines is essential;
  • Significant involvement in 4 published games, with at least 2 projects at a senior level.

Additional Information

Benefits & Relocation

Flexible working, 22 days annual leave + Christmas shutdown, private healthcare (with option to add immediate family), life insurance & income protection, workplace pension scheme, paid volunteering days, annual fitness & well-being allowance, games, technology & merchandise, subsidised travel and many more...

Relocation assistance is available to anyone currently living 50 miles or more from the studio location. Please contact a member of the talent acquisition team to find out what we have to offer and how we can support with your move here... relocation really doesn't have to be a daunting prospect.