Lead Tools Engineer, 40k - negotiable on experience

This is a senior level, software development role, within a team focused on delivering the studio’s tools technologies.

We are seeking an engineer to set clear strategic direction for the development of game tools within the Cambridge studio, and lead a team of engineers to meet that vision.

In this role, the candidate will be responsible for the architecture and development of many significant system components: encompassing the areas of asset generation, content authoring and conversion pipelines to the projects’ runtime engines.
As such, the candidate would have substantial experience in this field, having worked in this capacity to support a previously released title.

The role will involve the collation of requirements from the internal game teams, the design and implementation of timely solutions to meet them, and the continued support for those solutions.
Within this capacity, the candidate will exercise strong strategic planning skills to prioritise and align the needs of the individual, against those of both the studio and the company. Here, their exceptional problem solving skills will be married with a thorough knowledge of contemporary software architecture and API design, to ensure their solution designs appropriately balance feature sets, performance and cost-of-implementation.


The position necessitates close working relationships with all discipline groups across the studio; excellent communication and diplomacy skills are a must - the candidate will show an understanding of the requirements for each group, and be receptive to the need to rapidly iterate on their delivered solutions.

Able to organise and track their own work, the candidate will be self-directed with excellent time management skills. A strong man-manager, they will also play a key role in the future growth of the tools team, and be expected to assist in the recruitment and development of the staff, therein.

This would be an ideal role for someone looking to make the move from their current position of senior tools engineer to a lead position.


Requirements

• Excellent C/C++ skills, employed on at least one released product.

• Excellent C# and .NET skills, employed on at least one released product.

• Significant experience with the design, implementation and support of multi-project/platform game authoring tools and pipelines.

• Excellent general software design skills, knowledge of algorithms and data structures, software architectures and development methods.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills are a must.

• Excellent teamwork, management and prioritization skills.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field or equivalent professional experience.

• A passion for games and technology.

Additionally, the following attributes would be beneficial:

• Experience with building and leading engineering teams.

• A comprehensive knowledge of the Perforce source control solution: in the capacity of both user and server administrator..

• A good working knowledge of Maya: both as a user and software extension developer.

• A working knowledge of OpenGL and/or DirectX APIs.

• A familiarity with the PlayStation® 3 and PlayStation® Portable development environment and tool suite.

• Experience with Python and/or Lua scripting.

• Experience with multithreaded and distributed programming.

• Good knowledge of 3D matrix/vector algebra and numerical math.

• A familiarity with the Hansoft project management solution and Agile development methods.

• Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Computer Science or a related field.

• Applications that backed with a personal project that can be presented at interview, would be looked upon favourably.

For more information, please contact Hollie Heraghty at Aardvark Swift, on 01709 876 877 or email hollie@aswift.com.