Senior Gameplay Engineer Microsoft
Santa Monica, CA

Job Description

The Initiative is a new first-party game studio located in Santa Monica backed by Microsoft. Our studio is about craft, creating story, innovating, and looking ahead to the next big thing.

At the Initiative, we are looking for collaborative problem solvers who want to dive into something new and create groundbreaking experiences for our players. Join us for this once in a career opportunity to help build the studio, define our culture, and create an environment to attract world-class talent.

As our Senior Gameplay Engineer, you will be well versed in current gameplay techniques with an eye to going above and beyond the current state of the art. You will be able to implement the technology needed to ship AAA games now and in the future, working closely with the design and animation teams. You are versatile, have strong development and production-sense, and the expertise to inspire and mentor others to do their best work. As we are building the team from scratch this is an absolutely unique opportunity to help shape the gameplay toolbox we will be using for years to come.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

* BS degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience
* 5+ years of C++ software engineering experience
* 3+ years of experience in designing, developing, and shipping major game contributions in published games or entertainment with market or critical acclaim
* Experience in core areas of gameplay development such as AI or Character Animation
* Excellent debugging and optimizing skills

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

* Ability to quickly prototype and iterate in collaboration with others
* Self-directed and takes initiative to drive progress; able to act with a sense of agency and accountability
* Strong communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

As an experienced Gameplay Engineer, you will work directly with the engineering team and other key stakeholders across disciplines to deliver the following:

* Take on complex gameplay features and own the technical implementation
* Develop elegant designs and tests that enable new features without negatively impacting existing features and prevent future systemic issues
* Work closely with other members of the code team to ensure robust and shippable code is created across the board
* Build code that performs well on the target hardware, both meeting game designs requirements and exceeding them
* Ensure that the team is well versed on how to use features and that those features work well within the overall code base
* Maintain strong relationships between the different disciplines
* Actively contribute to growth of new start up studio: lead by example, including demonstrating a willingness to give and receive feedback, collaborate with others to share techniques, ideas, and contribute to a positive working environment