Backend Lead (Unannounced Project)

Lead the backend team for a free-to-play Unreal Engine game, focusing on maintaining high-quality, scalable backend services for millions of players. This involves setting technical vision, promoting best practices, ensuring performance, managing the team, and collaborating with other leads and outsourcing partners.

Must Have

• Lead technical direction for backend systems
• Promote coding best practices and perform code reviews
• Ensure scalability and performance of backend services
• Manage the backend team (career development, reviews, mentoring)
• Collaborate with other team leads and project managers
• Expertise in designing large-scale distributed systems for gaming
• Extensive programming experience (Kotlin, Java, Python, C/C++, C#)
• Deep understanding of NoSQL databases
• Experience with cloud infrastructures, Docker, Kubernetes
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and IaC tools like Terraform

Good to Have

• Experience working with highly distributed teams
• Experience operating a live free-to-play game service
• Experience with Unreal Engine

Perks & Benefits

• 5 weeks of Annual Leave per calendar year
• Additional paid time off
• Sick Leave Compensation, Maternity & Paternity Leave Benefits
• Career development and education opportunities within the company
• Meal card contribution
• Public transportation allowance
• Premium private healthcare
• Mental well-being program (iFeel)
• Multisport Employee discounts
• Personal Gaming Account
• Coffee, fruits, and snacks in the office
• Company events
• Seniority Awards
• Referral program - You can recommend the best talents to the company and receive a reward

Job Overview

In this role, you will be focused on maintaining a high-quality backend of a free-to-play Unreal Engine based game. This will involve working closely with all disciplines and leading the backend team to identify, design, implement and maintain the scalable backend services capable of supporting millions of players.

Reports to

• Deputy Technical Director

What will you do?

• Lead technical direction: Set/adjust technical vision for the backend systems, including decisions on tech stack, frameworks, libraries, and tools.
• Promote the use of coding best practices, including clean code, design patterns, and efficient system designs. Perform code reviews.
• Ensure scalability and performance, handle scaling challenges, optimize development, deployment, and operations processes.
• Manage the backend team including career development, performance reviews, 1-2-1s, mentoring, training, and recruiting.
• Work closely with other team leads, and project managers.
• Work with outsourcing partners in the gaming industry.

What are we looking for?

• Expertise in designing large-scale distributed systems for gaming platforms, particularly those involving real-time multiplayer, microservices, and high-availability infrastructure.
• Extensive knowledge of game-specific architectures (microservices, actor systems), ability to design efficient, low-latency data exchange systems between clients and servers.
• Experience in promoting effective development processes, fostering collaboration, adherence to clean code practices, test-driven development.
• Extensive programming experience as a principal or above (Kotlin, Java, Python, C/C++, C#).
• Deep understanding of NoSQL databases.
• Experience with cloud infrastructures to manage large-scale game services. Experience in using Docker, Kubernetes, and other containerization/orchestration tools.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code (IaC) tools like Terraform, and ensuring automated deployment and scaling of game backends.
• Effective communication skills to collaborate effectively with other teams, including game designers, game and systems programmers, and project managers.
• Ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders, ensuring that business needs are translated into scalable technical solutions while aligning technical direction with product goals.

What additional skills will help you stand out?

• Experience working with highly distributed teams
• Experience operating a live free-to-play game service
• Experience with Unreal Engine

Work mode

• Onsite (4 days per week in the office)
• This role isn't eligible for immigration support
• This role is eligible for relocation support (for candidates with free access to the labor market in the Czech Republic or UK)

Benefits

Benefits and perks are tailored to the local market and culture. Our benefits in Prague include:

• 5 weeks of Annual Leave per calendar year
• Additional paid time off
• Sick Leave Compensation, Maternity & Paternity Leave Benefits
• Career development and education opportunities within the company
• Meal card contribution
• Public transportation allowance
• Premium private healthcare
• Mental well-being program (iFeel)
• Multisport Employee discounts
• Personal Gaming Account
• Coffee, fruits, and snacks in the office
• Company events
• Seniority Awards
• Referral program - You can recommend the best talents to the company and receive a reward

##### Please submit your CV in English to ensure smooth processing and review.