Lead Software Engineer

Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery… the stuff dreams are made of.

Who We Are…

When we say, “the stuff dreams are made of,” we’re not just referring to the world of wizards, dragons and superheroes, or even to the wonders of Planet Earth. Behind WBD’s vast portfolio of iconic content and beloved brands, are the storytellers bringing our characters to life, the creators bringing them to your living rooms and the dreamers creating what’s next…

From brilliant creatives, to technology trailblazers, across the globe, WBD offers career defining opportunities, thoughtfully curated benefits, and the tools to explore and grow into your best selves. Here you are supported, here you are celebrated, here you can thrive.

The creative team that brought Mortal Kombat and Injustice to life is now NetherRealm Studios, part of the Warner Bros. Games family. With over 20 years of creation under our belts, NetherRealm’s mission remains the same: to create cutting edge entertainment and deliver industry leading tech, game art and overall gaming experiences. NetherRealm Studios is a collaborative and creative environment, constantly striving to up the ante on what is possible in interactive entertainment. Our team is comprised of dedicated professionals with years of experience who are at the forefront of the gaming industry. The passion and energy that made Mortal Kombat a reality is still on display every day in our offices, our hallways and most definitely the studio’s arcade room.

The Job
This position is for a Lead Software Engineer that will develop and implement cutting-edge runtime systems and offline tools. The candidate should possess a strong background in C++ and a deep understanding of animation, physics, and cinematic pipelines. You will lead a team of approximately 7 software engineers to meet the needs of our artists, designers, and fellow engineers.

This role works closely with all other disciplines at Netherrealm.  Your team will be responsible for the animation, physics, motion, and cloth runtimes.  This will require you to work closely with the Tech Art team on content pipelines as well as the Gameplay and Design teams.  You will work alongside your team of engineers to select and build pragmatic solutions inside and outside Unreal.   You will work primarily in C++, but you will also read and write code in Python and C# (and other languages as needed). 

As the Lead Engineer of our Runtime Systems team, you will mentor and grow our other engineers; our Leads are expected to facilitate the continued learning and personal improvement for their team members. Additionally, you will use and develop your communication skills to give candid feedback to your direct reports and other engineers.

The Daily

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

• Audit Unreal systems to determine the best fit for the problems at hand
• Audit and optimize the CPU/Memory/IO performance of systems in your purview
• Improve motion capture pipeline efficiency and quality
• Ensure facial animation meets our quality and runtime performance criteria
• Architect and improve our proprietary timeline tool and runtime (similar to animation markup)
• Seek to reduce overall engineering complexity across our codebase

TEAM LEADERSHIP

• Communicate with your team of engineers regularly
• Mentor and grow other engineers
• Set team goals
• Work closely with other disciplines to ensure we are meeting their needs
• Provide visibility to other disciplines so they understand what your team is working on, and when they can expect their tasks to be completed

COORDINATION

• Establish and communicate your vision for current and future projects
• Coordinate with Design, Gameplay, and Art groups to ensure features and schedules align

The Essentials

• Minimum 7+ years professional experience, mostly developing in C++ and at least one shipped AAA title (or titles of similar engineering complexity)
• B.S. in computer science, computer engineering, or another relevant field
• Excellent C/C++ programming skills
• Deep understanding of animation systems
• Experience building and extending animation systems, physics, cloth, and other procedural systems
• A strong focus on the end product and the ability to guide your team toward a similarly pragmatic mindset

The Nice to Haves

• Strong desire to build industry-leading tech with a passion for quality and efficiency
• Ability to collaborate with engineers and content creators to develop reliable pipelines than can achieve their vision
• Ability to openly discuss and review technical proposals, requirements, designs, algorithms, source code, and reference documentation with other engineers and producers
• Excellent debugging skills and a proven ability to dive in and fix problems across several domains

How We Get Things Done…

This last bit is probably the most important! Here at WBD, our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate and are central to how we get things done. You can find them at   along with some insights from the team on what they mean and how they show up in their day to day. We hope they resonate with you and look forward to discussing them during your interview.

Championing Inclusion at WBD

If you’re a qualified candidate with a disability and you require adjustments or accommodations during the job application and/or recruitment process, please visit our for instructions to submit your request.