Principal Engineer

Principal Engineer

Crate Entertainment is looking for an experienced and self-driven engineer to help bring our next games to life. Candidates must be strongly self-motivated and have a breadth of knowledge that will allow them to take on different technical challenges that arise on a small team. You must also have enough gaming experience to fill in the blanks, when needed, to create first-pass implementations of gameplay features and mechanics without always requiring explicit specifications.

We are a smaller indie developer but we are well funded thanks to the success of Grim Dawn, which has sold 3m copies and over 3m units of DLC. Because we are not reliant upon publishers or investors for funding, we can offer greater job security and a lower stress work environment than most larger developers. We are not beholden to milestone deliverables, own all of the IP we create and believe that as long as we’re working efficiently, the game will be done in however long it takes for us to feel satisfied that it’s ready. By working in smaller teams, we are able to develop big games on a smaller budget and at a slower pace that allows time to add more detail and nuance than often exists in many bigger budget titles.

This is a full-time position with benefits. Our studio operates remotely but candidates must be based in the US.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement needed components of the games from rendering and engine features to gameplay systems, tools, etc.
• Communicate with team members to help determine the best solutions for challenging aspects of development.
• Work with designers and artists to rapidly iterate and refine systems and features.
• Write clean, performant, easily maintainable code.

Requirements

• 4+ years relevant work experience.
• At least one credit in senior or lead position on a released PC / Console game.
• Advanced knowledge of C++.
• Self-directed, with an ability and initiative to assess your own work and continue to improve it and bring it up to an exceptional level of quality and functionality.
• Experience architecting and implementing game systems, pathfinding, animation, networking and work on client/server architectures.
• Ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with team members and potentially handle working on multiple projects simultaneously.

Desired Qualifications

• Love for RPG and Strategy games.
• Previous engineering leadership experience.
• Experience developing with Unreal.

Application Materials

Applicants should email a resume and cover letter, including a brief summary of your favorite games and what you’re currently playing to: jobs@crateentertainment.com