Senior Engine Programmer

2 Months ago • 5 Years +

Job Summary

Job Description

Keen Games is seeking a Senior Engine Programmer to enhance their asset build pipeline. The role involves supporting and improving the asset build pipeline, assisting the programming team with writing and analyzing converters, profiling and optimizing bottlenecks, creating tests for robustness, and scaling up the pipeline. The asset pipeline is a critical component, handling 1.2 million source objects, 650 specialized conversion functions, and 65,000+ game-ready resources per build. The ideal candidate will contribute to developing handcrafted open-world games and thrive in technically demanding environments. The role offers a unique opportunity to shape the core of the game engine.

Must have:

5+ years experience in a large C++ codebase
Experience with graph algorithms, optimization, and parallel software
Experience with low-level Windows+Linux IO and process performance optimization (bonus)
Ideally 5+ years experience with large-scale game asset pipelines

Perks:

The opportunity to work within a highly experienced & creative team
A competitive fixed salary
Development opportunities
Paid vacation days
Health care and benefits
A lot of events & parties

3 skills required

3 skills required for this role

Add these skills to join the top 1% applicants for this job

algorithms

data-structures

linux

Job Details

Join a team of super dedicated and driven people!

Keen Games is an independent developer and publisher with a long history of developing games for PC, consoles, handhelds, and mobile. Working at Keen Games means working with super experienced, passionate, and humble people.

In 2024, we successfully released our latest game, Enshrouded. Now, we are seeking a skilled and experienced Senior Engine Programmer to join our team and elevate the efficiency and capabilities of our asset build pipeline. If you are passionate about contributing to the development of handcrafted open-world games and thrive in technically demanding environments, this position offers a unique opportunity to shape one of the most critical components of our engine.

Our asset pipeline overview

Our in-house asset build pipeline plays a pivotal role in supporting our game development process. With 1.2 million source objects, 650 specialized conversion functions (developed in C++), and 65,000+ game-ready resources per build, this robust system is integral to our success.

Currently, the pipeline's dependency graph includes 20 million nodes, and a full build from scratch requires approximately 3 hours on one of our dedicated servers. Our innovative approach ensures that even with relatively low-bandwidth network connections, our team can work effectively—leveraging local builds for incremental adjustments and hot-reloading to see changes reflected in the game instantly.

Responsibilities:

Supporting and improving the asset build pipeline
Helping the programming team writing and analyzing converters
Profiling and optimizing bottlenecks throughout the pipeline
Creating tests to improve the robustness of the pipeline
Scaling up the pipeline and distribution of build artifacts

Qualifications:

5+ years experience working in a large C++ code base
experience with graph algorithms, optimization and parallel software
experience with low level windows+linux io and process performance optimization is a bonus
ideally 5+ years experience with large-scale game asset pipelines

What we offer:

The opportunity to work within a highly experienced & creative team
A competitive fixed salary
Development opportunities
Paid vacation days
Health care and benefits
A lot of events & parties

If you are passionate about great and smooth gameplay and are ready to take on the challenge of driving our games and company forward, we would love to hear from you! Apply now and become a part of the incredible team at Keen Games.