Studio Technical Director

That's No Moon is seeking a Studio Technical Director to lead technology and engineering efforts, defining the project's tech strategy for Unreal Engine 5 and proprietary systems. This role ensures a performant, stable, and shippable game across all platforms, balancing creative vision with technical feasibility. Responsibilities include owning the tech roadmap, providing leadership, enforcing performance targets, and managing external partnerships to deliver AAA narrative-driven experiences.

Must Have

• Lead technology and engineering efforts across the studio and project.
• Own the technical strategy for Unreal Engine usage.
• Evaluate and direct the future of proprietary tech.
• Partner with Game Director, Art Director, and Production Director.
• Define and maintain a clear technology roadmap.
• Provide technical leadership across the engineering team.
• Own and enforce performance targets.
• Oversee build stability, integrations and platform certification readiness.
• Manage relationships with external studios, middleware providers and platform partners.
• Identify long-term technical risks and debt and drive mitigation strategies.
• 8-12+ years of experience in game development.
• Experience across multiple shipped AAA narrative titles.
• Proven Unreal Engine 5 experience on a AAA console/PC title.
• Deep experience with gameplay systems, AI, streaming and performance optimization.
• Strong background in engine architecture and tech refactoring.
• History of providing technical direction at a leadership level.
• Demonstrated ability to balance innovation with shipping viability.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Track record of cross-platform delivery and platform certification.

Perks & Benefits

• Competitive and comprehensive benefits
• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• 401(k) match
• Flexible PTO
• Supplemental life and disability
• Equity (eligible)
• Profit share (eligible)

We are looking for a Studio Technical Director who defines and leads the project’s technology strategy, ensuring Unreal Engine 5 and proprietary systems work in harmony to deliver a performant, stable and shippable game across all platforms.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the technology and engineering efforts across the studio and project.
• Own the technical strategy for Unreal Engine usage, balancing existing proprietary systems with evolving UE5 capabilities.
• Evaluate and direct the future of proprietary tech: determine what to maintain, refactor, or replace with native Unreal solutions, and assign work accordingly.
• Partner with the Game Director, Art Director, and Production Director to ensure technical decisions align with creative vision, production priorities and project feasibility.
• Define and maintain a clear technology roadmap through ship, including milestones, risks, and dependencies.
• Provide technical leadership across the engineering team: mentorship, standards and clarity of direction.
• Own and enforce performance targets (eg. frame rate, memory budgets, load times, streaming).
• Oversee build stability, integrations and platform certification readiness.
• Manage relationships with external studios, middleware providers and platform partners to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues.
• Identify long-term technical risks and debt and drive mitigation strategies proactively.

Requirements & Skills:

• Typically 8-12+ years of experience in game development or related technical roles.
• Experience across multiple shipped titles, ideally in Narrative and AAA games.
• Proven Unreal Engine 5 experience on a AAA console/PC title.
• Deep experience with gameplay systems, AI, streaming and performance optimization.
• Strong background in engine architecture and tech refactoring.
• History of providing technical direction at a leadership level and driving alignment across creative, production and engineering.
• Demonstrated ability to balance innovation with shipping viability, making tough calls to protect schedules and stability.
• Excellent communication skills, able to clearly translate complex tech decisions to non-technical partners.
• Track record of cross-platform delivery and platform certification.

Success Grading:

• A shipped game that hits performance targets (framerate, load times, memory) across all platforms.
• A stable, maintainable technology stack with clear rationale for which proprietary tech was kept VS replaced with UE5 solutions.
• No major launch blockers arising from architectural choices late in development.
• Technology decisions demonstrably support creative ambition while staying within production constraints.
• A clear technology roadmap that leadership and the wider team can rely on for planning and accountability.
• Healthy, productive engineering team that receives clear direction, minimal churn from indecision and proactive risk mitigation.
• Strong external partner collaboration (middleware, platform, other studios) resulting in smooth integration and troubleshooting.

TNM considers a number of factors when determining each role's base pay range, including industry benchmarks, location, experience, and other job specific skills. In addition to base pay, this role may be eligible for other incentive compensation including equity and profit share. The estimated base pay range for this role is U.S. only and not applicable for locations outside of the U.S.

The estimated base pay range for this role is: $272,000 - $355,000

TNM offers competitive and comprehensive benefits that include medical, dental, vision, 401(k) match, flexible PTO, supplemental life and disability, and more. Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary based on country of residence and/or part-time or temporary employment status.

An equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ancestry, color, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, legally protected physical or mental disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

To those interested in submitting for roles, we have a few reminders to ensure a safe application process.

1. If one of our recruiters reaches out to you, it will be with a "@thatsnomoon.com" email address. We do not email via personal email addresses either.

2. We do not conduct interviews via Discord or WhatsApp.

3. We will not ask you to provide sensitive personal information.

4. We will never request that you buy equipment specifically for your interview/test.

We are saddened that people are being taken advantage of and ask that, if you ever have any doubts about whether you are speaking to an official member of the team, to reach out to our official social handles directly.

#LI-remote