UI Programmer

As an Experienced UI Programmer, you will focus on further specialising your technical skills, particularly in UI systems, working with our teams to reach your next career step as a Senior, Principal or Lead.

Third Kind Games - a Virtuos Studio, is a world-class co-development games studio. Third Kind Games was founded in 2016 by a team of nine former Activision veterans and became a Virtuos Studio in 2024.

Our studio is based in Royal Leamington Spa and we also have remote studios in Poland and Spain. Our three studios have been built on the same original spirit and values since our beginning.

We work with some of the biggest names in the games industry such as Blizzard, Amazon, Microsoft and Mythical Games. We’re proud of our track record working on critically acclaimed games and franchises. We are also setting new benchmarks for creativity in the games industry, driving technical expertise in programming alongside creative innovation.

What is it like to be a Third Kinder?

We are a diverse team of people. We are collaborative, open-minded creatives who embrace ideas and knowledge from everyone in our team, with the aim of developing and inspiring ourselves, our projects and our games.

Work life balance and flexibility are very important to us and our team. At TKG we offer a place where our team can be their most creative, imaginative and confident selves. We want all of our team to feel valued, appreciated, and free to be who they are at work. TKG recently received a GOLD Award in Mind Charity’s Workplace Wellbeing Index, recognising our dedication to our team’s mental health and wellbeing.

Role Overview

You enjoy:

• Taking ownership of UI features implementation in a large codebase
• Working with a highly experienced team on all areas of the game development.
• Working with UI Designers to ensure their work transfers to the engine correctly
• Examining the feasibility of the functional requirements provided by UI designers and artists, offering technical advice and support.

What we are looking for from a Third Kinder

You would:

• Create solutions, identify problem areas and aid in the integration of assets in order to contribute to the Game Design and Art vision.
• Define UI Tech best practices for localisation, performance, device specific requirements, etc.
• Troubleshoot and debug complex issues across all UI subsystems, providing long-term solutions that enhance the UI's stability and performance.
• Be part of breaking down stories into technical tasks that can be estimated.

Skills you need

• +3 years development experience with AAA or MMO free to play games.
• Solid understanding of programming principles, how systems work together and various common architectural approaches
• Advanced knowledge of C# scripting for both Unity UI and Editor.
• Experience in developing and integrating UI in games using Unity.
• Good eye for design, with a perspective for both artistic and technical workflows.
• Ability to profile using given tools and identify problem areas.
• Familiar with common debugging tools, capable of diagnosing and resolving technical issues within UI systems.

Skills it would be great to have

• Mobile experience (whether it’s native iOS or Android, or an understanding of the limitations of mobile platforms etc.)
• Competence with realtime shader development (HLSL/CGFX, Unity's ShaderLab)
• Very good understanding of real-time rendering and rendering bottlenecks
• Ability to make critical artistic and process decisions to produce the best quality product