Senior / Principal Game Engineer

Please note that this is a hybrid position based in Cardiff, requiring 3 days onsite each week, with the option for remote work on the remaining days.

We are seeking a Principal Game Engineer to join our growing co dev team.

• Player Experience Development: Design, implement, and polish gameplay features, UI systems, and 3Cs (character, camera, and controls) that feel responsive, intuitive, and satisfying in players' hands.
• Technical Leadership: Own the technical direction for player experience work across projects, making sound architectural decisions, anticipating risks, and guiding solutions from prototype through to ship quality.
• Customer Facing Collaboration: Act as a senior technical representative to our partners, gathering requirements, presenting solutions, communicating trade offs clearly, and building the trust that underpins great co development relationships.
• Critical Problem Solving: Apply strong analytical and debugging skills, including profiling and diagnostic tools, to investigate and resolve complex technical issues across gameplay, UI, and engine level systems.
• Mentorship: Support and mentor engineers across the team, sharing expertise in player experience engineering and helping to grow the studio's capabilities in gameplay, UI, and 3Cs.
• Code Review: Champion high standards of code quality, performance, and maintainability through code reviews, constructive feedback, and by setting the example in your own work.

• Expert Software Engineering: Extensive professional experience developing and shipping games, with the depth of judgement expected at a principal level and a history of delivering high quality, player facing systems.
• Strong C++ and C# Skills: Expert proficiency in C++ and C#, with a commitment to writing clean, maintainable, and efficient code.
• Strong 3D Maths: A firm grasp of the linear algebra and geometry that underpin cameras, character movement, animation, and gameplay systems.
• Unreal Engine Skills: Deep experience developing player facing systems in Unreal Engine, including the Gameplay Framework, UMG/Slate, and input and camera systems. Unreal experience is preferred, though we also value strong Unity backgrounds.
• Analytical Mindset: Strong analytical skills and a proactive, methodical approach to identifying, diagnosing, and resolving technical challenges.
• Customer Facing Communication: Confidence and clarity when working directly with partners and stakeholders, with the ability to explain complex technical topics to varied audiences.
• Player Focus: An instinct for what makes games feel great, and the craft to translate that instinct into responsive controls, readable UI, and satisfying gameplay.
• Team Collaboration: Strong communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively with engineers, designers, artists, producers, and project leads.
• Passion for Gaming: A genuine enthusiasm for games and a desire to help create engaging, high quality experiences for players.

• Console Experience: Experience shipping titles on current generation consoles such as PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, or Switch 2.
• Unity Experience: Professional experience developing and shipping games in Unity alongside your Unreal background.
• Advanced Unreal Experience: Familiarity with custom engine modifications, plugin development, the Gameplay Ability System, or working from Unreal Engine source.
• Accessibility Knowledge: Experience designing and implementing accessible controls, UI, and player options.
• Co Development Experience: Prior experience in a co dev, outsourcing, or external development environment working with multiple partners and codebases.

• Hybrid Working Arrangement: Our office in Cardiff is located right in City Centre, just a couple minutes away from the Cardiff Central Train Station! As a member of our team, you'll have the flexibility to work at home and collaborate with your fellow engineers in person.
• Private Pension via Salary Sacrifice
• Optional Private Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage
• Annual Leave, plus Bank Holidays and Winter Break Office Closure
• Annual Research Credit: We always encourage personal growth, so we provide all of our team members with an annual credit to further enhance your skills!
• Professional Development: We offer annual reviews, as well as opportunities to collaborate across disciplines, internal tech talks, and the chance to learn from specialists with backgrounds from across the games and software development industries.
• Work Life Balance: We really believe that home life comes first and we promote a flexible working environment. And as an added bonus: We don't crunch!
• Family Friendly: We understand the importance of family, which is why we offer 6 weeks full of Maternity, Paternity, and Adoption Leave to support you during this exciting time!
• Office Perks: In addition to everything above, we also provide:
  • Weekly Team Lunches
  • Snacks, Including the Good (Yorkshire) Tea
  • Fully Equipped Team Lounge, Including our Favourite Consoles and Games
  • And, most importantly, a supportive and creative working environment made up of talented and friendly people, as well as the opportunity to work on some pretty cool games and projects - if we do say so ourselves!

Let us do the work for you: Even if your profile isn't an exact match for all of the qualifications listed above, we still want you to apply. Our team members come from a variety of different industries, not all of which are immediately relevant to game or software development, and we welcome all candidates of similarly varied backgrounds, communities, and identities.

Rocket Science is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing a worry free workplace void of discrimination or harassment. Rocket Scientists are expected to foster and champion an environment in which everyone has the opportunity to feel included and is afforded the respect and dignity they deserve.

Rocket Science does not accept unsolicited résumés from recruiters, employment agencies, or staffing firms.