Job description
Join NorthStar Interactive Studios, a premier game development studio in Seattle, crafting innovative AAA and indie titles. We are seeking a Senior Gameplay Programmer to lead the development of core gameplay features across multiple platforms. You will collaborate with designers, artists, and engineers to deliver responsive, performant, and delightful player experiences.
We value creative problem solving, strong technical craft, and a collaborative mindset. If you're passionate about pushing gameplay boundaries and shipped titles, we'd love to hear from you.
Responsibility
- Implement and maintain core gameplay systems across PC and console titles, from input handling to player progression and combat mechanics.
- Collaborate with designers to translate design intent into robust, maintainable gameplay features.
- Optimize code paths and asset pipelines to meet performance targets and memory budgets.
- Lead debugging and profiling sessions; triage performance regressions and drive optimization efforts.
- Mentor junior engineers, review code, and provide technical direction across the team.
- Partner with production to define feature scope, schedules, and milestones for flagship titles.
- Champion quality, testability, and maintainable code through CI/CD and robust tooling.
Qualification
- Bachelor's or higher in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
- 5+ years of professional game development with shipped titles across multiple platforms.
- Expert proficiency with C++ and experience in Unreal Engine or Unity.
- Deep understanding of gameplay systems, animation state machines, AI, physics, and input systems.
- Strong debugging, profiling, and optimization skills, including multithreading and performance budgets.
- Experience with networking and multiplayer replication, client-server architectures, and latency considerations.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills; ability to mentor and lead within a cross-disciplinary team.