Jobs at Cloud Imperium Games

Provide HR and recruitment administrative support for the Manchester studio: manage employee lifecycle administration, coordinate interviews and onboarding, maintain candidate and employee records, liaise with benefit providers, conduct reference checks, prepare offer paperwork, manage ticketing inboxes, and support HR projects and initiatives.

Own end-to-end UX/UI design for high-volume e-commerce and platform experiences. Design checkout, cart, upsell and pledge flows focused on conversion and clarity. Work iteratively within the Orion Design System, collaborate with product, engineering, QA and marketing, contribute to design tokens and system evolution, and deliver high-fidelity production-ready designs.

Lead the design vision and team for Star Citizen and/or Squadron 42 in Manchester. Provide creative direction, architect content and workflows, hire and mentor senior designers, coordinate cross-discipline collaboration, manage priorities and iteration, and align design goals with production schedules.

Design character concepts for Star Citizen from research to final images, creating humanoids, clothing, creatures, and hard-surface armor/machinery. Collaborate with Concept and Character teams, participate in feedback loops, and deliver visuals that meet team expectations.

Lead development of gameplay systems using a bespoke multithreaded engine. Mentor and direct a gameplay programming team, design and implement reliable C++ systems, integrate PC hardware and APIs, enforce coding standards and best practices, and drive feature delivery across disciplines.

Create high-quality hard-surface vehicle models for Star Citizen from concept to flyable game-ready assets. Collaborate with designers, technical artists, and animators to implement PBR materials, animation-ready mechanisms (landing gear, cockpits, cargo systems), and follow engine file naming and directory standards.

Collaborate with Character Art and technical teams to skin characters, create and improve artist tools using Python, optimize and integrate assets into the game engine, and ensure technical correctness while achieving high artistic quality.

Design and implement robust, scalable AI systems and behaviors for game agents using the studios custom engine. Collaborate with designers, animators, QA, and engineers, apply modern AI techniques, solve technical risks, and optimize multi-threaded, physics-aware AI interactions for realistic space-sim gameplay.

Own and evolve internal desktop and web tools for game development. Lead and mentor the Tools team, define technical and UI designs, research technologies, deliver and maintain solutions, and collaborate with designers, artists, engineers, QA and production.

Lead the technical direction and implementation of graphics and rendering systems for a large-scale space sim. Research and deliver advanced rendering features, own major engine systems, manage a graphics team, profile and optimise rendering pipelines, and collaborate with art, design, and engineering to meet visual goals.

Create real-time sci‑fi visual effects using CIG's VFX editor; generate texture and mesh assets with 3DS Max, Houdini, Embergen, and After Effects; optimize effects for in-game performance; collaborate with VFX programmers and cross-disciplinary teams to improve pipelines and integrate effects across the game.

Create and optimize sci‑fi real-time VFX using CIG's VFX Editor and tools (3DS Max, Houdini, Embergen, After Effects). Generate texture and mesh assets, optimize performance, collaborate with VFX programmers and cross-disciplinary teams, and mentor junior artists to maintain high visual quality across the game.

Design, implement, optimize, and maintain scalable AI systems and agent behaviors in a custom game engine. Mentor junior programmers, collaborate with designers, artists, and QA, mitigate technical risks, and ensure high-performance, multi-threaded AI in a large shared codebase.

Design and develop vehicles and gameplay systems for Squadron 42 and the Persistent Universe. Implement designs with in-house tools, collaborate with art/animation/audio/VFX, pitch and iterate concepts, ensure systems integrate cleanly, review features through implementation, and analyze data to inform design decisions.

Lead design and implement playable locations and sandbox experiences for Star Citizen, liaise between Design and Environment/Art teams, drive design discussions, mentor team members, address director feedback, improve tools/workflows, and deliver high-quality levels across planets and cities.

Lead day-to-day production for large-scale game projects, manage risks and schedules, mentor and line-manage other producers, improve processes, collaborate with leadership, and support hiring.

Develop and execute social media strategies across major platforms, manage daily content and engagement, maintain content calendar, capture event content (travel), collaborate with Brand and Community teams, cultivate influencers, and ensure consistent tone and visual identity.

Design and implement core actor and gameplay systems, own level scripting implementation and optimization, build prototypes and test levels, collaborate with UI, art, and programming to deliver high-quality gameplay and in-game UI, and mentor teammates.

Design and implement scalable, robust AI systems for game agents using the studio's custom engine. Mentor junior engineers, collaborate with designers and artists, identify and mitigate technical risks, and optimise AI for performance and stability in a large shared codebase.

Lead and grow the Star Citizen community by creating content, running events and contests, monitoring sentiment, liaising with development and support teams, managing fulfillment, and driving engagement across Discord, forums, social, and live events.