We are looking for a Gameplay AI Software Engineer to drive the technical direction and execution of a new original game being developed in Unreal Engine 5. You will be embedded in a core gameplay team to implement gameplay features and systems within our games that are essential to delivering a polished, performant and fun experience. This role is remote-friendly in Canada with Pacific-time overlap required.
What You’ll Lead and Deliver
Work across disciplines to build, refactor and maintain a variety of robust, flexible, and well-architected AI features.
Work with the design team to prototype and implement AI behaviors that empower the fun.
Implement enemies, NPCs or any kind of AI managed characters.
Work with gameplay engineers to integrate developed AI systems.
Implement optimizations in perception systems and decision-making systems to make the AI performant.
Work on navigation & pathfinding systems and demonstrate the ability to debug complex AI issues.
Integrate and maintain AI middleware across all platforms.
Partner closely with design and content teams to build high quality and fun experiences.
Drive engineering quality across gameplay code, emphasizing performance, maintainability, extensibility, and production-readiness.
Establish engineering best practices for Unreal Engine 5 development, including code review standards, debugging workflows, profiling habits, and technical planning.
Collaborate with technical leadership to break down risks, define implementation strategies, and align engineering execution with project goals and production timelines.
Communicate clearly with stakeholders about technical constraints, trade-offs, dependencies, and execution plans.
You’ll Thrive Here If You
Have 5+ years of professional game development experience, with demonstrated technical leadership through project ownership, mentorship, and setting engineering standards.
Have strong professional experience with C++ and Unreal Engine, including gameplay architecture, runtime systems, debugging, and optimization.
Have deep experience building and maintaining gameplay systems that are responsive, scalable, and designer-friendly.
Advance knowledge on blueprints and AI decision making tools (Unreal behavior trees, utility AI, etc.).
Demonstrate confidence in using navigation and pathfinding systems.
Are comfortable working across systems boundaries, collaborating with multiple disciplines, and balancing short-term production needs with long-term technical health.
Bring a strong ownership mindset, practical decision-making, and a focus on helping teams move effectively under production constraints.
Bonus XP
Experience with the Unreal Engine 5 systems, like Blackboards, StateTree, and EQS.
Familiarity with Perforce, Jenkins, Unreal Build System, Unreal Gauntlet.
Skills Required
- 5+ years of professional game development experience
- Demonstrated technical leadership, project ownership, and mentorship
- Strong professional experience with C++
- Strong professional experience with Unreal Engine
- Deep experience building and maintaining gameplay systems that are responsive, scalable, and designer-friendly
- Advanced knowledge of Blueprints and AI decision-making tools (Unreal Behavior Trees, Utility AI)
- Experience with navigation and pathfinding systems
- Experience optimizing perception and decision-making systems for performance
- Experience integrating and maintaining AI middleware across platforms
- Comfortable collaborating across disciplines and balancing production needs with long-term technical health
- Legally eligible to work in Canada and reside within Canada; Pacific-time overlap required
- Experience with UE5 systems like Blackboards, StateTree, EQS
- Familiarity with Perforce, Jenkins, Unreal Build System, Unreal Gauntlet
What We Do
Blackbird Interactive (BBI) is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent studio - behind such games as Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, Hardspace: Shipbreaker, and the upcoming Homeworld 3, Minecraft Legends, and Crossfire: Legion. Founded by Rob Cunningham, Yossarian King, and Aaron Kambeitz in 2010, the award-winning Vancouver studio boast its own internal CG cinematics department, led by the founder of Pixar Canada, and has also been involved in various game-adjacent projects over the years - such as Project Eagle with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and other initiatives with the eatART Foundation and Sanctuary AI.
