At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating.
Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development.
Unreal-powered projects have been on the bleeding edge of real-time entertainment for over 20 years. Our team of programming experts are always innovating to improve the tools and technology that empower content developers worldwide.
What You'll DoEpic Games seeks an experienced Lead Programmer to join our Core Engine Systems team. In this role, you will manage a team of highly specialized and experienced systems programmers who are improving the performance of our existing core technologies (loading, memory, serialization, concurrency) and delivering new, engine-critical, high-impact features directly to Unreal Engine, UEFN, and Fortnite. Reporting to the Group Director of Programming and working closely with the Technical Director, you will be responsible for delivering all team outcomes. The ideal candidate will love practical problem-solving and be passionate about improving the day-to-day workflow of other developers.
In this role, you will- Participate in technical discussions, review technical designs and proposals, identify technical risks, evaluate tradeoffs, challenge existing thinking, and contribute directly to the codebase
- Plan and deliver work with the team while balancing timelines, company priorities, team health, and sustainable work practices
- Set clear goals for the team and define growth opportunities that support individual development and long-term success
- Drive cross-team collaboration by fostering inclusivity, visibility, and clear communication across programming groups
- Maintain a high bar for technical quality while supporting performance management, feedback, and career progression
- A proven track record of driving and delivering long-running, complex technical solutions
- Strong ability to reason about large, interacting systems and their performance characteristics
- High proficiency in C++
- Experience working with core engine or system-level codebases
- Ability to operate autonomously while aligning with broader technical direction
- Good knowledge of the Unreal Engine reflection system and serialization versioning is a plus
This role is open to multiple locations in North America and Europe (excluding CA, NY, & WA).
Epic Games spans across 25 countries with 46 studios and 4,500+ employees globally. For over 25 years, we've been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world-class talent.
Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic!Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy here.
Note to Recruitment Agencies: Epic does not accept any unsolicited resumes or approaches from any unauthorized third party (including recruitment or placement agencies) (i.e., a third party with whom we do not have a negotiated and validly executed agreement). We will not pay any fees to any unauthorized third party. Further details on these matters can be found here.
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What We Do
Founded in 1991, Epic Games is an American company founded by CEO Tim Sweeney. The company is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, and has more than 50 offices worldwide. Today Epic is a leading interactive entertainment company and provider of 3D engine technology. Epic operates one of the world’s largest games, Fortnite, and Epic has over 600 million accounts with over 5 billion friend connections across Fortnite, Fall Guys, Rocket League, and the Epic Games Store. Epic also develops Unreal Engine, which powers the world’s leading games and is also adopted across industries such as film and television, architecture, automotive, manufacturing, and simulation. Through Unreal Engine, Epic Games Store, and Epic Online Services, Epic provides an end-to-end digital ecosystem for developers and creators to build, distribute, and operate games and other content.
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