Principal/Lead Engineer

Role Overview

We’re looking for a Principal/Lead Engineer to work on a Simulation Game. This is a highly hands-on role, with more than ninety percent of your time spent directly in the build. In this role, you're responsible for leading technical strategy, execution and eventually a small team of engineers. You’ll contribute to and strengthen the ambition of our internally developed simulation games, spanning prototyping to pipelines to long-term engine decisions, balancing velocity with stability, enabling fast iteration and clean, maintainable systems. You’ll work closely with a small, multidisciplinary team to build imaginative and replayable simulation games that connect with players, always balancing believability with fun.

Key Responsibilities

1 - Lead Engineering

You're responsible for the engineering of our game and taking a design vision and turning it into reality. You'll need to be a versatile, hands-on engineer with great gameplay and architectural sensibilities, moving from prototyping to rapid implementation and striking the right balance between code quality and speed.

Success looks like:

• Rapid prototyping that validates ideas quickly and cheaply.
• Technical solutions that empower creativity and iteration.
• Close collaboration between design, art & code teams.
• Engineers are laser focused on things that deliver maximum value to players.
• Solid infrastructure in place (build servers, code repositories, etc).
• Clear data and playtesting feedback loops driving continuous improvement.
  

2 - Lead Technical Strategy and Execution

Own the games’s technical roadmap from prototyping to production-ready pipelines. You will decide where to build, buy, outsource or adopt new technologies, always prioritising momentum and long-term leverage. 

Success looks like:

1. Reliable, performant codebases built for the now but with an eye on the future.
2. A data pipeline leveraging smart use of tools, plugins, and new technologies where it adds real value.
3. Stable builds that enable creative experimentation rather than blocking it.
4. Establishing and maintaining technical infrastructure and workflows, such as source control and build pipelines, to enable the team to work efficiently and reliably
   

3 - Manage Engineering Team & Contractors

As the game grows, you'll be responsible for recruiting and managing a small but world-class engineering team. We anticipate this being 3-4 hires over the coming couple of years, supported by a network of contractors who increase our leverage.You’ll also help foster healthy collaboration across Design, Art, and Production so ideas move smoothly from concept to in-build work, and the team can deliver cohesive, player-focused experiences.

Success looks like:

• Best-in-class engineering team including hiring, interviewing, onboarding, mentoring.
• Multi-talented / well rounded, autonomous engineers, a mix of seniors and juniors.
• Strong gameplay and architectural sensibilities in the engineering team.
• An empowered engineering team that is able to do their best work.
• A strong network of reliable contractors we can pull in to support our projects.

• Proven experience as a Technical Director, Lead or Principal Engineer, or similar leadership role on shipped games, ideally in the simulation genre. 
• Background in Unreal, with deep understanding of scalable, systemic architectures.
• Expertise in rapid prototyping, optimisation, and live iteration workflows.
• Comfortable leading small teams and mentoring across disciplines.
• Pragmatic approach to technology, focusing on what moves the game forward.
• Experience integrating technologies and third-party assets to accelerate progress.
• Passion for simulation games and a drive to turn tech excellence into player delight.
• Located within a UK/EU timezone.

Our benefits include a 2-week company summer break and a 2-week winter break to rest and recharge, in addition to your normal holiday allowance.