Principal Software Engineer, Wordscapes Shapes

PeopleFun is an award-winning creator of mobile games for players across the globe. We are part of AppLovin, a publicly traded company, with world-class projects, resources, and infrastructure. PeopleFun is a Dallas-based game studio founded and led by game industry veterans, where game developers thrive on collaboration, creativity, teamwork, and fun. Our games are played by over 25 million players each month, and we have a number of exciting mobile games in development to fuel the future growth of PeopleFun.

We believe in bringing People together through Fun by creating the best in class social features and communities in our games that enables our players to engage deeply with other players. Secondly we endeavor to bring our studio teammates together by creating the very best game teams that foster healthy collaboration, incredible productivity, and life-long professional relationships.

Candidates who reside or will reside in the following locations are eligible for this role: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington State.

PeopleFun is looking for a passionate and experienced Principal I Engineer to lead the technical development of Wordscapes Shapes. As a technical leader for the project you will be responsible for planning, execution, and delivery of game features to hit business objectives. You will need to finely balance what needs to get done foundationally to be able to quickly test and measure validity of game ideas.

You will need to collaborate cross functionally with other discipline leads to improve KPIs and grow Wordscapes Shapes. As the project grows, you will be expected to evolve team processes and structure to match where it is in its life cycle. This role will require you to demonstrate ownership and lean in to manage priorities, assess tradeoffs, mitigate risks, and deliver high-quality solutions in a dynamic environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture discussions and planning sessions with a cross-functional team.
• Manage priorities, assess trade-offs, and mitigate risks to ensure on-time delivery of committed projects.
• Collaborate closely with game designers, artists, and product managers to align technical solutions with business goals and player needs.
• Proactively communicate status, risks, and offer mitigation strategies to our cross-functional team.
• Identify and resolve complex technical challenges.
• Write clean, efficient, and scalable code.
• Write clear technical and process documentation.
• Work effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary team of engineers, designers, artists, producers, product managers, and QA.
• Identify gaps in our technology stack and effectively prioritize work to address those gaps.

Requirements

• 8+ years of professional experience in the mobile gaming industry, with a proven track record of delivering quality products on time.
• Extensive experience working in the Unity game engine, understanding best practices and how to leverage it to quickly execute.
• Demonstrated record of managing priorities, assessing trade-offs, and mitigating risks effectively.
• Strong technical skills in object-oriented programming, design patterns, data structures, and algorithms.
• Ability to lead architecture discussions.
• Extensive applied knowledge of game client and server architecture.
• An embodiment of PeopleFun’s Values, working collaboratively and checking your ego at the door.
• Experience working on cross-functional teams with the ability to communicate effectively through verbal and written communications.

PeopleFun provides a competitive total compensation package with a pay for performance rewards approach. The expected base pay range for this [CA based or North America based] position is $140,000-$205,000. Base compensation at PeopleFun is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Depending on the position offered, equity, sign-on payments, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical and other benefits.

Benefits

Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance

Performance Bonuses

401K Match Policy

Flexible PTO Policy

Wellness Stipend

Free Lunch each Friday

Generous Parental Leave & Family-Friendly Culture

Annual Credits for Professional Development & In-App Purchases 

PeopleFun is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about EEO rights as an applicant here.