Senior Game Engine Programmer (C++)

Auckland | Full Time - 40 hrs a week | Salary Range 100 - 150K Yearly | Enterprise tools team

A bit about us…
RocketWerkz is an ambitious PC video games studio based on Auckland’s waterfront in New Zealand. Founded by Dean Hall, creator of hit survival games DayZ and Icarus, we are independently-run but have the backing of one of the world's largest games companies. We’ve created our own proprietary game development framework called BRUTAL, focusing on scale and performance rather than ease-of-use. Kitten Space Agency is the first game built and published using it. We’ll continue to invest in our existing Unity or Unreal games, but our new games will be made using BRUTAL.

As a Senior Game Engine Programmer you will keep expanding our BRUTAL game development framework. You’ll work closely with both our technical engineering team as well as our game developers to speed up the process of making quality games.

The BRUTAL framework allows programmers to focus on gameplay and game systems in C# while accessing a suite of custom C++ libraries (eg, a Vulkan graphics pipeline, a low-level networking library) via an interop layer for scale, performance and control without the constraints of a game engine. Most of our games are open-world, simulation-based or systems-driven, which benefit from smart data architectures and low-level performance optimizations. We expect we’ll need a wide range of game engine libraries, features and tools so we’re interested to hear what systems you have created in the past.

A day in the life…

Every day at RocketWerkz is different, but here are a few things you can expect to do in your role:

• Create developer-friendly interfaces for custom C++ plugins and in-house libraries

• Build plugins to extend our existing tools and maximise their functionality

• Work closely with the game designers and game programmers to understand their design workflow needs

• Understand and contribute to the project as a whole

• Use C++, JetBrains Rider, Github, Claude Code and task management tools

• Manage your own workload and work hours in consultation with the wider team

• Give feedback to the BRUTAL tools team to continually improve it

To get this all done, you will have:

• At least 6 years game development industry experience

• Strong C++ skills

• Familiarity with C#

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

• A tertiary qualification in Computer Science, Software Engineering or similar (or equivalent industry experience)

We’d love it if you also have:

• Experience with graphics APIs, especially Vulkan

• CMAKE experience

• Experience with other languages

• A portfolio of published game projects or game engines
  

We think life at RocketWerkz is pretty awesome, check out the perks and benefits of joining us here.

If you're passionate about working in the gaming industry and think you have the qualifications, we encourage you to apply, even if you don't meet every requirement listed in this job description. We believe that having a diverse team is crucial to our success, and we welcome applications from individuals regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, or any other aspect of your culture or identity. 

RocketWerkz is an Immigration New Zealand Accredited Employer. We are committed to making your move to our Auckland studio as smooth as possible, which is why we offer relocation assistance and budget for successful international candidates.

Hit Apply and if you’re the right fit we’ll be in touch to schedule a chat. Our recruitment process usually involves an online chat, a visit to our studio, maybe a paid art test or programming test and reference checks.