Game Developer Manager

Akima, LLC•Huntsville, AL

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Pinnacle Solutions is seeking an experienced, hands-on Game Developer Manager to lead its game developer team within the Virtual Programs business area. The manager will provide technical direction and mentorship, oversee personnel tasking and production planning, and coordinate resources across multiple concurrent projects. They will work with subject matter experts, instructional systems designers, software engineering leads, art leads, QA, and program managers to set schedules, maintain design quality and technical accuracy, and support efficient execution. The role combines people leadership and production management with hands-on creation and review of virtual instruction content. The manager will establish technical standards and development pipelines, oversee implementation in Unity and Unreal Engine, and ensure content meets performance budgets, virtual trainer standards, and engine requirements. The work takes place in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and requires balancing realism, performance, and instructional fidelity for military training customers. Daily work involves Unity 3D and/or Unreal Engine, as well as learning custom frameworks and toolsets.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in game design, game development, engineering, computer science, or a related technical discipline.
At least 10 years of professional experience in game development.
At least 4 years in a lead or supervisory role managing game developers and production pipelines.
Advanced proficiency in Unity and/or Unreal.
Ability to balance hands-on production with leadership responsibilities in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.
Excellent communication skills and ability to coordinate across disciplines and translate technical requirements into actionable development tasks.
Understanding of software development best practices, including version control, code review, and testing methodologies.
Proficiency in debugging, performance analysis, and optimization tools within game engines.
Experience in software and hardware integration and testing.
Must be a U.S. citizen and able to obtain a Secret Security Clearance. Clearance requirements are established by the government contract.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting simulation, training, or serious games projects and familiarity with military vehicles, aircraft, or technical platforms.
Experience developing and establishing standards and performance guidelines for real-time applications.
Experience using Jira or similar project management tools to plan, track, and manage tasks, sprints, and dependencies across projects and team members.
Familiarity with file versioning and asset management workflows such as Git, SVN, or Perforce, and ability to define, enforce, and troubleshoot team-wide source control practices.
Strong scripting skills in C#, C++, and LUA.
Familiarity with VR/AR development for training applications.

Responsibilities

Lead and manage the game development team, providing technical direction, mentorship, performance feedback, and day-to-day production guidance.
Plan and execute game development production across multiple projects, including task breakdown, resource allocation, schedule development, and dependency coordination.
Establish, document, and evolve the game development pipeline for consistency, efficiency, and scalability across platforms and projects.
Set and enforce technical quality standards for accuracy, consistency, and performance in training-focused applications.
Create and review virtual training content based on provided references and subject-matter-expert input.
Oversee implementation of game developer content in Unity and Unreal Engine, ensuring it meets performance budgets, virtual trainer standards, and engine-specific requirements.
Collaborate with engineering and design teams to support interactive training goals, instructional fidelity, and technical constraints.
Review and approve deliverables, providing actionable feedback and ensuring they meet development and customer-driven requirements.
Improve team capabilities, tools, and workflows to meet evolving project demands and emerging real-time rendering technologies.