Lead Production Engineer

Catface•Austin, TX

16d•$75,000 - $100,000•Onsite

About The Position

CatFace is a YouTube entertainment company with a family of channels boasting over 25 million subscribers and averaging 300 million views monthly. We create fun, light-hearted narratives, often within the Minecraft universe, utilizing custom-built tools and mods. The Lead Production Engineer will be responsible for the technology underpinning Aphmau content production. This role reports to the Director of Production and involves designing and building the Minecraft mod ecosystem for the production team, leading the Technical Production Assistant (TPA) team, and acting as a liaison between production leadership and technical execution. This is a hands-on leadership position requiring proficiency in Java and AI-assisted development (e.g., Claude/Codex), with a focus on creating a durable technical platform that supports the Aphmau brand long-term. The ultimate measure of success is the reliable and rapid translation of creative vision to screen.

Requirements

Strong professional Java experience, with a track record of architecting maintainable systems rather than one-off scripts.
Hands-on experience building Minecraft mods (NeoForge, Forge, or Fabric) and deep knowledge of Minecraft gameplay and mechanics.
Genuine fluency with AI-assisted development (Claude Code or similar). This is a foundational requirement for the role, not a nice-to-have.
Experience leading a small technical team, ideally including periods of change or transition.
Proven ability to work with non-technical stakeholders and translate creative requests into technical plans.
Comfort working both independently and within a small team in a fast-paced entertainment environment where priorities can shift at a moment's notice.
Great, timely communication and a positive, team-oriented attitude. Everything we do at CatFace depends on treating others with respect and collaborating to achieve shared goals.
Ability to work onsite in our office located in Austin, TX
Legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with CommandHelper / MethodScript or other Minecraft server scripting.
Experience with multiplayer server infrastructure, client-server networking, or rendering.
Prior work in content production, games, or entertainment.

Responsibilities

Own the architecture of CatFace's internal mod ecosystem, designing reusable systems and frameworks that align with the Aphmau brand and outlast any single video.
Design and build new tools and mods in Java (NeoForge) to bring production's creative concepts to life, with AI-assisted development as a standard part of your workflow.
Evaluate and refine existing tools to better fit the evolving needs of production.
Act as the translation layer between non-technical production staff and technical implementation: turn creative asks into clear technical plans, and explain tradeoffs in plain language.
Ensure every tool and system reflects the lead talent's creative vision and production leadership's priorities.
Lead the TPA team: set technical direction, assign and review work, develop skills, and ensure the team delivers against leadership's goals on time.
Assess team capabilities and recommend changes to tooling, process, and team structure as the studio's technical needs evolve.
Test and troubleshoot thoroughly before recording days; production runs on a schedule and reliability is non-negotiable.
Own our AI development practice: keep our tooling current, establish best practices, and raise the team's effectiveness with it.
Continuously evaluate emerging technology in both the AI and Minecraft modding ecosystems for opportunities to improve how we work.
Partner cross-functionally with other departments on project scope, milestones, and timelines, and take on additional responsibilities as needed.