Lead UI Engineer - STARCRAFT | Irvine, CA

Blizzard Entertainment • Irvine, CA

10d • $124,000 - $229,400 • Hybrid

About The Position

Blizzard Entertainment is assembling a team to build the next chapter of StarCraft, returning to a universe forged in interstellar war. This mission offers something new: crafting an original story-driven, open-world shooter while honoring the legacy of one of Blizzard's most beloved games. We are looking for a Lead UI Engineer to help craft this new game for Blizzard. As a key member of the development team, you will lead the technical direction, execution, and evolution of the game's user interface systems while helping build a collaborative and high-performing engineering team. You are comfortable operating in a dynamic environment, navigating fluid deadlines and changing priorities with purpose. This role offers a hybrid work week, with a mix of work-from-home and on-site days, based out of our Irvine studio.

Requirements

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with significant experience developing user interface systems for games or interactive applications.
• Experience leading engineers, technical initiatives, or feature teams through the full development lifecycle.
• Experience managing people, programs, or multidisciplinary efforts to achieve business and development objectives.
• Experience shipping at least one commercially released title or large-scale interactive product.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively within teams and foster productive partnerships across all departments.
• Demonstrated ability to inspire colleagues through an enthusiastic approach to game development and a commitment to continuous improvement of core skills.
• Ability to take initiative and manage responsibilities independently, demonstrating strong ownership and accountability.
• Experienced and knowledgeable player of a wide range of games; able to use this expertise to enhance creative decisions in game development.
• Strong proficiency in C++ and modern software architecture principles.
• Extensive experience building UI systems, frameworks, and tooling for game development.
• Experience integrating user interfaces with gameplay systems, backend services, and platform features.
• Comprehensive understanding of performance optimization, memory management, and debugging practices.
• Experience working with Unreal Engine and related UI technologies.
• Experience leading technical reviews, architecture discussions, and engineering planning efforts.
• Strong understanding of accessibility considerations and player-centered design principles.
• Experience developing for PC, Xbox, and/or PlayStation platforms.

Nice To Haves

• Experience leading UI engineering teams on AAA game development projects.
• Experience developing UI editor tooling and content creation workflows.
• Experience supporting live-service or online game features.
• Experience integrating telemetry, analytics, or player feedback systems into UI workflows.
• Background working on action, role-playing, social, or open-world game experiences.
• Experience contributing to recruiting, interviewing, and career development efforts for engineers.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical vision and implementation strategy for user interface systems across the game experience.
• Architect, develop, and maintain scalable, performant, and extensible UI frameworks and workflows.
• Collaborate closely with designers, artists, engineers, and production partners to deliver intuitive and engaging player experiences.
• Guide a team of UI engineers through mentorship, technical leadership, prioritization, and day-to-day execution.
• Establish engineering standards, best practices, and code quality expectations for UI development.
• Partner with technical leadership to identify risks, plan milestones, and align team objectives with broader game development goals.
• Optimize user interface performance, memory usage, and platform compatibility for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.
• Drive improvements to UI pipelines, tools, and workflows that enable efficient iteration across disciplines.
• Review designs and technical proposals, providing feedback that balances creative goals with technical requirements.
• Foster a collaborative environment that promotes continuous learning, knowledge sharing, and professional growth.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others
• Relocation assistance

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed