Principal Software Developer - Full Stack (Unity, C#)

Zynga•Toronto, ON

9d•$133,900 - $180,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Zynga is looking for a Principal Software Engineer level in the Austin, Eugene, Toronto, San Mateo, Carlsbad, or Chicago areas. This position will be to develop and maintain the core client technology, engine-level systems, and infrastructure for a game with a cozy vibe targeting a casual audience. You should have a passion for engineering excellence and be comfortable diagnosing and solving deep, systemic technical problems, such as improving load times, frame rate, memory footprint, and other cross-cutting performance concerns. You’ll need to operate with rigorous engineering discipline while working largely independently to plan and execute complex, multi-week technical initiatives. We have a well-rounded, highly motivated, distributed team with a mission-driven culture working on a new game. We need a self-driven engineer who confronts challenges with optimism, communicates clearly and easily, and takes a great deal of pride in their work. You’ll have an opportunity to own core engine and infrastructure work, including upgrading and maintaining third-party libraries and dependencies, evolving build and tooling pipelines, and making foundational changes to the client architecture that unlock future feature roadmaps for the rest of the engineering team.

Requirements

B.Sc. in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent education / work experience
6+ Years game industry / mobile app experience as a software developer
Shipped titles and/or live games experience, especially mobile (iOS / Android)
Expert knowledge in C#
3+ Years Unity experience, including engine-level and low-level systems work
A solid understanding of client/server architecture in modern mobile games
Understanding, interest and knowledge of server-side architecture in mobile games
Solid foundation in data structures, algorithms and software methodologies
Demonstrated experience diagnosing and resolving performance issues such as load times, frame rate, and memory usage
Experience upgrading, integrating, or maintaining third-party libraries, SDKs, or engine versions
Experience with the AWS ecosystem, Kubernetes, and back end monitoring technologies such as Datadog
Excellent communication skills and comfort working in a collaborative environment
Excellent ability to foresee and proactively resolve blockers, technical risk, and points of failure
Excellent ability to function in an asynchronous distributed work environment while still tuning in to key team meetings
Experience with git
Experience with performance profiling and optimization tools

Nice To Haves

Experience with Unity engine source modification or custom engine forks
Experience with build pipeline, CI/CD, or dev tooling for game teams
Experience playing and working on games that target a casual audience
Experience using Claude Code or a similar AI coding tool

Responsibilities

Define, architect, and develop core systems and client infrastructure in Unity and C#
Diagnose and resolve complex, game-wide technical issues such as slow load times, low frame rates, memory pressure, and build/runtime stability
Own the evaluation, upgrade, and maintenance of third-party libraries, SDKs, and engine dependencies
Design and implement foundational architecture changes that enable future feature roadmaps for feature-focused engineers to build upon
Produce technical design documentation and implementation plans for infrastructure and systemic initiatives
Scope and cost work accurately from loosely defined requirements, presenting estimates with clear assumptions and identified risks
Adapt plans and technical approaches when requirements or platform constraints change
Review code, technical design documentation, and implementation plans for other team members
Proactively profile, optimize, and refactor code to meet team performance and stability KPI goals
Explore, develop, and integrate new technologies and tools that benefit the broader engineering team
Work closely with other engineers to lead multi-week or month-long infrastructure and tooling efforts
Give team and divisional tech talks on architectures that you’ve built
Work to improve and evolve team process and engineering standards
Help to mentor other engineers

Benefits

medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance coverage
14 paid holidays per calendar year
paid vacation time per calendar year (ranging from 15 to 25 days) or eligibility to participate in the Company’s discretionary time off program
up to 10 paid sick days per calendar year
paid parental and compassionate leave
wellbeing programs for mental health and other wellness support
family planning support through Maven
commuter benefits
reimbursements for fitness-related expenses
401(K) plan
Employee Stock Purchase Program