Principal Software Engineer (Engine)

Electronic Arts • Vancouver, BC

3d • $227,300 - $344,700 • Hybrid

About The Position

Electronic Arts is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to join its Research & Engineering team and work across core engine systems and the technology stack. The role applies technical expertise where it can have the greatest impact, partnering with domain specialists, improving gameplay feel and simulation fidelity, and resolving systemic performance bottlenecks in code. The position is hybrid, with three onsite days per week in Montreal, Vancouver, or Redwood Shores, California, and reports to the Sr. Director of Engineering.

Requirements

• 20+ years of professional software engineering experience in PC/console AAA game development or comparable real-time systems, including development within or extension of major AAA engines.
• A proven track record of shipping multiple major AAA titles across full production lifecycles.
• Deep fluency in modern C++, low-level hardware, multithreading, memory management, cache optimization, and debugging.
• Hands-on, full-stack experience across core game engine domains such as rendering, physics, gameplay simulation, and streaming/I/O.
• Proven experience profiling and optimizing large-scale C++ game engine architectures for console/PC hardware, with deep knowledge of SIMD, cache locality, and latency reduction.
• Experience integrating or leveraging agentic AI systems, automated code generation, and modern AI-assisted development workflows to improve engineering productivity and engine tooling.
• Exceptional communication skills and ability to build alignment across research, engineering, and design partners.

Responsibilities

• Identify systemic bottlenecks, risks, and stability challenges across core engine and toolchain teams, and apply expertise where it can have the highest impact.
• Work across gameplay, game AI, runtime simulation, threading, memory, and pipelines to build proof-of-concepts and resolve complex engine challenges.
• Translate complex technical designs into robust, performant, maintainable core engine systems that bridge foundational technology and game production.
• Build scalable runtime frameworks, memory systems, threading models, and core hardware abstractions that operate within strict per-frame budget constraints.
• Mentor engineers through hands-on pairing, design reviews, and sharing modern best practices.

Benefits

• Paid time off or vacation (three weeks per year to start, depending on country)
• Sick time
• Paid company holidays (US)
• Paid leave to bond with a baby and maternity, parental, or adoption leave benefits
• Medical, extended health, dental, and vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Disability insurance
• 401(k) in the US or a retirement plan in Canada
• Certain roles may be eligible for bonus and other incentive programs
• Potential access to healthcare coverage, mental well-being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, and complimentary games

What This Job Offers

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