Senior AI Engineer

Absurd Ventures•San Rafael, CA

44d•$160,000 - $190,000•Onsite

About The Position

We are looking for an experienced AI Engineer to join our early stage team. In this role you will build systems and features that support a rich open world in Unreal Engine 5. We are looking for someone who is excited by the unique challenges of open world AI systems and who loves working in a collaborative multi-disciplinary environment.

Requirements

1+ year of professional experience working in Unreal Engine.
5+ years of professional experience working on large scale games.
Strong working knowledge of Unreal Engine 5 AI tools and systems, such as the following: Navigation (NavMesh), Behavior Trees, State Trees, EQS, Perception System, AI Controllers, Blackboards, and related frameworks.
Expertise in modern C++ with strong software architecture, debugging, and optimization skills.
Proven ability to design complex systems that are scalable, maintainable, and content-friendly.
Demonstrated experience collaborating across departments and leading cross-functional initiatives involving design, animation, and gameplay engineering.
Excellent communication skills and a collaborative, solution-oriented mindset.

Nice To Haves

Experience building AI for open-world, systemic, or sandbox games.
Familiarity with Mass Entity, crowd systems, or large-scale AI simulation.
Knowledge of animation systems (Montages, Motion Matching, Control Rig) and how they intersect with AI behavior.
Experience developing AI debugging tools or in-editor visualization tools.
Background in machine learning, utility systems, or experimental AI techniques.
Passion for emergent gameplay, systemic design, and building living worlds.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and maintain AI systems, features, and tools that support a dynamic and reactive open world.
Collaborate with design, animation, and gameplay teams to prototype, iterate, and deliver new AI behaviors, abilities, and systemic interactions.
Develop and support AI authoring tools that enable designers to efficiently create, test, and tune behaviors at scale.
Build performant, well-architected C++ systems optimized for large-scale simulation and open-world streaming.
Debug and optimize AI performance across multiple platforms, ensuring stability, scalability, and responsiveness.
Contribute to long-term technical planning for AI systems, including architecture, workflow improvements, and new technology initiatives.
Provide technical mentorship and support to designers and other developers who use the AI systems you build.
Collaborate with technical leaders to uphold engineering best practices, coding standards, and documentation quality.