Senior Unity Game Engineer (Remote)

Seismic Squirrel•Issaquah, WA

3d•Remote

About The Position

Seismic Squirrel LLC is seeking a creative and resourceful Senior Gameplay Engineer with effective leadership skills. This role requires a strong understanding of Unity programming, experience developing combat AI systems, and a logical, systemic approach to development with an iterative mindset. The ideal candidate will be collaborative, possess excellent communication skills, and have a passion for RPG and turn-based videogames. You will work closely with talented engineers, designers, writers, artists, and management to create a fun and cohesive gameplay experience, catering to both new and expert players. This is a remote position requiring regular online collaboration during core company hours (9:30 AM – 4:30 PM Pacific), participation in team meetings, and occasional evening calls for overseas vendor collaboration. The role offers the potential to convert to a full-time employee based on location, skills, fit, project needs, and timing. H-1B transfers and sponsorships are not available.

Requirements

8+ years of experience as a Unity software engineer through the full lifecycle of game development (concept, design, prototyping, programming, content creation, testing, optimization, launch, support).
Strong Unity programming experience, specifically with turn-based combat games for PC/console.
Experienced creating and balancing combat AI.
Deep understanding of Unity and the performance impact of game architecture.
Adept at object-oriented programming and design principles using C# and the .NET platform.
Experienced managing Windows and Linux servers powering pipelines automation.
Familiar with software engineering best practices, design patterns, and unit testing.
Excellent problem-solving skills, resourceful, able to find solutions when needed.
Enthusiastic for quality gameplay and familiarity with many games and genres.
Strong self-discipline, motivated, a self-starter with a drive for excellence.
Organized, detail-oriented, able to work fast and loose or carefully with quality when each is needed.
Courteous and patient, able to give and receive constructive and inspirational feedback gracefully.
Able to work effectively with people having a variety of personalities and backgrounds.
Wise leadership skills with high emotional intelligence, a respected mentor across disciplines.
Adaptable: Able to wear various hats and adjust to changing needs.
Able to work remotely using various collaboration tools.
Strong written, visual, and verbal English language communication and presentation skills.
Familiar with design diagramming techniques using UML.
Experienced working with professional narrative authoring tools (e.g., Articy, Arcweave, Pixel Crushers).
Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Visio.
Passionate to learn new tools and technologies.

Nice To Haves

Familiar with Pixel Crushers' Dialogue System for Unity.
Familiar with Dark Tonic's Master Audio.
Experienced using creative tools (e.g., Adobe Photoshop, Blender, 3ds Max, Figma).
Experienced with XML processing, DOM, SAX, XSD, XPath, and XSLT.
Located in one of our hub metros: Seattle, Los Angeles, Austin, or Edmonton.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and improve Quests, Narrative integration with authoring, dialog, localization, and voiceover tools and content, Combat systems (Vehicle physics, damage states, targeting, firing arcs, line of sight, area of effect), Maps and Scenes (Travel, POI availability and interactions, encounters), Backend systems (Save file system, achievements, DLC support), and Tools (Level design, unit and stats configuration, map editor, narrative editor).
Lead assigned engineering efforts, mentor, coordinate, and delegate engineering duties.
Prototype new gameplay ideas and mechanics.
Apply engineering best practices to implement architecture and programming for games.
Own and support DevOps and CI/CD pipelines using Unity Cloud Build and Bitbucket.
Identify and modify existing frameworks, and build new game frameworks and subsystems from scratch.
Engage in all aspects of game programming: Front-end and back-end, systems, UI/UX, APIs, internationalization and localization, validation, optimization, and analytics instrumentation.
Expand games from PC to console platforms.
Troubleshoot code and fix bugs using unit testing, mocking, data validation, and other quality assurance tools.
Mentor junior programmers and educate the Development Team on programming concerns.
Collaborate with the Design Team to maintain UX quality.
Actively collaborate with the Development Team, communicating progress and problems to help set realistic project timelines and expectations.
Participate in internal game testing and feedback.
Create and maintain core technical documentation.
Balance and prioritize tasks to meet deadlines within agreed timeframes and budgets.