Technical Lead - UI Programmer

Ubisoft•Montreal, QC

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior UI Programmer – Technical Lead serves as the primary technical point of contact for all user interface systems on the project. This person serves as the bridge between engineering, UI integration, and art, ensuring that every UI element is delivered with the level of polish, performance, and accessibility expected of a AAA first-person shooter.

Requirements

Shipped 2+ AAA titles with substantial UI programming ownership
Deep experience with a visual/node-based UI scripting system (UI Graph or equivalent)
Demonstrated ability to profile and optimize UI in a real-time engine
Experience debugging and resolving crashes in a production game
Track record supervising or mentoring UI Integrators or junior programmers
Solid grasp of UI architecture: component hierarchies, data binding, state management

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with responsive/adaptive UI design for multi-platform titles

Responsibilities

Serve as the go-to expert for all user interface technologies in the project: the Snowdrop UI framework, game-specific UI systems, and tools
Manage the UI technical roadmap: architecture decisions, framework upgrades, and deprecations
Define and enforce UI coding standards, component templates, and integration workflows
Identify and resolve bottlenecks that hinder the work of UI integrators and technical artists
Supervise a team of UI integrators and technical artists working in the UI Graph editor
Review and validate work for accuracy, performance, and adherence to design intent
Mentor team members, conduct code and asset reviews, and provide clear, actionable feedback
Collaborate with UX/UI designers to ensure that the technical implementation aligns with the design intent
Implement and maintain UI features across gameplay, menus, HUD, and frontend
Author and extend UI scripting in the visual graph language (UI Graph); support team members using it
Design reusable, scalable UI components following componentization principles — maintainability and reuse over one-offs
Implement adaptive layouts that handle multiple target devices, screen sizes, and resolutions
Integrate accessibility requirements (text scaling, colorblind modes, controller navigation, screen reader support)
Profile UI rendering and logic; identify and resolve underperforming areas (overdraw, excessive draw calls, expensive graph evaluations)
Own and triage UI-originating crashes; lead post-mortems and drive fixes to completion
Establish and monitor UI performance budgets in collaboration with the engine team
Apply and advocate for core design principles throughout technical decisions: consistency, simplicity, and clear user feedback
Challenge implementations that compromise usability, even when technically correct