VP of Engineering & AI

Big Viking Games•Toronto, ON

About The Position

Big Viking Games is hiring a Head of Engineering & AI to drive AI-first transformation across our live-service games while providing hands-on engineering leadership for our development teams. Reporting to the CEO, this role owns the technical roadmap for AI/ML capabilities, game and backend architecture, engineering standards, and infrastructure across the portfolio. About Us Big Viking Games is a profitable, self-funded live-service studio based in Toronto. Founded in 2011, the company has been building and operating virtual worlds for over a decade. Our flagship games, YoWorld and FishWorld, have served millions of players over their lifetime through deep in-game economies built around virtual goods, player-to-player trading, and long-term engagement. We operate with the speed and conviction of a startup, backed by the stability of a proven business. About the Role BVG is actively investing in a 2.0 product roadmap, a next-generation rebuild of our games with the potential to significantly expand our addressable market. We are re-architecting how we work with AI and agentic systems, modernizing our game and backend infrastructure, and rethinking how we deliver personalized, dynamic player experiences. This role sits at the intersection of applied AI and live-service game engineering, and is responsible for building the technical foundation for what comes next. The ideal candidate is an AI-forward technical leader who combines hands-on applied AI/ML experience with the ability to lead game engineering teams through complex technical challenges. You are equally comfortable driving organization-wide AI adoption as you are shipping scalable, production-grade game systems. You thrive in environments where you can architect strategic solutions, move at startup velocity with emerging technologies, and roll up your sleeves to solve hard technical problems. AI Transformation & Game Architecture Architect and build agentic systems for automated game content production (art, items, events, narrative) and live-ops workflows Lead implementation of AI-native features across our games, including intelligent NPCs, dynamic in-game interactions, AI-assisted moderation, and real-time player personalization Design and build scalable data pipelines that integrate player behaviour, social graphs, CRM data, and game telemetry to power AI-driven decisions across live ops, monetization, and retention Drive adoption of AI tooling and workflows across engineering, game design, art, product, and live-ops teams Own the technical roadmap for AI/ML capabilities supporting current titles (YoWorld, FishWorld) and the 2.0 game platform Build context engineering systems and infrastructure to enable agentic automation across both internal studio operations and live game environments Strategic & Organizational Leadership Serve as a key member of the leadership team, translating technical capabilities into business and product strategy Own engineering budget priorities and investment trade-offs aligned with studio and game-level goals Evaluate and manage third-party technology partnerships, game tech vendors, middleware, and build-vs-buy decisions Partner with game design, product, and creative leadership on technical feasibility, architecture decisions, and implementation planning Prepare and present technical updates to the CEO and Board, including roadmap progress, risks, and trade-offs Engineering & Live-Service Infrastructure Provide technical direction for client (Unity) and backend game services teams Drive strategy, architecture, and adoption of AI-enabled software development practices across the engineering organization Establish engineering standards, workflows, and best practices across the game development lifecycle, from prototyping to live operations Own cloud infrastructure strategy, cost optimization, and scaling decisions for live game services Ensure live-service reliability, security posture, anti-cheat and fraud controls, and incident management practices Elevate DevOps and SRE maturity including build pipelines, deployment automation, observability, and infrastructure-as-code for live games Collaborate with data and analytics teams on game telemetry, instrumentation, and player analytics infrastructure Hire, mentor, and develop game engineering talent, building technical capabilities across the studio Requirements Must-Haves 10-15+ years of software engineering experience with 5+ years in senior technical leadership roles, leading technical teams of 20+ Applied AI/ML expertise with a track record implementing systems in production - must demonstrate hands-on production AI experience beyond exploratory work Strong architectural thinking across backend systems, data pipelines, and AI infrastructure Proven ability to ship and operate live products at scale with high reliability and performance requirements Track record of building technical infrastructure and platforms from the ground up High AI affinity and early adopter mindset; comfortable with rapid technology shifts Nice-to-Haves Hands-on experience building and shipping live games on Unity (or directly comparable real-time game engines) Experience with real-time or interactive application frameworks Background in consumer products with large-scale daily active user bases Familiarity with platform economics and user segmentation Why This Role This is a rare opportunity to shape the technical direction of a profitable, scaled live-service studio at the exact moment AI is rewriting what is possible in game development. You will have the autonomy to make big bets, the resources to execute, and a team that is ready to move. Comprehensive health and wellness benefits Generous PTO and holidays

Requirements

10-15+ years of software engineering experience with 5+ years in senior technical leadership roles, leading technical teams of 20+
Applied AI/ML expertise with a track record implementing systems in production - must demonstrate hands-on production AI experience beyond exploratory work
Strong architectural thinking across backend systems, data pipelines, and AI infrastructure
Proven ability to ship and operate live products at scale with high reliability and performance requirements
Track record of building technical infrastructure and platforms from the ground up
High AI affinity and early adopter mindset; comfortable with rapid technology shifts

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience building and shipping live games on Unity (or directly comparable real-time game engines)
Experience with real-time or interactive application frameworks
Background in consumer products with large-scale daily active user bases
Familiarity with platform economics and user segmentation

Responsibilities

Architect and build agentic systems for automated game content production (art, items, events, narrative) and live-ops workflows
Lead implementation of AI-native features across our games, including intelligent NPCs, dynamic in-game interactions, AI-assisted moderation, and real-time player personalization
Design and build scalable data pipelines that integrate player behaviour, social graphs, CRM data, and game telemetry to power AI-driven decisions across live ops, monetization, and retention
Drive adoption of AI tooling and workflows across engineering, game design, art, product, and live-ops teams
Own the technical roadmap for AI/ML capabilities supporting current titles (YoWorld, FishWorld) and the 2.0 game platform
Build context engineering systems and infrastructure to enable agentic automation across both internal studio operations and live game environments
Serve as a key member of the leadership team, translating technical capabilities into business and product strategy
Own engineering budget priorities and investment trade-offs aligned with studio and game-level goals
Evaluate and manage third-party technology partnerships, game tech vendors, middleware, and build-vs-buy decisions
Partner with game design, product, and creative leadership on technical feasibility, architecture decisions, and implementation planning
Prepare and present technical updates to the CEO and Board, including roadmap progress, risks, and trade-offs
Provide technical direction for client (Unity) and backend game services teams
Drive strategy, architecture, and adoption of AI-enabled software development practices across the engineering organization
Establish engineering standards, workflows, and best practices across the game development lifecycle, from prototyping to live operations
Own cloud infrastructure strategy, cost optimization, and scaling decisions for live game services
Ensure live-service reliability, security posture, anti-cheat and fraud controls, and incident management practices
Elevate DevOps and SRE maturity including build pipelines, deployment automation, observability, and infrastructure-as-code for live games
Collaborate with data and analytics teams on game telemetry, instrumentation, and player analytics infrastructure
Hire, mentor, and develop game engineering talent, building technical capabilities across the studio