Principal Programmer - Near Light (On-site/Remote within the UK)

About the role

We are looking for a Principal Programmer to lead the code team to develop and maintain game features, systems and tools for innovative VR (virtual reality) games.

You will be a team player who can collaborate cross-discipline in a fun and inclusive environment, sharing ideas and expertise while maintaining a bigger picture of the product.

The Principal Programmer is also accountable for a broad area of development. They are responsible for the architecture and maintenance of significant areas of the codebase. They assist the Technical Director in directing, managing and mentoring the code team.

The rundown:

• Permanent role.
• Full-time (37.5 hours per week).
• Based out of our Brighton or Farnborough offices, or remote.
• The salary for this role is competitive and dependent on experience.

Key responsibilities:

• Managing and mentoring a code team, when required, either for a full project or a substantial part of one, depending on the needs of the project.
• Designing and implementing runtime systems, game features or tools.
• Debugging and resolving issues with game functionality.
• Optimising game systems for performant operation on diverse platforms.
• Rapid prototyping to quickly realise and iterate on game concepts.

About you

The skills you’ll need:

• Advanced knowledge of C++ including high-performance programming.   
• 3D maths, algorithms and data structures knowledge. 
• The ability to plan and create high-level estimates for the code team for an entire project and identify any risks.
• Communication skills - Excellent verbal and written communication skills with an ability to communicate with technical and non-technical people to help them overcome issues. 
• Aptitude for providing feedback, noting potential issues, and mentoring junior coders. 
• Performance-minded development and optimisation skills. 

The nice to haves:

• Proven experience developing high-quality features for published PC, console or mobile titles.
• A thorough understanding of Unreal Engine’s C++ extensions, game framework and blueprint scripting. Unity experience is a bonus.
• Experience working on a multiplayer game and working knowledge of best practices during development.

About Us

We are nDreams – we develop and publish the world’s most immersive VR games. You may know us as the team behind Shooty Fruity, Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, Synapse, Phantom: Covert Ops, Fracked, and the recently released FRENZIES. With humble beginnings as an independent studio, we combine amazing projects and considerable scale with a personal, caring touch.

We believe the best workplaces and games are created by diverse, happy and safe teams. We're committed to building a culture centred on respect, wellbeing and balance. It's crucial we make our games and industry more accessible to underrepresented communities. We strive to live this through the people we hire, the experiences we create and the causes we support.

We want everyone to have the opportunity to bring their best, authentic self to work. Please let us know if you require reasonable adjustments during the interview process by emailing interviewing@ndreams.com or speaking to your nDreams recruiter. For more information about reasonable adjustments, check out this guidance from Scope.

We offer great perks, including flexible hours, duvets days, your birthday off, dedicated personal development time and support, as well as regular socials. Beyond this, there’s an excellent holiday offering, pension scheme, health insurance, life cover and much more.