Senior Engine Programmer* (Tools Programming)

The Senior Engine Programmer is responsible for the development of the game engine which serves as the core of game development. He/She is responsible for conceiving the design of game engine modules in alignment with a specific project or with the type of games the engine intends to cater to. He maintains engine systems and writes programming code to support the technical requirements of projects. In addition to providing technical assistance for engine modules, he develops solutions to address game performance and stability. He may also streamline game development processes by developing tools to aid production workflows and asset pipelines. For this, he works closely with 3D art and programming teams to understand their workflow requirements and deliver tools to meet their needs. The work involves leading a development team in an innovative and highly dynamic game development environment, which also requires interacting with and meeting expectations of a number of internal stakeholders. He is proficient at project management and a technical expert. He should be planned and organized to be able to deliver project outcomes effectively. He should also be effective at collaboration, communication and stakeholder management in order to work effectively in cross-functional project teams. He is an able problem-solver. He should be adaptable to changes, given the rapidly evolving nature of this role.

Skills and Competencies

Technical Skills & Competencies

Audio Programming
Proficiency Level
"Develop programs to support the audio asset pipeline and to implement specific audio components within a game."
3
Game Analytics
Proficiency Level
"Operationalise game metrics and review insights from analysis of game metrics to understand games’ performance."
3
Game Artificial Intelligence Development
Proficiency Level
"Develop programs to implement Artificial Intelligence (AI) in games and optimise existing AI systems for better game performance."
3
Game Engine Development
Proficiency Level
"Develop specific modules for new game engines and optimise modules for existing game engines, to aid game development."
3
Game Networking
Proficiency Level
"Develop programs and tools for the implementation, performance testing and optimisation of game networking systems for multi-player gameplay."
3

Generic Skills & Competencies

Computational Thinking
Proficiency Level
Develop and create computational models, tools and techniques to implement new solutions and apply to other problems.
Advanced
Communication
Proficiency Level
"Articulate and discuss ideas and persuade others to achieve common outcomes "
Intermediate
Teamwork
Proficiency Level
Facilitate work team activities, provide assistance and support needed by team members and promote ownership and commitment among team members to work goals to improve team performance.
Intermediate
Problem Solving
Proficiency Level
Identify less perceivable problems and use problem solving tools and techniques to solve the problems.
Intermediate
Creative Thinking
Proficiency Level
Connect or combine ideas or information from unrelated fields or applications to generate multiple ideas to bring about a specific outcome.
Intermediate

Critical Work Functions and Key Tasks

Design game engine

• Support the requirements analysis and formulation of specifications and definition of delivery platforms for games 
• Design new engine features to support game development and technical requirements 
• Develop the overall engine architecture based on technical objectives and product roadmap 
• Document designs and specifications for new engines and for changes made to existing engines or related systems 

Execute game development

• Write programming code to achieve functionality of specific game engine modules 
• Develop engine module prototypes to showcase planned functionality and to iteratively refine towards final build 
• Collaborate with cross discipline team members to develop key game systems 
• Conduct automated testing of game engine modules
• Support the development of game prototypes and custom solutions for development teams

Optimise game development

• Develop algorithms, techniques and processes to optimise performance of engines 
• Develop solutions to optimise game engine performance and resolve stability issues 
• Keep up to date on latest technologies, platforms, frameworks and game engines

Promote best practices within game development

• Stay abreast of the latest technology and its impact on game development and performance 
• Lead the development of proofs-of-concept to support the adoption of new technologies 
• Impress the importance of adopting suitable new technologies upon internal teams 

Execute tools design and development (Specialisation in Tools Programming)

• Analyse project scope and broad workflows to identify tool requirements in collaboration with the technical and creative leadership 
• Create high level designs for new tool requirements and improvements and/or extensions to existing tools 
• Lead the tool development by developing complex aspects of the tool code 
• Guide junior team members in developing code for tools 

Get yourself a new skill

In this Path

Coming soon...