This job might no longer be available.

Associate Technical Director (Remote)

Established in 2019, Sumo Leamington is led by a team of industry veterans with a wealth of experience in the games industry.

With three core specialisms: service-based games, free to play titles and mobile, the team at Sumo Leamington are focussed on creating games which players keep coming back to – day after day, year after year.

As winners of the TIGA Star Employment Award for 2021, recipients of the GI Biz 2020 Best Places to Work Award and listed as one of the UK’s 100 Best Large Companies to Work for in 2021, Sumo Digital has enjoyed 18 years of stability and growth since its formation in 2003 and continues to strive for excellence across every single project.

The team at Sumo Leamington is growing, and we’re looking for the industry’s brightest stars to help bring a series of incredible projects to life.

This is an incredible opportunity to take your next career step and take on a senior technical role directing a programming team comprising approximately 20 programmers situated all around the globe, who are developing one of the most popular software

products in the world! This is a great opportunity for anyone with ambition to become a Technical Director in the future.

The role will be predominantly managerial, though your programming experience will be essential as you will lead your team to make informed technical choices, and there is the potential for some hands-on coding. You should already have experience of managing programmers, perhaps in a Lead Programmer role, and are looking to take the next step in your career.

The Associate Technical Director is the most senior technical person on the project, and will work with several sub-teams on the project. Each team is responsible for distinct and varied features and areas of the product.

As the Associate Technical Director, your primary mandate will be to get the very best out of the programming team, learning their strengths and areas for growth, identifying training and learning opportunities, and building strength and depth for the programming team. This will also involve identifying additional hiring needs & recruiting programmers.

The Associate Technical Director reports to the Studio Technical Director. This role is offered as fully remote, although on-site visits to our Leamington Spa office are possible for candidates who live within a commutable distance.

What you will be doing

• Manage a team of experienced programmers.
• Provide updates to studio management on progress and risk areas of the project
• Provide updates to studio management on resourcing requirements for the project.
• Speak regularly to the client’s technical team and product owners, and build relationships with the client.
• Understand the client’s requirements and build and create a robust plans and technical designs to achieve these objectives.
• Communicate objectives and plans and technical details in a clear and unambiguous manner with your development teams.
• Mentor and support your team, undertake goal setting and performance reviews.
• Identify and promote programmers within the team
• Identify training needs for individuals and work with the TD and Sumo’s Training Team to provide any such training.

What we'd like from you

• Significant experience of commercial C++ programming experience. Must have used C++ in a significant capacity within the last 12 months.
• Experience of using STL & design patterns such as MVVM.
• Debugging code on various platforms. (Visual Studio on PC, and XCode for Apple platforms).
• Real-time 3D graphics software development. (Whether in the games industry, or another industry). This could be using a commercial engine such as Unreal or Unity, or it might be experience developing with a custom engine.
• Understanding of branching policies & Pull-Request workflow
• Reviewing code, providing constructive feedback and suggestions for code improvements.
• Direct management responsibility for a team of programmers.
• Developing the technical architecture for products and features.
• Working with various project stakeholders to understand & define clear requirements.
• Planning milestones and deliverables for a programming team, breaking down working into smaller tasks, and estimating how long tasks will take.
• Recruiting programmers - reviewing CVs and interviewing programming candidates.

Nice to have experience

• Other version control software such as Perforce or Mercurial.
• Task management & ticketing systems such as JIRA.
• Development on Apple platforms: XCode and iOS and/or AppleTV development.
• Low-level graphics API experience, such as OpenGL, DirectX, Vulkan, etc.
• Resource planning, identifying where we need to hire new developers for the project.
• C# & WPF.
• Collaborating with external clients.

Benefits of working at Sumo Leamington Spa

• Option to work fully remotely, or with occasional office visits if you wish.
• We provide all our developers with top of the range development hardware
• Management training program
• 1 day per month, everyone in the studio participates in our Studio Learning Day, where everyone can learn new skills which are relevant to their role.
• Work with an incredibly friendly & diverse team.
• A great work/life balance, with No Crunch policy.
• Regular 1-on-1 meetings with your manager, to make sure we're listening to you & supporting you.

· Annual Bonus & Annual Salary Reviews

· Electric Car Scheme

· Salary Sacrifice Pension Scheme

· Flexible Working

· 27 Days Holiday, including your birthday a duvet day and Christmas

· Holiday ‘buy and sell’ scheme

· Access to 4,000 Udemy Courses, The Gnomen Workshop, GDC Vault and more

· Enhanced Mat/Paternity & Adoption pay

· Free Life Assurance - 4x Salary

· Free Income Protection Scheme -up to 75%

· Free Dental Insurance

· Supportive Employee Assistance Programme with confidential 24/7/365 helpline & app

· Access remote GP, Mental Health, Physio appointments & medical second opinions

· Additional flexible benefits scheme

· Cycle to Work Scheme

· Mental Health First Aiders

· Payroll Giving Scheme

· Game & Book Libraries

· Long service & project completion awards

· Wrap Parties

· Alternative Travel Prize Draw

· The Sumo GameJam

· Great family events

· Studio clubs, inc. running, board games, film…

· Life Drawing

· Yoga Classes

· Free fruit and drinks

· Employee Referral Bonus

· Career Development

· Relocation Support to the UK

· Visa Sponsorship

At Sumo, we want to enable everyone to bring their full, authentic selves to work every single day. We acknowledge that the games industry is far from perfect and a global organisation with people all over the world, from all kinds of backgrounds, we know it’s part of our duty to provide everyone at Sumo with a safe, accepting and affirming working environment.

We encourage and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

Sumo Leamington is situated just outside of the town centre and was recently awarded the Games Industry BIZ Best Diversity Award – a testament to its ongoing commitment to creating a home for everyone. The Studio features many onsite facilities – everything needed for the team to create the world’s best games!

Ranked the happiest town to live in two official polls, Leamington Spa is a hidden gem nestled amongst the stunning countryside of Warwickshire and remains a hotspot for talented individuals and creative minds within the games industry. Those living in Leamington Spa can enjoy:

o Local attractions such as Jepson Gardens and the Royal Pump Rooms

o A rich and diverse culture

o An expansive history and stunning architecture

o Picturesque scenery, outstanding gardens and walking routes

o Beautiful museums and galleries

Sumo Digital is an award-winning international family of studios. Recent releases from Sumo Digital studios include: BAFTA-Award winning Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Hood: Outlaws & Legends, Control Ultimate Edition on Google Stadia, Apple Arcade Award-winning Little Orpheus, Hot Shot Racing, WST Snooker and Spyder.